School Leadership retention
Retention rates and headcounts of senior leaders who are new to their leadership post in each census year, in state-funded primary and secondary schools.
- Release type
- Produced by
- Department for Education
- Published
- Last updated
Background information
This release is largely based on further analysis of the School Workforce Census, which collects information from schools and local authorities on the school workforce in state-funded schools in England. More information on the School Workforce Census can be found at this link.
This release shares data on the retention rates and headcount of senior leaders who were new to their leadership post in each census year. The release is based on a previous publication in 2022 (opens in new tab), with revised methodology and retention rates being included in this release.
For the purposes of this analysis, “retention” is defined as the proportion of teachers who were employed in subsequent years in a post of the same leadership level or higher, and in the same school phase, as recorded by the School Workforce Census. As such, leaders moving between primary and secondary phases, or moving to special school leadership posts, would be reported as not being retained.
It is important to note that the School Workforce Census does not cover centrally employed staff in academy trusts (MATs), and may be more likely to have missing data for executive leaders working across multiple schools (academies or LA maintained), if no individual school reports them. The growth of MATs and executive leadership roles in recent years would cause fewer leaders to appear as being retained in the state-funded sector than is truly the case.
Exploratory analysis of Teacher Pension Scheme (TPS) data supports this and suggests that the number of Head teachers still in service but not being reported in the School Workforce Census has been increasing in recent years, substantially impacting the trends seen in this release.
Headline facts and figures
Primary head teachers 3 year retention
79.3%
were retained at the same post or higher
Primary deputy head teacher 3 year retention
80.3%
were retained at the same post or higher
Primary assistant head teacher 3 year retention
76.0%
were retained at the same post or higher
Secondary head teacher 3 year retention
64.7%
were retained at the same post or higher
Secondary deputy head teacher 3 year retention
74.8%
were retained at the same post or higher
Secondary assistant head teacher 3 year retention
71.4%
were retained at the same post or higher
- These retention rates are a selection of the rates available within this release - headcount numbers of those retained are also available in the table builder.
Head teachers
Head teachers at the same post or higher
Primary schools
Head teacher retention rates at the same post or higher in state-funded primary schools have declined since 2010.
It is important to note, however, that the School Workforce Census does not cover centrally employed staff in academy trusts (MATs), and may be more likely to have missing data for executive leaders working across multiple schools (academies or LA maintained), if no individual school reports them. The growth of MATs and executive leadership roles in recent years would cause fewer leaders to appear as being retained in the state-funded sector than is truly the case.
For example, if a head teacher in a state-funded primary school moves to become a centrally employed executive head or CEO of an academy trust, they would be appear to not be retained.
Exploratory analysis of Teacher Pension Scheme (TPS) data supports this and suggests that the number of head teachers still in service but not being reported in the School Workforce Census has been increasing in recent years, substantially impacting the trends seen in this release.
In the latest year of data:
- 9 in 10 (89.7%) primary school head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 1 year
- 8 in 10 (79.3%) primary school head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 3 years
- 7 in 10 (70.0%) primary school head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 5 years
Secondary schools
Head teacher retention rates at the same post or higher in state-funded secondary schools have declined since 2010.
It is important to note, however, that the School Workforce Census does not cover centrally employed staff in academy trusts (MATs), and may be more likely to have missing data for executive leaders working across multiple schools (academies or LA maintained), if no individual school reports them. The growth of MATs and executive leadership roles in recent years would cause fewer leaders to appear as being retained in the state-funded sector than is truly the case.
For example, if a head teacher in a state-funded secondary school moves to become a centrally employed executive head or CEO of an academy trust, they would be appear to not be retained.
Exploratory analysis of Teacher Pension Scheme (TPS) data supports this and suggests that the number of head teachers still in service but not being reported in the School Workforce Census has been increasing in recent years, substantially impacting the trends seen in this release.
In the latest year of data:
- Over 8 in 10 (85.6%) secondary school head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 1 year
- Almost two thirds (64.7%) of secondary school head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 3 years
- Over 6 in 10 (62.5%) secondary school head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 5 years
Head teacher retention at any teaching post within the same phase
Primary schools
Head teacher retention rates at any teaching post within state-funded primary schools have declined since 2010, though this is more apparent for head teachers between 3 and 5 years since being new to post.
It is important to note, however, that the School Workforce Census does not cover centrally employed staff in academy trusts (MATs), and may be more likely to have missing data for executive leaders working across multiple schools (academies or LA maintained), if no individual school reports them. The growth of MATs and executive leadership roles in recent years would cause fewer leaders to appear as being retained in the state-funded sector than is truly the case.
