Tailored Education Services

We understand that what is important to you is that your pupils be the best they can be. Each school and group of schools have their own culture and ethos, and we work with you to get to know your institution and to support you in achieving your aims.

As a full-service law firm with a focus on the education sector, we’re able to tailor our service offering to fit your needs. This could be from helping you support pupils with special educational needs, dealing with staffing issues, to helping you grow your multi academy trust, or ensuring that a procurement process is operated correctly.

Our education team has years of collective experience in the sector and many of us are also trustees or governors in our spare time.​ We understand the sector challenges and are passionate about education and helping pupils reach their full potential.

How Our Academies Experts Can Help

It is important for schools to ensure they are complying with all governance requirements. Our team have a wealth of experience in advising our education clients on the full range of governance issues

Educational & Pastoral Advice

We advise on the full spectrum of education-related challenges, needs, and requirements of your pupils. Areas include student related matters, child protection and safeguarding, admissions and exclusions, parental complaints and more

Corporate & Commercial

Our legal experts can help you with commercial contracts and procurement, advising on funding agreements, drafting, negotiating and reviewing collaboration agreements with third parties, advising on changes to constitution​, advising on group reorganisations, including incorporation and removal of subsidiaries​, drafting joint venture documentation​, disputes arising out of commercial agreements

Information Law

We can assist with the information obligations of schools in a. number of areas including, dealing with Data Subject Access Requests from pupils, staff and parents, responding to Freedom of Information Act requests and providing training on GDPR obligations

Employment & HR

We provide support on a wide range of employment and HR issues including general HR queries, redundancy and restructuring, employment contracts, including both drafting and making contractual variations and their implementation, occupational health, policies and procedures, advising on guidelines for carrying out equality and diversity analysis, performance management, employment disputes and tribunals, TUPE, discrimination and whistleblowing, Immigration. If you need additional assistance, our HR Consultancy can support you, from day-to-day advice through to the development and implementation of complex projects.

Property

We can advise on acquisitions and disposals of land and property, provide planning and construction advice, including securing planning permission and appealing planning refusal as well as advising on construction contracts, advise on the refinancing of school property, development projects, to include Charities Act requirements

Our Academies Experts

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Why Choose Us?

As a full-service law firm with a focus on the education sector, we’re able to tailor our service offering to fit your needs
We’re proud to have education as one of our firm’s longest standing key sectors, acting for over 100 education institutions
Our long term presence within the sector means we have a full understanding of the issues arising across all typical areas

Our Work

Sixth Form College Client

Academy Conversion

We advised a sixth form college on its conversion to academy status and on joining a multi-academy trust. There were complex issues about the continuing right of the college to occupy land (held under a Charity Commission scheme) and to receive income which required supplemental agreements to be put in place and checking that the trust was wide enough to support an academy.

We provided multi-disciplinary advice including; advice in relation to a charitable scheme in respect of the college’s site, legal due diligence in respect of the Multi-Academy Trust, property advice in relation to the college’s leases, employment advice in respect of TUPE and specialist education advice in respect of the conversion process and documents.

As well as advising on the legal and regulatory framework for the dissolution of the college, carrying out legal due diligence and providing broader support to college’s senior leadership team and governing body, we advised on how the scheme affected the transfer and use of the property following the dissolution.

Secondary School

Multi Academy Trust

Supporting a MAT client with a threatening letter before action it received from Lawyers for Liberty threatening legal action and police intervention if the school did not consult with parents before disseminating Covid-19 vaccinations to pupils.

Multi Academy Trust

Parental Complaint

Advising a MAT on responding to a parental complaint regarding the content of its Relationships, Sex and Health education curriculum. The parent considered that the proposed content was inappropriate for primary age children and was not “culturally sensitive”. This involved consideration of the DfE’s statutory RSE guidance, the parent’s particular concerns with the proposed terminology used in the curriculum and advising on a sensitive response to his concerns emphasising his right to withdraw from sex education only.

Our Other Education Services

Independent Schools

With industry leading experience in the education sector, our multi-disciplinary team of experts work as trusted advisors to help you succeed. We will support you through the myriad of legal challenges that schools face, so you can focus on pupil attainment.

Higher Education Law

We have built a high profile in the HE sector, working closely with sector bodies on key sector issues and being actively involved in helping to shape the “universities of the future” through thought leadership and through our presence on and contribution to sector commissions, such as the Higher Education Commission and the Skills Commission.

Our Latest Updates

Our Academies experts are here to answer any questions you might have

If you’d like to speak to a member of our team, please fill out the enquiry form. We will aim to reply to your query within 2 hours

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Call Us: 0330 024 0333