Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe The Church of England has shelved a consultation on plans to launch its own multi-academy trust inspections, just days after first unveiling the proposals. Church bosses, who were approached by the government to pilot the checks, said they made the decision after receiving the first batch of responses to its vision for the MAT-level assessments. But they expect to 鈥渞evisit鈥 the plans later in the year, as their Catholic counterparts establish a 鈥渨orking group鈥 to draw up their own framework to trial trust inspections. Andy Wolfe, the Church of England鈥檚 interim education chief, said he was working with the government and other faith school providers to understand how 鈥渁ccountability for the distinctive Christian character and provision of church schools might operate鈥. 鈥淸This would be] where these aspects sit outside Ofsted inspection in multi鈥慳cademy trusts. 鈥淭his work will focus on what is genuinely helpful to trust leaders and will not be about increasing workload for schools or trusts.鈥 The consultation was . Documents said the purpose of the inspections was to 鈥渆valuate the effectiveness of a MAT in upholding its specific responsibilities for Church of England schools鈥. They would 鈥渟afeguard鈥 the schools鈥 鈥減resence in and impact on local communities鈥 and explore the trust鈥檚 relationship with its local diocesan board of education (DBE). They would also establish whether DBEs 鈥渃an, with confidence, consent鈥 to more of their primaries and secondaries joining the chains. Three years of pilots The Department for Education had asked the church to run three years of pilots, with six trusts assessed every 12 months, the documents added. But one trust leader, who wanted to remain anonymous, argued the proposals were 鈥渢rying to answer a question that we鈥檙e already able to answer鈥. They believe any trust underperformance would already be found through the church鈥檚 existing inspections of schools. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the evidence you need if you鈥檙e a diocese,” they added. “The concerns are around workload and capacity at a time when stakes are rising in relation to pupil outcomes and Ofsted. It seems to be another administrative burden on trusts that鈥檚 not applied to others.鈥 Pepe Di鈥橧asio, the general secretary of the school leaders鈥 union ASCL, also cautioned against overburdening school and trust leaders before a framework for MAT inspections had been published. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important that these new inspections are proportionate and effective, without adding to the workload of trust leaders. Feedback from pilot schemes will need to be carefully considered.鈥 The consultation papers said the checks would be implemented in MATs that had a 鈥渕ix鈥 of church and non-church schools, as well as in those only religious academies. The assessments 鈥 lasting up to four days 鈥 would relate to the trust鈥檚 work with church schools and would not be graded or awarded an 鈥渙verall binary judgment鈥. Instead, outcomes would be 鈥渟ummed up within a narrative evaluative response to each inspection question鈥. 鈥楥reeping church control鈥 Andrew Copson, the chief executive of Humanists UK, said the plans pointed 鈥渢o creeping church control over parts of the state school system鈥. 鈥淭he DfE and ministers should not encourage religious authorities to expand their role in state-funded education,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey should be doing the opposite and increasing public oversight across all state-funded religious educational establishments.鈥 However, Ian Hartwright, of the National Association of Headteachers, said the union broadly supported the church鈥檚 plans. Ian Hartwright The inspections were set to begin in 2026-27. But Wolfe said the postponement would give more time 鈥渢o reflect, clarify and engage further with key stakeholders. 鈥淲e plan to revisit this later in the year.” Ministers added an amendment to the schools bill to introduce Ofsted trust inspections as early as next year. The changes will give the government sweeping powers to close MATs based on the results of the checks. Paul Barber, the director of the Catholic Education Service, also revealed his organisation had established a working group to produce a framework for piloting its own MAT inspections. 鈥淭he intention is to reflect the DfE鈥檚 trust quality descriptors which will be used as the basis for Ofsted鈥檚 inspection of MATs,鈥 he said.