This chapter covers the following roles in publicly funded schools:

• headteachers, deputy headteachers and assistant headteachers (roles collectively known as the ‘leadership group’)
• school inspectors employed by Ofsted
• staff who perform a specific statutory role in a school (such as the special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) and the designated safeguarding lead)
• careers guidance staff
• staff who provide learning support to students
• staff who provide administrative and technical support to the school.

This chapter also briefly covers management staff in higher education and further education respectively.

Main national policies 

There are a range of policies, action plans/strategies and initiatives in place which include priorities relating to management and other education staff. These are summarised briefly below.

The Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy (2019) contains a commitment to help create the right climate for headteachers and other school leaders to establish supportive school cultures. The strategy also indicates that reforms to improve the clarity and transparency of the accountability system are intended to support headteachers, and references a pay uplift for leaders and higher paid teachers.

The Government's national plan to improve social mobility through education, Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential (December 2017), seeks to tackle regional variations in disadvantage through targeting initiatives and resources at those areas most in need of support. It includes a number of commitments in relation to school and college leadership, including commitments to:

• launch a new ‘system leadership’ programme of sector-led peer support and challenge, where high performing local authorities help others to develop effective strategies to improve outcomes (page 14)
• ensure the accountability regime gives full credit to what leaders achieve in challenging schools (page 18)
• encourage and support more Teach First ambassadors into areas that need the most support, and to take on leadership positions, including headteacher roles (page 19)
• transform the quality of professional development available in challenging areas, by investing in evidence-based approaches.
• incentivise take-up in challenging areas of the leadership National Professional Qualifications (page 19)
• invest in further education college leaders to raise standards, through initiatives including appointing outstanding college leaders as National Leaders of Further Education. Their role is to support other colleges in their local areas to raise standards by sharing best practice and expertise (page 26).

The Teach First organisation also runs a number of training programmes for all levels of school leadership. These include the Leading Together programme, which aims to build stronger school leadership across a school’s whole senior leadership team through training and expert coaching, and the Careers Leader programme, to develop expertise in middle and senior leaders to deliver good careers guidance.

The careers strategy, Making the Most of Everyone’s Skills and Talents (December 2017), which includes the Government’s plan for raising the quality of careers provision. One of the requirements of the plan was that by September 2018, every school and college in England would have a named Careers Leader leading its careers programme.

In higher education, Advance HE has the remit of advancing professional practice across the UK. This includes teaching, research and leadership practice. A suite of programmes targets those who are new to HE leadership, those with some leadership experience and seeking to improve their practice, and senior and strategic leaders.

(Advance HE was formed in March 2018 from a merger of three sector bodies (the Equality Challenge Unit - ECU, the Higher Education Academy - HEA, and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education - LFHE), in response to the recommendations of a review of HE sector agencies by the higher education sector representative bodies, Universities UK and GuildHE.)

In further education, the Further Education Strategic Leadership Programme, commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and delivered by Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, was launched in 2017. It aims to raise leadership capability and capacity and is open to Principals and CEOs across further education and training.

Article last reviewed 16 December 2020.