Methodology

School Leadership retention

Published

Background

This publication uses the School Workforce Census to explore the retention of senior leaders who are new to a senior leadership post in state-funded nursery and primary, and state-funded secondary schools   in England. There have been similar publications in 2018 and 2022, though the methodology has been revised slightly so the current figures are not comparable with the previous publications. 

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.

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.

Data sources and collection

Data were collected through the School Workforce Census, which is an annual census of teachers who are employed at state-funded schools in England. Data between 2010 and 2024 from the School Workforce Census were used for this publication. For information on the School Workforce Census data collection, please see School workforce in England: methodology - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK.

Exploratory analysis using data from the Teacher Pensions Scheme was carried out to identify trends in the number of head teachers still in service but not being reported in the School Workforce Census.

Definitions

Senior leaders

The publication includes senior leaders at state-funded schools in England. We follow the same definitions of senior leadership as defined in the School Workforce Census, and report on Assistant Head teachers, Deputy Head teachers, and Head teachers (including executive Head teachers employed by a School). The number of teachers are reported as headcount and do not account for full-time equivalents.

Senior leaders who are in centrally employed leadership roles within an Academy Trust are not included in this analysis as they are not in scope of the School Workforce Census. Similarly, it is more likely there will be missing data for executive leaders working across multiple schools (academies or LA maintained), if no individual school reports them. As such, these data only reflect retention of senior leaders within schools as reported in the School Workforce Census; we would expect retention rates for Head teachers within the whole state-funded sector (including central and executive leadership positions) to be higher. We expect this to be more prevalent with Head teachers in secondary schools but may affect all levels of senior leadership. 
 

Middle leaders

Teachers with middle leadership roles are not included in this publication. In previous published School Workforce Census analysis (opens in new tab), middle leadership roles were defined as teachers who receive a Teaching and Learning Responsibility payment above £100 or had a defined role or post such as Head of Department or Head of Year. However, we now know that the information used to identify middle leaders within the School Workforce Census is reported inconsistently, making the identification and, therefore, the retention of these teachers less reliable than for other leaders. 

New to post

The publication determines a teacher is “new to post” if they are in a senior leadership position in the School Workforce Census, and were not in the same level of senior leadership post in the previous school workforce census, or were not present in the previous census year. To be included as “new to post”, teachers must be on a permanent contract, and must be under 50 years of age at the time of entering their leadership position. This is to exclude teachers who are on temporary contracts, and those who may leave teaching due to retirement. A leader moving between school phases at the same leadership level is not counted as new to post as they have remained the same level of seniority.

Retention at the same post or higher within the same school phase

For the purposes of this analysis, “retention” is defined as the proportion of teachers who were employed in subsequent years in a role of the same leadership level or higher, and in the same school phase, as recorded by the School Workforce Census.

Teachers are counted as being retained at the same post or higher if they are present in a given census year, and are also present in subsequent years of the school workforce census at the same or a higher leadership role and in the same school phase (primary or secondary). Retention is counted for up to the 5 years after a teacher is new to post.

For example, if a teacher was new to post as an assistant head teacher in year 1, and was promoted to a deputy head teacher the following year, this teacher is counted as being retained at the same post or higher in the assistant head figures from year 1 and would also appear in the deputy head figures from year 2.

Retention at the same post or higher can be in non-consecutive censuses, so if a teacher does not appear in a census one year, but then returns to the census the following year, they are counted as being retained for the years which they are present, even if there are years where they are not present in between. For the year which they do not appear in the census, they are not counted as being retained, but the following year which they do appear in the census, they are counted as being retained for that year. Leaders who move between school phases are not counted as being retained, and are not counted as “new to post” either, but would become new to post if they move between phases and also change leadership level.

Retention at any teaching post within the same school phase

Teachers are counted as being retained within the same school phase if they are new to a leadership post in a census year, and present in subsequent years of the school workforce census at any teaching role (including a lower leadership role or a non-leadership teaching role) and still within the same school phase. Retention is counted for up to 5 years after a teacher is new to post.

For example, if a teacher was new to post as a deputy head, and appeared as an assistant head or a classroom teacher in the same school phase in the next census, they would be counted as being retained within the same school phase but would not be counted as retained at the same post or higher. 

If a secondary school head teacher moves to become a deputy head teacher at a primary school, they would not be counted as retained at post or higher or at any post within the same school phase, as they have left the secondary school phase.

Retention within the same school phase can be in non-consecutive censuses, so that a teacher may not appear in a census one year, but then return to the census the following year. For the year which they do not appear in the census, they are not counted as being retained, but the following year which they do appear in the census, they are counted as being retained for that year. Leaders who move between school phases are not counted as being retained, and are not counted as “new to post” either, but would become new to post if they move between phases and also change leadership level.

Data processing

The raw data collected through the School Workforce Census are processed using the same method as outlined in the School Workforce Census methodology. Teacher data for each census year were then joined together to produce a dataset containing each teacher who has ever appeared in the School Workforce Census as a teacher. Teacher role information was used to determine which teachers were new to a leadership post in each census year, and which teachers are retained in each subsequent census year at both “same post or higher within the same school phase” and “at any teaching post within the same school phase” levels. Teachers aged 50 or higher when new to post, teachers in state-funded special schools, have centrally employed LA or MAT contracts, or non-permanent contracts, are excluded from this analysis.

Exploratory analysis using data from the Teacher Pensions Scheme (TPS) was carried out to identify trends in senior leaders moving to central MAT positions. Teacher-level retention data from the School Workforce Census were matched with TPS data to identify trends in leaders who may have moved to central MAT positions rather than leaving the state-funded system altogether. These estimates were used to explain trends in the retention data.

Differences to previous publications

In the 2018 and 2022 releases, “16 plus” schools were excluded from the analysis. In the current (2025) publication, these schools have been included within the secondary school phase. This is consistent with the School Workforce Census publication, which includes 16-19 free schools, sixth form centres and collaborative sixth forms, but excludes further education sixth form colleges. This increases the number of senior leaders new to post in secondary schools (by up to 30 depending on the cohort) and the retention rate (by up to 0.5%) compared to the previously published figures. Revised figures for the back series are included in this release.

Data quality and limitations

The underlying data used for this publication are the same data which are used in the School Workforce Census Official Statistic publication. The underlying data are rigorously quality assured to produce the official statistics, as outlined in the School Workforce Census methodology. The production of this publication was also quality assured, with each step of analysis peer reviewed within the Department.

A small number of schools each year do not return the School Workforce Census. Where possible, the analysis accounts for the teachers at these schools by assuming the teachers remain in the same roles and school as the previous year. This avoids schools or teachers having artificially high rates of leaving and then returning the following census year.

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.

The following rounding conventions have been used: 

  • Headcounts are presented to the nearest whole number. 
  • Rates and percentages have been rounded to one decimal place.

The following suppression conventions have been used: 

  • 0 - Where any number is shown as zero (0), the original figure submitted was zero.
  • Z - Not applicable

These conventions are consistent with the department’s Statistical policy statement on confidentiality.

Help and support

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.uk
Contact name: Daniel Knowles

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