Structured governance assurance for UK school governing boards.

The governance operating system

Every part of a school has a system. Governance never has. Until now.

SGAF is the Governance Operating System for UK schools and academy trusts. The full governance quality and assurance system: automated website compliance checks, governor visit plans built from your school's priorities, live risks and the evidence behind the annual statement.

Membership from £229 per school per year.

Or see where your board stands with a free check.

20+ governance checks, delegated and tracked in the Audit Hub

Statutory, core and trust-level monitoring built into the annual cycle

Live school data, website compliance and risk evidence in one board view

Designed by a governance practitioner, not a software company

How it works

Audit findings become risks. Risks become actions. Actions become the annual statement.

One connected loop, running term after term, so the evidence is already there when the board needs it.

Audit Hub summary with completed governance checks

Audit

Guided audits surface what needs attention this term.

Risk Register with owners and review dates

Risk

Each finding lands as a risk with an owner and a review date.

Governor visit plan built from the school improvement priorities

Action

Risks become actions and visit plans the board can track.

Annual governance statement assembled from the year's evidence

Statement

The year's evidence assembles into the annual governance statement.

Trust Command Centre showing every school's governance position

Trust oversight

Trusts see every school's position in one live view.

Kept moving term by term by visit plans built from your school's priorities and meeting cycles that turn each decision into filed evidence. The Quality Standard grades the whole system and External Validation proves it.

For every role

Built for the people who run governance

Pick your seat at the table and see what changes.

School Trust

Chair

The whole board's position on one screen

  • Annual assurance plan the board shares, not one person carries
  • Every audit finding lands as a risk with an owner
  • Governance that survives your departure
Your term as chair →
The SGAF Boardroom Dashboard with the board's position across the term

Headteacher

Answer "how do you know?" with evidence that already exists

  • One termly report feeds board intelligence, the risk register and the annual statement
  • Website compliance tracked termly, not discovered late
  • Inspection-ready because the year's work is already filed
Your term as headteacher →
Audit Hub with completed governance checks and delegation

Clerk

The desk that runs the governance term

  • Agendas built from the framework in minutes
  • Minutes scored for challenge and filed as evidence
  • Every meeting ends with a verifiable artefact
Your term as clerk →
The Meeting Agenda Builder with the governance year's meetings and agenda templates

Governor

Turn up knowing exactly what to monitor

  • A structured visit plan with your name on it
  • Checks delegated to you by link, with a deadline
  • A filed report at the end of every visit
Your term as governor →
A governor visit plan built from the school improvement priorities

Trust CEO

Every school's governance in one live view

  • Risks roll up from every school as they change
  • Exceptions surface without chasing
  • Termly headteacher reports feed central oversight
Your term as trust CEO →
Trust Command Centre showing every school's governance position

Governance Lead

The same standard in every school you oversee

  • One audit programme across the estate
  • A completion grid showing who has done what
  • Delegation with deadlines and automatic reminders
Your term as governance lead →
Audit Hub trust completion grid across the estate

Two front doors

One school, or every school

The same operating system, whether you run one governing board or oversee an estate.

For schools

One school, one system

Every audit, risk, visit plan and statement for a single school, connected term to term.

  • Governor visit plans built from your school's priorities
  • The automated website compliance audit, re-run every term
  • Audit findings that become tracked risks and actions
A governor visit plan laid out across three terms
See how it works for schools →

For trusts

Every school, one live view

Risks, audits and headteacher reports roll up from every school into one oversight view.

  • Exceptions surface without chasing
  • A completion grid across the estate
  • Central oversight included in per-school pricing
Trust Command Centre exception grid across every school
See trust oversight →

Proof

The work is the proof.

Every audit, visit and meeting leaves a dated record behind it, so the evidence is already there when the board needs it.

20+

audits in the Audit Hub

11

statutory monitoring roles covered

7

live data sources feeding Board Intelligence

Pricing

One price. Everything included.

One annual price per school with every member tool included. No feature tiers, no add-ons.

Primary / Nursery

£229

per school per year

Secondary / FE

£329

per school per year

Validation External Validation · £295 per stage · independent verification of the Quality Standard, separate from membership

Invoice and purchase order accepted. Annual billing. Trusts pay per school with central oversight included; we agree the detail on a short call.

See pricing →

Not ready to talk? See where your board stands first.

Run a free check →

Why SGAF exists

Governance does not need another checklist. It needs an operating system.

SGAF turns the work boards already do into one connected cycle: monitoring, risk, evidence and the annual statement.

Monitoring Planned across the year, owned by named governors and filed as evidence
Risk Findings become live risks with owners, actions and review dates
Evidence Website checks, visits, reports and minutes stay linked to the board's assurance story
Statement The annual governance statement is produced from the work, not assembled at the end
Joshua Mangas, founder of the School Governance Assurance Framework

Joshua Mangas

Founder, SGAF

Built from twenty years inside school governance and nearly 500 schools supported across Lancashire. SGAF starts with how governing boards actually work, then gives that work a system.

The board does the governance once. The evidence is created as it goes.

The story behind SGAF →

Get started

One twenty-minute call. No commitment.

See the whole system with your own school's data in front of you.

Book a walkthrough