Reporting year 2024

School Leadership retention

Data guidance

Published

Description

This page describes the data for the School Leadership retention publication, which uses underlying data from the School Workforce Census. Two data files are included, detailing the retention of senior leaders at 1) the same post or higher, and 2) at any teaching post within the same school phase.

Coverage

The data cover senior leaders (assistant head, deputy head, and head teachers) in state funded primary and secondary schools, between census years 2010 to 2024. Data are only presented at a national level.

File formats and conventions

Symbols used in the underlying data files are:

z =  not applicable - statistic cannot be produced. For example where a denominator is not available to produce a percentage. 

Data files

All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.

Senior leader retention at the same post or higher

Filename
leadership_retention_at_post.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2011 to 2024
Content
Retention rates and headcounts of senior leaders in state funded primary or secondary schools at the same post or higher.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
headcount_retained_at_same_post_or_higherHeadcount
phase_type_groupingSchool Phase - Filter by school phase
postPost - Filter by leadership post
rate_retained_at_same_post_or_higherPercent retained
years_after_new_to_postYears after New to Post - Number of years after the cohort was new to post

Senior leader retention at any post within the same phase

Filename
leadership_retention_in_phase.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2011 to 2024
Content
Retention rates and headcounts of senior leaders in state funded primary or secondary schools at any teaching post within the same school phase.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
headcount_retained_in_same_phaseHeadcount
phase_type_groupingSchool Phase - Filter by school phase
postPost - Filter by leadership post
rate_retained_at_same_post_or_higherPercent retained
years_after_new_to_postYears after New to Post - Number of years after the cohort was new to post