ABSTRACT
The job of headteacher is one of the most fundamental to the success of a school. This has been recognized by government, and various initiatives have been introduced to improve the level of leadership of schools. In recent years schools performing badly in league tables have either been closed or have been taken over by LEAs or business consortia. Headteachers of failing schools have even been threatened with dismissal and their schools with transferral to the management of a successful headteacher. There is no question therefore about the high level of responsibility attached to this post and it is perhaps not surprising that some challenging schools have been without a permanent headteacher for some time. The government has raised the profile of school leadership with the establishment in 2000 of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) in Nottingham and with the introduction of National Standards for Headship and the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH).
