CIRRUS PRIMARY ACADEMY TRUST

What CIRRUS PRIMARY ACADEMY TRUST does

Cirrus Primary Academy Trust is a UK charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated in June 2015, that operates a multi-academy trust (MAT) structure comprising five primary schools across South London: Avenue Primary Academy, Barrow Hedges Primary School, Rushy Meadow Primary Academy, Stanley Park Infants' School, and Wallington Primary Academy. The Trust delivers state-funded primary education from Reception through Year 6 to pupils in the Sutton, Croydon, Surrey, and Merton local authority areas, with a specialist ASD provision (ASD Bases at Avenue Primary in Belmont and Wallington) offering a Centre of Excellence for Inclusion. Each academy retains its own identity and admissions process, while benefiting from shared central services including a dedicated School Improvement Team, Local Committee governance, and collaborative professional development.

The Trust's core revenue is derived from per-pupil government funding routed through the Department for Education's Education and Schools Funding Agreement and individual academy supplementary funding agreements. Three secondary revenue streams supplement core funding: the CPAT Lottery (a £1/week subscription lottery operated via GivingLottery, returning 40% of ticket sales to the Trust with a £25,000 jackpot), facilities hire and lettings (school facilities made available to community groups five days a week with extended holiday hours), and community fundraising initiatives. There is no proprietary technology stack; the Trust operates a standard school website infrastructure (built by Cleverbox in August 2024) and uses Edurio for staff, pupil, and parent surveys.

The Trust is governed by Members and a Board of Trustees, chaired by Dr Peter Simpson. The leadership team includes CEO Sharon Roberts, Governance Officer Katie Bird, and a 12-member trustee board with backgrounds spanning education, finance, law, M&A advisory, and civil service. Customer-facing distribution occurs through local authority admissions systems (acting as its own Admissions Authority), school-specific websites, prospective parent tours, Instagram, and monthly Trust Parent Newsletters. The operating model is a hybrid of central coordination and academy-level autonomy, with no technology platform or proprietary products beyond the five schools themselves.

Name

CIRRUS PRIMARY ACADEMY TRUST

Legal name

Cirrus Primary Academy Trust

Website

https://cirrustrust.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Cirrus Primary Academy Trust is a UK charitable multi-academy trust operating five state-funded primary schools in South London (Sutton, Croydon, Surrey, Merton), serving Reception-through-Year-6 pupils with specialist ASD provision and a centralized school improvement function.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Wallington

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government Education Funding: The trust receives government funding through funding agreements with the Department for Education. Each academy operates under individual supplementary funding agreements. Revenue is received via the Education and Schools Funding Agreement for state-funded primary education.
2. CPAT Lottery: The CPAT Lottery raises money to enhance opportunities for pupils. Families and community members can join the weekly lottery from £1 per week, with 40% of ticket sales returning to the trust and a chance to win £25,000.
3. Facilities Hire and Lettings: Each academy offers outstanding facilities available for hire to the local community. Facilities are available five days a week with extended opening during school holidays, hosting diverse clubs and activities evenings and weekends.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cirrus Primary Academy Trust is a charitable multi-academy trust that delivers free state-funded primary education to children aged 3-11 through five academies in the Sutton/Croydon/Surrey/Merton area of South London. Alongside mainstream primary schooling, the trust operates specialist ASD Bases for children with autism at Avenue Primary Academy, and generates supplementary income via the CPAT weekly lottery and community facilities hire.

