Headship Next
Teach First. Headship Next.
Join a growing community of diverse, aspiring heads and drive meaningful change in the most disadvantaged communities.
Developing future school leaders
Headship Next is a fully funded 10-month programme for senior leaders who want to become headteachers.
The programme combines expert coaching, real-world job shadowing, and innovative leadership development to inspire the next generation of school leaders.
Designed in partnership with Big Education, this programme builds a powerful community of forward-thinking educators committed to driving meaningful change in schools serving disadvantaged communities.
It also addresses a critical pipeline and diversity challenge in headship.
Headship Next Programme
Duration: June 2025 – March 2026
Combining in-person and online experiences, Headship Next will equip you with leadership skills, expert coaching, and a strong professional network.
What your journey includes
- A mandatory one-night residential Saturday 21 June (from 9 am) to Sunday 22 June (finishing at 3 pm) at Jamie’s Farm near Bath. You can also stay over on the Friday night if helpful travel wise.
- Six personalised coaching sessions with an experienced school leader (your coach).
- Two structured online calls with a current serving headteacher (your dedicated leadership ally).
- A school visit to shadow your leadership ally.
- Three online collaboration sessions to share insights and tackle leadership challenges.
- One in-person conference day to connect with peers and deepen your learning.
Coaching and leadership development
The programme’s coaches are experienced school leaders who work at Teach First on this and other leadership programmes. They will provide six personalised coaching sessions to one or more programme members.
Key leadership modules
- Leadership of self
Develop your personal leadership philosophy, identify strengths, build resilience, and establish sustainable leadership practices that align with your values and vision.
- Collective leadership for complex puzzles
Learn inclusive and anti-racist leadership approaches, build supportive professional communities, and explore system leadership.
- The invisible curriculum
Shadow experienced headteachers to understand the day-to-day reality of headship and develop technical skills. You will also learn strategies for navigating complex challenges facing schools in disadvantaged communities.
The benefits of taking part
Programme members
- Personalised expert coaching and support with leadership applications and interviews
- Join a strong peer network of aspiring headteachers
- Job shadowing with a current head in a Teach First eligible school
- Post-programme support to access headship vacancies through Teach First networks
- Ongoing support beyond the programme through our Heads Forward Network
Leadership allies
- Free training in Big Education's Big 8 leadership framework (worth £395) including a one year’s membership and resources
- The opportunity to shape the next generation of school leaders
- Invitations to join expert panels and deliver specialist input
- A stipend towards cover for the school visit day
Partnering for transformational leadership
Headship Next is designed in partnership with Big Education, a Multi-Academy Trust and charity working to transform the education system.
Big Education champions a balanced approach to learning, focusing on the head (academics), heart (character and wellbeing), and hand (creativity and problem-solving).
Through its schools, leadership development programmes, and national coalitions, Big Education is driving meaningful change in education.
Your questions, answered
- What is a ‘Teach First’ eligible school?
As a charity focused on reaching pupils and schools from low-income backgrounds and communities, we have set criteria agreed with the Department for Education (DfE) to identify schools that may benefit most from working with us. We use the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) and pupil premium information for each school to guide us.
This focuses on schools that are ranked in the top 70 per cent most deprived areas (based on IDACI) and where the proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium is in the top 50 per cent of all state-funded schools.
We understand that no set of criteria will ever perfectly capture the many forms that deprivation can take, so if you are not sure whether your school may be Teach First eligible, and you’re interested in the programme, please apply and we’ll get back to you.