New Trustees at Your Charity-Managed Setting? Here's What to Do

Whether you’ve just held your AGM or have had sudden committee changes, onboarding new trustees can raise a lot of questions. With forms changing and little guidance available, it’s no wonder you feel confused.

This guide walks you through the exact process, step by step so your new trustees can be appointed with confidence.

When you're appointing new trustees it's important to remember that you are doing two different types of check. First is to confirm a person is eligible to act as a trustee for the charity. Then comes the Ofsted checks to asses their suitability. Until both sets of checks have been completed trustees can not be counted as part of the registered provider.

Step 1: Confirm eligibility to act as a trustee

Before you add anyone to the Charity Commission or notify Ofsted, you must ensure each trustee is legally eligible to serve. It is your responsibility to ensure that your trustees are suitable.

Age Requirements:

• 18+ for unincorporated charities

• 16+ for CIOs or companies limited by guarantee

  
  

Disqualification Criteria:

Trustees cannot serve if they:

• Are disqualified as a company director

• Have an unspent conviction for dishonesty or deception

• Were removed as a trustee due to misconduct/mismanagement

• Are undischarged bankrupt

• Have an active debt management plan such as an IVA

  
  

Ask these questions directly. If they meet the criteria — you're good to go! To avoid having to ask awkward questions you can download my free trustee suitability questionnaire here.

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Step 2: Add trustees to the Charity Commission

Once eligibility is confirmed, go ahead and register the new trustees with the Charity Commission by logging in to your online charity account. This is your formal declaration that they are legally able to act in their new role.

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Step 3: Inform Ofsted of trustee changes

The old EY3 form is gone and there's a new process which you must follow.

Send an email to:enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

Using this subject line: Report Association Changes – [Your URN or RP Number]

Include in your email:

• Names of trustees leaving + their leaving date

• Names of trustees joining + their:

  • Date of birth

  • Joining date

  • Role (trustee, director, etc.)

• The date of the change (usually your AGM date)

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Ofsted won’t send a formal response, only an acknowledgment email. Keep this email (and the one you sent to them) as your proof that you reported within the required 14-day window.

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Step 4: DBS & EY2 Checks

After Ofsted is informed, each new trustee must go through:

1. A DBS check

2. EY2 form submission

Although the gov.uk portal lets you start the EY2 first, I find that this often causes delays. Therefore my recommended process is:

1. Apply for the DBS check first

2. Wait for the DBS certificate

3. Then complete the EY2 form — using the DBS certificate number when prompted.

4. Ofsted will request that the DBS is sent to them once the EY2 has been submitted. I would advise that this is sent by 'signed for' so that you can prove it has been sent and more importantly received.

This smooths the process and avoids unnecessary back-and-forth with Ofsted.

Need help with completing EY2's? I have a step by step guide that you can purchase and download to give out to new trustees.

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Step 5: Wait for the letter of suitability

Once Ofsted has reviewed the DBS and EY2, they will issue a letter of suitability for each trustee.

Now I know these letters can take a day and an age to come back! If it’s been a while and you haven’t received anything chase Ofsted. Persistence is key.

It may be that Ofsted have returned the EY2 to a trustee for amendments and they have done nothing with it.

You can also request a list of the trustees that Ofsted hold on file for you.

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Final thoughts

Onboarding new trustees doesn’t have to be stressful. By following this clear process — eligibility checks, proper notifications, and sequencing the DBS and EY2 — you’ll stay compliant and hopefully avoid unnecessary delays.

Once your new trustees are in place induct them in to your charity with our Trustee Induction Toolkit which contains amongst other documents, a welcome letter, a confidentiality agreement and role definitions.

Tip: Bookmark this post or print it out to use as a checklist after each AGM or board change.