Headteacher Skills Audit Pack

A quick-and-easy pack to audit the skills of a headteacher or principal. This pack contains concise guidance to support you in effectively utilising the skills audit, whether you're line managing a head of school, academy head or another form of senior school leader in a headship position, or whether you're a head yourself who's wanting to evaluate their strengths and areas for improvement.  

Included is a 15-page template covering the different areas of skills that a headteacher / principal may need. These are split into handy sections, such as ethics and professional conduct, governance and financial and organisational management, and school improvement so they can be used flexibly. Questions include:

• How do I pursue excellence and rapidly improve provision and outcomes while reducing achievement gaps between different pupil groups through effective monitoring of teaching quality, learning progress and skill development?
• How do I go about establishing and nurturing relationships based on mutual respect, while consistently maintaining appropriate professional boundaries that align with my role?
• How do I identify, manage and mitigate risks within the school context?
• What is my approach to crafting evidence-based strategies for improvement, which are thoughtfully tailored to well-defined plans? How do I ensure that these plans are realistic, timely, well-sequenced and tailored to the unique context of the school?

The pack is aimed at supporting headteachers and principals but can be used by anyone in the most senior role in a school, such as an academy headteacher, head of school or an executive headteacher. Governors, trustees and/or multi-academy trust leaders can use this to help to inform appraisal and performance management processes, as well as identify CPD needs for the headteacher.

Whether staff members are new-to-role or have vast experience in their area, skills audits are a valuable self-evaluation tool. When a staff member reflects on their competencies and expertise, they’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of the strengths they bring to their role while identifying opportunities for growth or next steps. This self-awareness can boost confidence and self-belief, as well as enabling individuals to articulate their unique contributions to the team.

When skill gaps are identified, performance targets can include specific objectives aimed at addressing these gaps, allowing those with line management responsibilities to support the staff member through professional development and further training. Skills audits can also help school leaders to create balanced teams, prepare for change, support staff retention and assist in succession planning. 

Key questions answered:

• Why is it important for staff to utilise skills audits?
• How should a skills audit be conducted?
• How can skills audits inform performance management targets?
• How can leaders identify individual staff training needs?
• What other ways can skills audits be used?

Skills audits can be used as a valuable part of the induction process when a new staff member joins your team. Find out more about how to craft staff induction procedures that allow staff to get off to a flying start in your setting with the following pack:

•  Staff Induction Pack

If you know that your staff have training and development needs, and are looking to enhance your CPD planning, this pack will support your thinking: 

• CPD Planning and Preparation Pack

If you're thinking about recruiting a headteacher, and want to use the skills audit as part of that process, then you'll find the following packs and pages useful too:

• Headteacher Interview Pack
• Recruitment, Interview and Employment Compliance Guidance Pack
• More information on our job interview packs for different roles