Product overview

Cirrus Primary Academy Trust operates as a multi-academy trust with a network of five primary schools: Avenue Primary Academy, Barrow Hedges Primary School, Rushy Meadow Primary Academy, Stanley Park Infants' School, and Wallington Primary Academy. The Trust provides core primary education services through its academies, supplemented by specialized ASD Base provisions for children with autism, a weekly CPAT Lottery fundraising initiative, and community facilities hire services. Schools maintain individual autonomy while benefiting from centralized support, professional development opportunities, and shared best practices across the Trust.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Avenue Primary Academy A primary academy within the Cirrus Primary Academy Trust network, providing mainstream primary education to local children and operating ASD Bases in Belmont and Wallington offering specialist autism support.
• Barrow Hedges Primary School A primary school within the Cirrus Primary Academy Trust serving the local community with state-funded primary education.
• Rushy Meadow Primary Academy A primary academy within the Cirrus Primary Academy Trust that is Ofsted rated Good, has been awarded the Gold Mark for School Games, and specialises in supporting pupils with language acquisition by teaching all children BSL signs.
• Stanley Park Infants' School An infants' school within the Cirrus Primary Academy Trust providing early years and infant education, recognised for exceptional oracy skills development and ranked in the top 10 nationally for the Edurio Staff Choice Award.
• Wallington Primary Academy A primary academy serving the Wallington community within the Cirrus Primary Academy Trust and home to the Trust's Central Office.
• CPAT Lottery A weekly lottery subscription programme (£1 per week) operated via Giving Lottery that raises funds for the Trust, with 40% of ticket sales returning to CPAT and subscribers eligible to win a £25,000 jackpot.
• Lettings & Facilities Hire A facility-letting service across all five Cirrus Primary Academy Trust academies that makes school facilities available to community groups, clubs and organisations for hire during evenings, weekends and school holidays.
• Become a Trust School Programme A programme through which the trust invites primary schools to join Cirrus Primary Academy Trust, offering member schools access to professional development, collaboration opportunities and shared Trust resources and support.
• ASD Bases (Autism Specialist Provision) Specialist autism provision at Avenue Primary Academy with ASD Bases in Belmont and Wallington, offering a Centre of Excellence for Inclusion with personalised learning experiences for children with autism.

Quantifiable outcome

• Rushy Meadow Primary Academy continues to be rated Good by Ofsted (June 2025 inspection)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

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.

• CleverboxminorOthers · 28 August 2024Cleverbox is a school website design agency that designed and developed the Cirrus Primary Academy Trust website. This is a service/vendor relationship for website design services.
• EduriominorOthersEdurio is an education feedback platform that conducts staff, pupil, and parent surveys. The trust has participated in Edurio's awards programmes and received recognition including Regional and National Awards winner (2026), Trust Value Award (2024), and Staff Choice Award for Stanley Park Infants (2025).
• Judicium Consulting LimitedcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerJudicium Consulting Limited provides Data Protection Officer (DPO) services to the trust. The DPO is responsible for overseeing data protection within the schools. Contact: Lead Contact Craig Stillwell, 72 Cannon Street, London, EC4N 6AE, [email protected], 020 3326 9174.
• Workplace OptionsminorOthersWorkplace Options provides the Employee Assistance Programme to Cirrus Primary Academy Trust employees, offering free and confidential advisory and counselling services.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ARK Schools: Established UK multi-academy trust running primary and secondary academies with a brand-led school improvement model. Comparable as a large-scale MAT competitor, especially for prospective joining schools.
• Oasis Community Learning: Large UK multi-academy trust operating primary, secondary and all-through academies with a strong community-hub operating model similar to Cirrus's facilities-hire and community engagement approach.
• Harris Federation: One of the largest UK multi-academy trusts with a broad primary and secondary portfolio and an aggressive school-conversion growth strategy. Comparable as a MAT competitor, but operates at materially greater scale and geographic reach.
• United Learning: National multi-academy trust operating a broad portfolio of state-funded and independent schools across England. Comparable as a MAT competitor and potential acquirer of standalone primary schools in Cirrus's catchment.

Others

• Edurio: Education feedback and benchmarking platform whose surveys underpin Cirrus's award record (Staff Choice, Trust Value, Regional/National Awards). Adjacent ecosystem participant rather than a competitor, but materially relevant as the source of Cirrus's external reputation signals.

Direct peers

• GLF Schools: Multi-academy trust operating a mix of primary and secondary schools across southern England with a strong school improvement ethos. Comparable in trust structure, geographic clustering and central-team operating model.
• REAch2 Academy Trust: One of the UK's largest primary-focused multi-academy trusts, operating a network of primary schools with a shared central improvement team. Highly comparable in operating model, primary-only focus and school-improvement-led growth strategy.
• Greenwood Academies Trust: Mid-sized UK multi-academy trust operating a portfolio of primary and secondary academies with central improvement services. Comparable in trust size tier, governance structure and school-improvement-led operating approach.
• The Good Shepherd Trust: Primary-focused multi-academy trust in southern England founded by the current Cirrus Chair of Trustees (Dr Peter Simpson). Direct peer on trust mission, primary specialism and school-improvement operating model.
• Dixons Academies Trust: Multi-academy trust operating a portfolio of primary and secondary academies with a strong performance and culture brand. Comparable in trust-wide improvement methodology and academy-level performance management.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/cirrusprimaryacademytrust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Subsidiaries5 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 CIRRUS PRIMARY ACADEMY TRUST