Professional standards for school leaders

Professional standards for headteachers are set out in the Headteachers' Standards. Read expert advice on how other school leaders – including SBMs and heads of school – can use these standards, alongside other resources.

Last reviewed on 2 March 2026
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Contents
  1. The Headteachers’ Standards
  2. Heads of school
  3. Other members of your SLT
  4. Leaders in Wales

The Headteachers’ Standards

The standards are non-statutory, so you should interpret them in your individual school’s context. The 2020 standards are the most recent version.

They're split into 2 sections:

  • Section 1 covers ethics and professional conduct
  • Section 2 details 10 standards across 3 ‘domains’ – culture and ethos, curriculum and teaching, and organisational effectiveness

Read a full summary of the standards in our other article.

Please note: there are separate, mandatory standards for Wales – for more information, see the last section in this article.

The Headteachers' Standards build on the Teachers' Standards

The Teachers' Standards apply to most teachers in maintained schools in England, regardless of their career stage, including headteachers and other members of the senior leadership team (SLT).

Academies can choose to use them if they'd like to.

Read our article on the Teachers' Standards for more details.

The standards aren't a ‘checklist’, but you should be able to show how