Guidance

Headteachers' standards

Best-practice standards for headteachers.

Applies to England

Documents

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National standards of excellence for headteachers 2015

Details

These standards are for:

  • headteachers
  • governing boards
  • people planning to become headteachers

They articulate how headteachers can meet both the additional responsibilities of headship and the requirements of the teachers’ standards.

The headteachers’ standards are intended as guidance to be interpreted in the context of each individual headteacher and school (including maintained schools, academies and independent schools).

Where you have completed the headteacher performance management process for the year 2020, or it is currently ongoing, there is no expectation that this should be reviewed to reflect the revised headteachers’ standards. In this transitional year we advise schools to engage with the 2020 headteachers’ standards as part of ongoing development conversations and to adopt them at the most appropriate point in the year.

Published 19 January 2015
Last updated 13 October 2020 + show all updates
  1. Revised headteachers' standards 2020 and headteachers' standards: report of the review published.

  2. First published.