---
title: "Keystone’s Guide to the ATH Update 2022 - Blog - Keystone Knowledge"
description: "The long-awaited updated Academies Trust Handbook has been released! Luckily there haven't been many changes to this edition but here are the amendments that you should know about and how they affect you. These changes came into effect on the 1st Sep"
url: "https://keystoneknowledge.com/blog/keystone-s-guide-to-the-ath-update-2022"
date: "2026-05-23T21:01:42+00:00"
language: "en-GB"
---

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#  Keystone’s Guide to the ATH Update 2022

  [General](https://keystoneknowledge.com/blog/categories/general)

  [Keystone Knowledge](https://keystoneknowledge.com/blog/blogger/keystone)

  Wednesday, 07 September 2022

  1712 Hits

The long-awaited updated Academies Trust Handbook has been released! Luckily there haven't been many changes to this edition but here are the amendments that you should know about and how they affect you. These changes came into effect on the 1st September and you should be aware of them as the 2022/23 year begins.

Budget Forecast Return OutturnStaff SeveranceIndemnities

The updated ATH has confirmed that trusts will be able to enter indemnities without prior consent from the ESFA as long as they are in the normal course of business.

Trusts will still need to get approval from the ESFA if they plan to:

- Write off debts and losses
- Enter into a guarantee or letters of comfort
- Enter into an indemnity that is not in the normal course of business

Religious Character

Trusts with a religious designation can have services provided to them by their religious authority to "protect and develop their religious character and ethos" as long as they fulfil the "at cost" requirement". This has expanded from the previous version of the ATH which only mentioned "dioceses" to cover all religious authorities.

If you would like some support over the coming year, please [don't hesitate to contact us](https://www.keystoneknowledge.com/contact). Keystone provides schools and trusts across the country with a wide range of operational services; from HR and estates to projects that help trusts achieve their growth strategy. Keystone provides expertise and works collaboratively with your school or trust to ensure best practice is shared.

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####  About the author

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##### Author's recent posts

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