SMART Multi Academy Trust

What SMART Multi Academy Trust does

SMART Multi Academy Trust is a UK not-for-profit educational organization (exempt charity and company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales as company number 7542166) operating a network of 11 educational settings across South East Cornwall: three primary schools (Dobwalls, Landulph, Trewidland), three secondary schools (Liskeard School & Community College, Looe Community Academy, Saltash Community School), two sixth form centres, two area resource bases for special educational needs, one pre-school, and two nurseries (under the SMART Nurseries sub-brand). The Trust serves over 3,000 young people and employs more than 300 staff under CEO Dan Buckley (appointed May 2017). Its core intellectual property is the SMART Learning Model, a research-led curriculum framework comprising SMART Concept Maps (3-5 core concepts per subject spiraled through each school year), Knowledge Organisers, and the SECRET Skills Framework (Self-Management, Effective Participation, Creative Thinking, Reflective Learning, Enquiry, Team Working), developed collaboratively by headteachers and subject leaders.

The Trust's business model is primarily subscription-recurring, driven by per-pupil government funding via the Education Funding Agency for its academy schools. Secondary revenue streams include paid Service Level Agreements through which the Trust Shared Services Team (TSST) sells central services — ICT network management, grounds maintenance, compliance, financial services, safeguarding reviews, and caretaking/facilities — to schools outside the Trust, and transactional facility lettings income from community hire of school spaces. Admissions are coordinated through Cornwall Council rather than commercial sales channels, reflecting the publicly-funded education context. Distribution is geographically constrained to the Caradon area of South East Cornwall (Liskeard, Saltash, Looe corridor), with the CEO personally engaging prospective headteachers for partnership and conversion conversations. All inspected schools have achieved OFSTED 'Good' ratings, and 2025 saw record GCSE results at Liskeard and Saltash alongside best A Level results at Liskeard Sixth Form in recent years.

Name

SMART Multi Academy Trust

Legal name

SMART Schools Trust

Website

https://smart-trust.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SMART Multi Academy Trust is a UK not-for-profit charity operating 11 schools, nurseries and sixth forms across South East Cornwall, serving 3,000+ students through a proprietary SMART Learning Model and government per-pupil funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Primary and Secondary Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (61111), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Public K–12 Combined Schools (EDAJAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Charter Special Education & Inclusive Programs (EDAJACAF)

Keywords

• Multi academy trust
• Primary secondary education
• Early years nursery
• School curriculum framework
• Sixth form provision

Headquarters

HQ city

Liskeard

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government Education Funding: State-funded through the Education Funding Agency as an academy trust. Schools receive per-pupil funding from the government for educating students.
2. Service Level Agreements: Central services provided to other schools not in the Trust under SLA agreements including grounds maintenance, ICT network management, compliance services, financial services, safeguarding reviews, and caretaking/facilities.
3. Facility Lettings: School facilities are available for hire to the community through a lettings calendar system.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SMART Multi Academy Trust delivers nursery, primary, secondary, and sixth form education to over 3,000 young people across South East Cornwall through a network of seven schools, two nurseries, a pre-school, and two area resource bases. Education is delivered via a proprietary research-based curriculum (SMART Learning Model) that combines core Concept Maps, Knowledge Organisers, and the SECRET Skills framework across all member schools. The Trust also offers paid central services (ICT, compliance, financial, safeguarding, facilities) to non-Trust schools under Service Level Agreements.

Product overview

SMART Multi Academy Trust is an educational organization operating a network of schools across South East Cornwall, comprising three primary schools (Dobwalls, Landulph, Trewidland), three secondary schools (Liskeard, Looe Community Academy, Saltash Community School), two sixth form centres, two nurseries, a pre-school, and two area resource bases serving over 3000 young people. The Trust offers a unified educational approach built around its SMART Learning Model, which incorporates SMART Concept Maps (core concepts spiraled through curriculum), the SECRET Skills Framework (Self-Management, Effective Participation, Creative Thinking, Reflective Learning, Enquiry, Team Working), and Leadership Ladders for staff development. The Trust also provides supplementary services including a Trust Student Leadership Programme, Team Around the School (TAS) community initiative, and access to CPD/training events. Early years provision is delivered through SMART Nurseries brand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SMART Nurseries: Early years education provision operated by the Trust, including Liskeard School Nursery and Dobwalls School Nursery.

