The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has reported an increase in the number of its members who lost their jobs for reasons other than misconduct and ill-health from 163 in 2010 to  272 in 2011. Included in this figure were 17 business managers, along with 64 heads and 191 deputy and assistant heads.

‘In the vast majority of cases these are good school leaders who find themselves in difficult schools facing near impossible demands and timescales for improvement,’ said the ASCL’s general secretary, Brian Lightman.

‘The football manager mentality is yet another factor discouraging good people from taking on headships, especially in schools in challenging circumstances,’ he added.

The ASCL says the sackings are due to leaders facing more pressure from local authorities, academy chains and central government to raise exam results and being given less time to turn around underperforming schools. It also blamed restructuring caused by schools federating or becoming academies.

By David Gordon