The Department for Education has said it will use new National Leaders of Education headteachers to support struggling standalone schools when a multi-academy trust cannot be found to take them on.
Heads with a track record of delivering improved Ofsted outcomes for their schools are being invited to apply to become part of the next “high-quality cadre” of NLEs.
However, the DfE has also said that multi-academy trust chief executives do not need to apply for this status to be able to be able to support other schools.
In 2020 a review of NLEs recommended that “transformative” MAT chief executives should be able to apply to be part of a new high-quality group of NLEs. The review was launched in 2019.
But the DfE has now said that MAT leaders do not need to apply for NLE status and can continue to support other schools through the department’s Improvement Offers programme.
School improvement: New National Leaders of Education
All current NLEs will lose their accreditation at the end of this academic year and the DfE will recruit its new recruits to start in 2022-23.
The DfE said that it estimates that less than half of the 900 plus NLEs who have been accredited since 2002 remain active. It is planning to recruit a much smaller number of around 150.
It is now appealing for headteachers to join the NLE programme if they meet the following criteria.
- They have received an improved Ofsted rating from “requires improvement” (RI) to “outstanding”, or “inadequate” to “good”/“outstanding”, and have been in post for at least a year before the inspection showing the improvement. (If they have left the school, the inspection must be within one year of their departure).
- They have had no Ofsted inspections resulting in a decline to “requires improvement” or “inadequate” whilst in post (excluding during the first year) or within three years after leaving a school.
The application process will be broken down into two stages: an expression of interest followed by an online application containing experience and skills-based questions.
Expressions of interest can be submitted until 6 March.
The stage two online application will be available from mid-March and will close on 24 April 2022.
Heads will discover by the end of June whether they have been successful.
Schools minister Baroness Barran said: “National Leaders of Education play a vital role, supporting schools to tackle challenges they are facing to deliver the best possible standards of teaching and learning for their pupils.
“I am grateful to our existing NLEs for the significant impact they have had on schools, pupils and families, and I would encourage any headteachers who think the new role might be right for them to apply.
“From next academic year, our trust and school improvement offer will retain its focus on strong multi-academy trusts as the primary source of support. NLEs will provide vital support to standalone schools where there is no immediate match with a strong trust.”
The government has said that in exceptional cases where a potential candidate does not meet the eligibility criteria on Ofsted outcomes but can demonstrate “a very strong record of school improvement at the expression of interest stage”, they will be considered for progression to the full application stage.
The DfE has previously helped to launch the Falcon Education Trust to take on so-called “orphan schools” that have been identified for conversion to academy status but where a trust cannot be identified to run them.