Products and services

• SMART Nurseries Early years childcare and education provision operated by the Trust, including Liskeard School Nursery and Dobwalls School Nursery, serving children from nursery age through pre-school.
• Dobwalls Community Primary School

Quantifiable outcome

• All inspected schools rated Good by OFSTED
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered regional and national.

• Cornwall Council - Team Around the SchoolregionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Collaborative initiative launched in 2020 to bring community networks together around needs of young people. Mission to act as a meeting place for all services supporting young people in South East Cornwall from pre-birth to employment. Funded by SMART for initial two years.
• Cornwall Association of Chief ExecutivesregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerA termly forum for all Trust CEOs and the Local Authority in Cornwall collaborating to ensure high quality education for all children in the region.
• Cornwall Education PartnershipregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerA group comprising all educational agencies working with children between ages 2 and 16 to set strategic priorities for Cornwall.
• Regional Schools Commissioner - South WestregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal offices of the Department for Education overseeing strategic growth and change of multi academy trusts in the South West region.
• Cornwall Association of Secondary HeadteachersregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerA group supporting secondary Headteachers and subject leaders in Cornwall with professional development and collaboration.
• Cornwall Association of Primary HeadteachersregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerA group supporting primary Headteachers and subject leaders in Cornwall with professional development and collaboration.
• Confederation of School TrustsnationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe national organisation and sector body for School Trusts in England, advocating for, connecting and supporting executive and governance leaders.
• BarnardosnationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides presentations, information and support regarding the welfare of children with national remit for dealing with impact of domestic abuse.
• Primary and Secondary Schools in the Caradon RegionregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerA collaborative group supporting primary and secondary Headteachers and subject leaders in the Caradon region of Cornwall.
• National Education Nature Park / RHS / DfEnationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through which Trewidland School received £5,000 funding for biodiversity project. Programme helps schools increase biodiversity across grounds linked to Royal Horticultural Society and Department for Education.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Harris Federation: Large UK Multi Academy Trust running primary, secondary and all-through academies across London and the South East. Comparable to SMART as a multi-phase academy group with a proprietary curriculum focus and strong school-improvement track record, but with much greater scale and urban footprint.
• Oasis Community Learning: UK Multi Academy Trust running academies across the country with a strong community-embedded ethos (e.g. Oasis hubs) — comparable to SMART's Team Around the School community integration model and Trust-wide values framework.
• Ormiston Academies Trust: National UK Multi Academy Trust operating primary and secondary academies with a shared curriculum and improvement model. Similar in operating model to SMART as a multi-school, multi-phase sponsor, but operates at significantly larger scale across multiple regions.
• REAch2 Academy Trust: Large UK primary-focused Multi Academy Trust operating a hub-and-satellite model with shared central services — directly comparable to SMART's structure of multiple small primary schools supported by a central Trust Shared Services Team.
• Academies Enterprise Trust (AET): One of the UK's largest Multi Academy Trusts running primary and secondary academies nationally — broadly comparable in operating model and central-services structure to SMART, though at materially greater scale.
• Greenwood Academies Trust: UK Multi Academy Trust operating multiple primary and secondary academies across the Midlands and East of England with a shared curriculum framework — comparable to SMART's approach of using a central proprietary curriculum across multiple schools.
• United Learning: One of the largest UK Multi Academy Trusts, operating primary and secondary schools nationally with shared central services and curriculum frameworks — directly comparable in operating model to SMART's MAT structure, though far larger and geographically diversified.

Direct peers

• Aspirations Academies Trust: UK Multi Academy Trust of comparable size operating across primary and secondary phases with a proprietary curriculum and pedagogy focus — closely comparable to SMART's combination of curriculum IP (SMART Learning Model, SECRET Skills) and multi-school operation.

Regional players

• Diocese of Truro Academies Trust: Cornwall-based Multi Academy Trust operating schools across the same county as SMART, including primary and secondary phases — a regional peer with overlapping geography and a comparable small-to-mid-scale MAT operating model.
• Cornwall Education Learning Trust: Cornwall-focused Multi Academy Trust running several primary and secondary schools across the county — a direct regional peer to SMART, with overlapping local-authority relationships, SEND partnerships and school-improvement context.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SMARTTrust.net
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smartmultiacademytrust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries8 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 SMART Multi Academy Trust