The case for action

Significant numbers of headteachers are retiring every year and this trend is expected to continue. About one-quarter of assistant and deputy heads are aged 55 or over. There is a risk that the supply of younger leaders, from which the future replacements for senior leaders will be drawn, may not be sufficient. Some areas are struggling to recruit new heads. These difficulties are particularly acute for primary and faith schools. While headship is a great job, and morale and ambition in the profession are high, issues of workload and stress are a concern.

These trends taken together point to the risk of a possible shortfall in the number of headteachers over the next five years. The National College will continue to support schools and local authorities in taking effective action to reduce this risk.

Guiding and supporting succession planning

NCSL's succession planning strategy was established in 2007 to reduce the risk of a future shortage of headteachers. Its principal aim is to increase the number of new heads available. But it's not just about numbers; there's an emphasis on ensuring that those leaders who emerge are of high quality and equipped with the skills necessary for modern headship.

Local solutions

In developing its succession planning strategy, the National College decided to take an approach based on local solutions. Our national succession consultants support the development of collaboration in each local area between schools, local authorities, diocesan bodies and others in order to resolve succession issues. Particular attention is paid to those areas where posts are especially hard to fill, such as inner-city secondary schools and small primary schools.

In addition to this local approach, several initiatives have been launched around the country to encourage more deputies, assistant heads and senior leaders to pursue headship. Some examples of these actives are described below.

Targeted support

The Targeted support project is aimed at NPQH graduates who have not yet stepped up to headship. The College provided funding to those local authorities with hard-to-fill vacancies – including areas with high re-advertising rates for headships, high house prices, a high number of faith schools and high levels of pupil entitlement to free school meals – in order to develop support for NPQH graduates close to headship. In January 2008, 51 authorities introduced targeted support followed by a further 20 in May 2008. So far, the programme has involved around 1,150 NPQH graduates, 350 of whom had achieved headship by March 2009.

Be a head

The Be a head programme seeks to help NPQH graduates identify their own strengths and weaknesses and prepare for headship. The National College provides a free service that includes regular newsletters, an information pack taking candidates through the application and selection process step-by-step, access to an email hotline and one-to-one sessions with a career coach.

Governor engagement

The Governor engagement campaign was run by the College in partnership with the National Governors’ Association (NGA) and the National Co-ordinators of Governor Services (NCOGS). Its aim was to increase the capacity of governing bodies to plan for leadership succession. As part of our activity in 2008–09, 50 events were provided for governors in priority local authorities and were attended by over 1,600 governors. The campaign also provided 10 one-day workshops for local authority co-ordinators of governor services, dioceses and providers of training for governors to enable them to run their own training events for governors. It is estimated that 88 per cent of local authorities will have delivered an event for governors by the end of the summer term 2009.

Related publications and resources

Further information

For further information, email the succession planning team at successionplanning@nationalcollege.org.uk.