Education Partnership Trust

What Education Partnership Trust does

Education Partnership Trust (EPT) is a private Multi Academy Trust (MAT) registered as a limited company in England and Wales (Company Number 07950891), headquartered at Pleckgate Road, Blackburn, Lancashire. The trust operates nine schools across Lancashire and Greater Manchester — encompassing mainstream secondary schools (Pleckgate, Atherton, Burnley High, Carr Hill, Coal Clough Academy), alternative provision (The Heights Blackburn and The Heights Burnley), an SEMH special school (Eden), and a primary school (Parklee) — serving pupils from primary age through Year 11, with particular focus on disadvantaged learners and inclusive education.

The trust's operational backbone is a centralised shared-services model delivered from its Blackburn headquarters and a secondary Blackburn Town Hall presence. The Central Team provides school improvement, Ofsted compliance, HR, finance, IT, estates, governance, and health & safety services to member academies. Technology infrastructure is standard education-sector tooling: school management systems, data analytics dashboards, Sage accounting, and the IMP budgeting system, with an in-house IT function (Head of IT plus technicians and apprentices) supporting networking, firewalling, and cloud solutions. There are no proprietary technology products or AI capabilities disclosed.

Commercially, EPT is a not-for-profit entity. Revenue arrives almost exclusively from Department for Education per-pupil grants, governed by Master and Supplemental Funding Agreements with each academy. The trust follows the Academy Trust Handbook for procurement and charges no commercial fees to students or families. Growth occurs through academy conversion and central-service buildout, with Carr Hill High School (September 2024) being the most recent addition. Governance sits with three Members (including Mufti Hamid Patel CBE) and a Board chaired by Ian Brown, with operational leadership provided by CEO Mark Cocker and COO Jonathan Georgy.

Name

Education Partnership Trust

Legal name

Education Partnership Trust

Website

https://educationpartnershiptrust.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Education Partnership Trust is a non-profit Multi Academy Trust operating nine schools across Lancashire and Greater Manchester — secondary, alternative provision, SEMH special, and primary — funded by Department for Education per-pupil grants and supported by a centralised shared-services model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Multi Academy Trust (K-12 Education Services)

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public K–12 Combined Schools (EDAJAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Special Needs & Learning Differences Private Schools (EDAJABAH)

Keywords

• Multi academy trust
• School improvement services
• Secondary education provision
• Alternative provision education
• Special educational needs

Headquarters

HQ city

Blackburn

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding (DfE): As an academy trust, Education Partnership Trust receives funding from the Department for Education. This funding is governed by Master Funding Agreements and Supplemental Funding Agreements with individual academies. The trust's revenue comes from public education funding allocated per pupil across all member schools.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Education Partnership Trust is a Multi Academy Trust that operates nine schools across Lancashire and Greater Manchester, providing primary, secondary, alternative provision, and SEMH special education to pupils. The trust also delivers central support services including school improvement, Ofsted compliance, HR, finance, IT, governance, and health & safety to its member academies under a shared PRIDE values framework.

Product overview

Education Partnership Trust is a Multi Academy Trust that provides educational services through a network of nine schools. The trust offers central support services including school improvement, Ofsted compliance, health & safety, HR, finance, IT, and governance to its member schools. The schools within the trust include: The Heights Blackburn (alternative provision), Eden School (SEMH Special School), Coal Clough Academy, Pleckgate High School, The Heights Burnley (alternative provision), Atherton High School, Burnley High School, Carr Hill High School, and Parklee Primary School. The trust does not offer distinct technology products or SaaS offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Multi Academy Trust Education Services Core offering of Education Partnership Trust, providing primary, secondary, alternative provision, and SEMH special education through nine academies across Lancashire and Greater Manchester. Pupils and families receive direct educational services funded by the Department for Education.
• School Improvement Offer Central support service providing school improvement, Ofsted compliance, and bespoke improvement packages to member schools. Led by former HMI inspectors and includes shared best practices across the trust network.
• Central Services (HR, Finance, IT, Governance, Health & Safety) Centralised support services covering HR, finance, IT, governance, and health & safety delivered to member schools by the trust's central team, enabling economies of scale and shared expertise.

Quantifiable outcome

• Pleckgate High School transformed from 'Inadequate' (2013) to 'Requires Improvement' (2015) to 'Outstanding' across all four Ofsted categories (2020)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Wigan Athletic Community TrustminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 July 2021Atherton High School pupils work with Wigan Athletic Community Trust on Premier League Inspires challenge project. Students will represent Wigan Athletic at virtual celebration with Premier League. Partnership focuses on social action and mental health awareness for young people.
• Mufti Hamid Patel CBEcoreOthersListed as a Member of the trust (alongside Julie Hughes and Ian Brown). Members serve as the ultimate authority in a charitable trust structure.
• Forbes SolicitorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJonathan Holden, Vice Chair of the Board, is a Partner and National Head of Education at Forbes Solicitors, recognised nationally as expert in advising Schools and Educational establishments on Employment law issues.
• Lancashire Enterprise PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducation Partnership Trust signed the Lancashire Skills Pledge (part of Lancashire Enterprise Partnership) to develop skills of existing staff and actively participate in employing and supporting apprentices across the Trust.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Northern Schools Trust: North of England-based Multi Academy Trust operating primary and secondary academies. Comparable as a regional MAT serving communities of similar socioeconomic profile to those of EPT's Lancashire and Greater Manchester schools.

Direct peers

• Harris Federation: Large Multi Academy Trust with a strong track record of turning around underperforming London schools. Directly comparable to EPT in its school improvement focus and central-team-led improvement model, though primarily London-focused.
• Greenwood Academies Trust: Multi Academy Trust with a comparable mid-sized portfolio spanning mainstream, alternative provision, and SEMH special schools. Directly comparable in mix of school types and improvement-led operating model.
• Oasis Community Learning: Multi Academy Trust with explicit focus on inclusion, alternative provision, and community-hub schools. Comparable to EPT in its mix of mainstream and alternative provision schools and its values-led, inclusive ethos.
• L.E.A.D. Academy Trust: Mid-sized regional Multi Academy Trust operating primary and secondary academies across the East Midlands and North of England. Comparable in scale, governance structure, and central-service approach to EPT.
• Delta Academies Trust: Multi Academy Trust with a school-improvement focus and a portfolio of sponsor academies across Yorkshire and surrounding regions. Comparable in the turnaround-academy sponsor model that EPT uses to grow its portfolio.
• Outwood Grange Academies Trust: Multi Academy Trust recognised for systematic school improvement and a strong 'family of schools' improvement model. Highly comparable to EPT in its sponsor-academy growth strategy and central service delivery.

Broad incumbents

• United Learning: One of the largest UK Multi Academy Trusts operating a mixed portfolio of primary, secondary, and independent schools. Comparable as a state-funded MAT with a school improvement remit, though operating at significantly greater scale and geographic reach than EPT.
• Cognita: International schools group operating independent and state-funded schools across multiple geographies. Comparable as a multi-academy operating group with central support services, though predominantly independent rather than state-funded.
• Academies Enterprise Trust (AET): One of the largest UK Multi Academy Trusts with a nationally distributed portfolio of primary and secondary schools. Comparable in operating model as a sponsor MAT, but operating at materially greater scale than EPT.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Education Partnership Trust