Headteacher
Headteachers manage schools and create the right conditions for children and staff to achieve their best.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
As a headteacher, you will:
- set the school’s values, strategic direction and vision
- work closely with students, staff, parents, governors and the community
- create a healthy and safe space for learning
- develop and monitor the quality of teaching
- use data to track performance and produce reports
- inspire and motivate staff and students
- control school finances and attend meetings, sometimes outside of usual working hours
Working environment
You could work at a school.
Career path and progression
There are opportunities to move between different types and sizes of school due to the variety of schools in the UK.
You could also train to be an Ofsted inspector, an education adviser, or become a teacher training lecturer in a college or university.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
- knowledge of English language
- leadership skills
- business management skills
- the ability to work well with others
- to be flexible and open to change
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- customer service skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
Restrictions and Requirements
You'll need to:
How to become
You can get into this job by working towards this role.
You can become a headteacher after working as a teacher in a school.
You'll also need several years' experience as a senior manager or deputy head. You can take professional development training to help with this. For example, by completing the National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership and the National Professional Qualification for Headship.
Registration
- you'll usually need qualified teacher status (QTS) to teach in a state school in England
Further information
You can discover more about senior teaching careers from Ambition Institute and Get Into Teaching.
You can also search for jobs through the Teaching Vacancies service.
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External links
This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.