The standards, which have been published by the Department for Education, are not mandatory, but aim to set out the "skills, knowledge and behaviour that headteachers should aspire to".
School leaders have welcomed the standards as "challenging and aspirational", but warn that they must not become a "punitive tool".
The standards are listed in a 12-page document, entitled National Standards of Excellence for Headteachers, and they cover four "domains" – qualities and knowledge, pupils and staff, systems and process, and the self-improving school system.
Within each domain there are six "key characteristics" which the document states are "expected of the nation's headteachers". An example from each domain is given below:
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