Headteacher turnover hit a five-year high in 2025. Here is what the numbers say.

Of the 1,200 secondary schools in Praecip’s active index, 144 appointed a new substantive head teacher during the 2025 academic year. That is a 12% annualised turnover rate, the highest single-year figure we have measured since the 2020 pandemic-affected cycle.

Three patterns emerge in the data. First, turnover is concentrated in mid-tier private schools, the top decile and the bottom decile both run leadership tenures above eight years. Second, where a head teacher exits inside three years of appointment, the exit is twice as likely to be involuntary as to be voluntary. Third, the post-handover year is, on average, the school’s weakest UCE result in the prior five.

We talked to nine outgoing heads, four incoming heads and two board chairs. The recurring theme was governance, not pay: heads who left early described an unclear remit, a board that managed by surprise, or a founding owner who never fully delegated. The schools that retain leadership are not always the schools that pay best; they are the schools that hire on a clear charter and review against it.