Geoff Barton is to stand down as general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders in 2024.
This is three years earlier than his current five-year term was due to end.
Mr Barton has said that, after seven years in post, it will be time for the association to have a new leader with a fresh approach.
Mr Barton was first elected as general secretary of the school leaders’ union in 2017, following 15 years as headteacher of King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
He won in a landslide then, with more than 80 per cent of the votes, and was re-elected in March last year unopposed.
This meant he could have served a further term of five years from April 2022 to 2027.
However, ASCL members have now been informed that he is to stand down in April 2024.
A press statement from ASCL said: “The legal and constitutional process for electing a new general secretary necessitates a process that takes place over a lengthy period of time, and Mr Barton has therefore given advance notice now to ensure that there is a smooth transition.”
Mr Barton said: “I’ve decided to step down as ASCL general secretary in April 2024. By that point, I will have been in post for seven years, and I believe it will be the right time for our association to have a new leader with a fresh approach.
“Over the next 18 months, it will be business as usual for me, and I look forward to continuing to work with the ASCL team - with, and on behalf of, our 22,000 members.
“As we always say, we work on behalf of members and act on behalf of children and young people. That’s what I’ll keep doing.”
