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A new UK Government took office on 11 May 2010. As a result the content on this site may not reflect current Government policy.

All statutory guidance and legislation published on this site continues to reflect the current legal position unless indicated otherwise.

Policy advice

The knowledge we draw from the best leadership practice in schools, children’s centres and children’s services has been used in the past to provide government with expert advice on tackling key challenges.

In this section you will find advice we have given in the past on:

Succession planning

In December 2005, the secretary of state asked us to work with partners to develop a national strategy on succession planning as the education system faced a potential shortage in headteachers across England.

Leadership of complex schools

There is a growing body of hard evidence that schools that are failing their pupils can be transformed by excellent leadership plus support from another high capacity school. There are at present a small number of experienced leaders who, with their schools, are able and willing to take on these complex roles successfully. Helping to strengthen leadership in these complex roles is a key priority for the National College.

Primary school leadership

Leadership in primary schools is a challenging and complex area. Our advice was the first step towards a more innovative strategy for primary leadership, and the start of some sustained work on developing primary leadership to meet the complex and challenging demands of securing children's wellbeing and developing skills for life in the 21st century.

Children's services leadership

In December 2008, our remit was extended to include the training and development of directors and aspirant directors of children's services.