The State of Leadership and Management in Education
Drawing on new survey data, existing research and case studies, the Top of the Class? report seeks to better understand existing deficits and the potential of effective management. Quality education is central to greater prosperity in industrialised societies. However, the latest public data shows that education quality in the UK lags behind many other comparative countries.
Evidence also reveals that leadership and management can play a central role in improving educational quality. In the UK, however, between 2017-2023, an average 30% of schools and colleges have received a rating of “inadequate” or “requires improvement” for leadership and management, indicating that leadership and management has been lacking for some time.
The research reveals that while leadership quality is the most important factor for success in educational organisations, one in five managers rate their senior leadership as ineffective (20%). Other areas that educational organisations are struggling with include morale and motivation with almost a third of managers saying their senior leadership team performed poorly at motivating staff (30%). Recruitment and retention are also areas of concern with only 50% and 57% of managers saying their organisation performed well in these areas respectively.
The report lays out a number of recommendations to maximise the contribution of leadership and management to organisational success and lays out four examples of organisations who have reaped the benefits of good leadership and management.
Key Research Findings
From 2017-2023, an average of 30% of schools and colleges have received a rating of “inadequate” or “requires improvement"” for leadership and management, indicating that leadership and management has been lacking for some time.
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Nearly two fifths (39%) of survey respondents said leadership quality is one of the three most important factors for success in public sector organisations but one in five rate their senior leadership as ineffective.
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Workforce motivation and morale was the second most important factor for success, with 29% of survey respondents saying so. However, 26% of leaders and managers felt that their senior leadership are poor at motivating staff.
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Recruiting and retaining good quality staff is a challenge for many in education. Only 50% of leaders and managers feel that their organisation performed well at attracting talent in 2022, and only 57% felt they performed well at retaining it.
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Proposed Improvements
Prioritise leadership and management
Politicians and policymakers should make leadership and management a priority issue.
Build on teacher recruitment and retention strategy
Build on the current Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy and develop a more comprehensive approach to reducing the numerous barriers to maximising the contribution of leadership and management to organisational success of schools and colleges
Revamp leadership NPQs
Revamp leadership NPQs and mandate them for all those aspiring to be or already in leadership and management roles in state funded education. Develop leadership NPQs or equivalents for other parts of the (e.g., higher) education sector.
Ensure quality and consistency of training
Ensure that the reformed NPQ framework is underpinned by a robust regime that upholds the quality and consistency of the training and enables those procuring such training to access the right training from the best providers.
One of the things that we’ve introduced over the last few years is to make sure that where our structures are a flat, there are opportunities for people to progress.
Alan Benvie, Vice-principal, Oldham College
Leadership is the single most important thing in education…where you've got the leadership right, and that normally comes in the form of the principal, everything else will follow…
SMF roundtable participant
It's been about developing trust between the different levels in the organisation and respecting and trusting the people that you've put into post to deliver without always interfering.
Professor Lynn Dobbs, Vice Chancellor, London Metropolitan University