For example, if a head teacher in a state-funded primary school moves to become a centrally employed executive head or CEO of an academy trust, they would be appear to not be retained.
Exploratory analysis of Teacher Pension Scheme (TPS) data supports this and suggests that the number of head teachers still in service but not being reported in the School Workforce Census has been increasing in recent years, substantially impacting the trends seen in this release.
In the latest year of data:
- Over 9 in 10 (95.6%) primary school head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 1 year
- Over 8 in 10 (86.9%) primary school head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 3 years
- Almost 8 in 10 (78.7%) primary school head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 5 years
Secondary schools
Head teacher retention rates at any post within state-funded secondary schools have slightly declined since 2010.
It is important to note, however, that the School Workforce Census does not cover centrally employed staff in academy trusts (MATs), and may be more likely to have missing data for executive leaders working across multiple schools (academies or LA maintained), if no individual school reports them. The growth of MATs and executive leadership roles in recent years would cause fewer leaders to appear as being retained in the state-funded sector than is truly the case.
For example, if a head teacher in a state-funded secondary school moves to become a centrally employed executive head or CEO of an academy trust, they would be appear to not be retained.
Exploratory analysis of Teacher Pension Scheme (TPS) data supports this and suggests that the number of head teachers still in service but not being reported in the School Workforce Census has been increasing in recent years, substantially impacting the trends seen in this release.
In the latest year of data:
- Over 9 in 10 (93.5%) secondary school head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 1 year
- Almost 8 in 10 (78.1%) secondary school head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 3 years
- Almost 7 in 10 (69.8%) secondary school head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 5 years
Deputy head teachers
Deputy head retention at the same post or higher
Primary schools
Retention of deputy head teachers at the same post or higher in primary schools has remained relatively stable over time.
In the latest year of data:
- Almost 9 in 10 (89.4%) primary school deputy head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 1 year
- 8 in 10 (80.3%) primary school deputy head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 3 years
- Over 7 in 10 (73.7%) primary school head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 5 years
Secondary schools
Retention of deputy head teachers in the same post or higher in secondary schools has remained relatively stable over time.
In the latest year of data:
- Almost 9 in 10 (88.1%) secondary school deputy head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 1 year
- Three quarters (74.8%) secondary school deputy head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 3 years
- Two thirds (66.7%) of secondary school head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 5 years
Deputy head retention at any teaching post within the same phase
Primary schools
Retention of deputy head teachers at any teaching post in primary schools has remained relatively high over time.
In the latest year of data:
- Over 9 in 10 (95.4%) primary school deputy head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 1 year
- Almost 9 in 10 (88.8%) primary school deputy head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 3 years
- Over 8 in 10 (82.0%) primary school deputy head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 5 years
Secondary schools
In the latest year of data:
- Over 9 in 10 (94.8%) secondary school deputy head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 1 year
- Over 8 in 10 (85.3%) secondary school deputy head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 3 years
- Almost 8 in 10 (78.8%) secondary school deputy head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 5 years
Assistant head teachers
Assistant head teacher retention at the same post or higher
Primary schools
In the latest year of data:
- Almost 9 in 10 (88.0%) primary school assistant head teachers remained at the same post or higher after 1 year
- Over three quarters (76.0%) of primary school assistant head teachers remained at the same post or higher after 3 years
- Almost 7 in 10 (69.0%) primary school assistant head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 5 years
Secondary schools
In the latest year of data:
- Over 8 in 10 (86.0%) secondary school assistant head teachers remained at the same post or higher after 1 year
- Over 7 in 10 (71.6%) secondary school assistant head teachers remained at the same post or higher after 3 years
- Almost two thirds (64.8%) secondary school assistant head teachers remained in the same post or higher after 5 years
Assistant head teacher retention at any teaching post within the same phase
Primary schools
In the latest year of data:
- Over 9 in 10 (94.0%) primary school assistant head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 1 year
- Over 8 in 10 (85.6%) primary school assistant head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 3 years
- Over 8 in 10 (80.9%) primary school assistant head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 5 years
Secondary schools
In the latest year of data:
- Over 9 in 10 (93.6%) secondary school assistant head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 1 year
- Over 8 in 10 (84.4%) secondary school assistant head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 3 years
- 8 in 10 (80.1%) secondary school assistant head teachers remained in the same school phase at any teaching post after 5 years
Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about School Leadership retention statistics and data:
Characteristics of Teachers and Leaders Team
Email: Daniel.KNOWLES@education.gov.ukContact name: Daniel Knowles
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