National Leaders of Education Framework

This Invitation to Tender (ITT) has been issued by the Department of Education in connection with a competitive procurement exercise. NLEs have made an important contribution and we want to build on that and continue to provide additional capacity to underperforming schools to help them to improve. In the 2020 ‘Review of the National Leaders of Education’, Ian Bauckham and the expert advisory group recommended selecting a new smaller, high-quality cadre of NLEs who would be supported by a professional development offer. Our ambition is for all schools to be part of a strong trust, as we believe that this is the best way to sustainably improve schools. As such, where a school or trust becomes eligible for support through our improvement offers, the Department’s primary goal will be to match them to a strong trust. In situations where an appropriate existing trust cannot be matched, we will match them with an NLE with experience of turning around underperforming schools. The purpose of this procurement is to refresh our cadre of NLEs to create a new smaller force of headteachers with very strong experience of school improvement and who possess the requisite knowledge and skills to support struggling schools. We are looking for demonstrable experience gained in the Education sector, and specifically school improvement. We need high-quality expertise in early years, primary, secondary, alternative provision and special educational needs. Additional information: n/a