What is an executive headteacher? Karen Wespieser looks at the role and skills of the growing number of executive headteachers and outlines the strategic purpose of this emerging role

Unlike the term “headteacher”, which is defined under section 35 and 36 of the Education Act 2002, there is currently no legal definition of what an “executive headteacher” (EHT) is or what they should do. Research conducted by NFER, Ambition School Leadership and the National Governance Association in 2016 sought to investigate the EHT role.

Using the School Workforce Census, the research found that EHTs are becoming increasingly prevalent as the self-improving school system matures. There are more than 620 in the school workforce today and the number recorded in the census has increased by 240 per cent between 2010 and 2014. That said, this still only accounts for around three per cent of the overall headteacher population.

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