Consultation opens on governing board self-review questions
Feedback is being sought from governors, trustees, governance professionals, and individuals and organisations that support governance as part of the National Governance Association’s (NGA) new consultation on the long-standing 20 and 21 questions for board self-review.
Downloaded almost 11,000 times since July 2019, the questions are hugely popular and are also used in NGA’s Leading Governance programmes, external reviews of governance and board self-appraisal tool. The questions are also signposted in the Department for Education's Governance Handbook. NGA is seeking feedback on how boards have used the questions in the past; how the questions have helped to shape and improve practice; and any areas of self-review that are not currently covered.
The 21 questions for multi academy trust (MAT) boards are bespoke to MATs to help ensure that governance structures are fit for purpose and support the best outcomes for children and young people. They were created in 2015 by NGA and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Education Governance in response to the growing number of schools in MATs.
The 20 questions – intended for use by boards governing a single school – were created in 2012 by NGA, The Key and the APPG. In addition, in 2019, NGA created 17 questions to be used to review academy committees (local governing bodies).
The three sets of questions are designed to be an integral part of governing boards reflecting on their practice. Reviewing board effectiveness is good practice and self-review is one of the main methods that boards use to monitor and improve their governance.
NGA will be consulting governors, trustees and governance professionals at upcoming events, and comments can be submitted directly. The consultation will run until on Monday 7 March at 9am with the updated questions published at the end of March.