The Pathway to Headship Explained
The typical stages of a UK teaching leadership career from TLR to headteacher, where NPQSL and NPQH usually fit, and the real Leadership Pay Range group bandings.
Independent guidance, not affiliated with the DfE, Teachers' Pensions or any teaching union.
Short answer
The typical stages, step by step
Every leadership career looks somewhat different in its specifics, but the following sequence describes the pattern that most substantive headteachers have followed in some form. Treat it as a common route rather than a rigid national requirement — schools and trusts value different combinations of experience, and some teachers move through these stages faster, slower, or in a slightly different order.
A first TLR-holding responsibility
Most leadership careers begin with a defined additional responsibility recognised through a TLR — coordinating a curriculum area, leading a smaller department, or a similarly scoped role. This is typically where a teacher first demonstrates leadership capability beyond their own classroom in a way that's formally recognised and evidenced. See our TLR payments guide for exactly how these payments work.
Head of Department, Faculty, or pastoral leadership
The next stage typically involves a larger, more substantial leadership role — running an entire department or faculty, or holding a significant pastoral responsibility such as leading a year group or key stage across the whole school. This role usually carries a larger TLR1 and meaningfully broader accountability, including managing other staff and reporting more directly to senior leadership on outcomes.
Assistant Headteacher
Assistant Head is usually the first role paid on the Leadership Pay Range rather than the Main or Upper Pay Range plus a TLR, marking a genuine step change in scope: a defined whole-school portfolio (such as curriculum, behaviour, or a key stage) rather than a single department or year group. NPQSL is commonly undertaken around this stage, either just before or shortly after appointment.
Deputy Headteacher
Deputy Head typically carries broader, more senior whole-school responsibility than Assistant Head, often including standing in for the headteacher in their absence and a more central role in whole-school strategy, staffing and accountability. This is the stage where a serious headship ambition usually crystallises, and where NPQH is most commonly undertaken.
Headteacher
A first headship is frequently at a smaller or lower-Group school than a teacher might eventually lead later in their career, with some headteachers later moving to a larger, higher-Group school, or into an executive headship or trust-level role (commonly supported by NPQEL) overseeing multiple schools.
Leadership Pay Range 2026/27, by school group
Unlike the Main and Upper Pay Ranges, there isn't one single national Leadership scale — each school is placed into a "group" reflecting its size and complexity, and the group determines the pay band available to its headteacher, deputy heads and assistant heads. These are TeacherPay's estimated 2026/27 figures; see the full 2026/27 pay scales guide for the complete picture including Main, Upper and Unqualified scales.
| Group | Range |
|---|---|
| Group 1 (smallest schools) | £50,100 – £66,500 |
| Group 2 | £52,600 – £70,300 |
| Group 3 | £55,300 – £74,400 |
| Group 4 | £58,100 – £78,800 |
| Group 5 | £61,100 – £83,500 |
| Group 6 | £64,300 – £88,500 |
| Group 7 | £67,700 – £93,800 |
| Group 8+ (largest schools) | £71,300 – £99,400 |
£49,300
Gap between the bottom of Group 1 and the top of Group 8+ — the full span of the Leadership Pay Range
Within a school's group range, the exact salary point for the headteacher — and, conventionally somewhat lower, for deputy and assistant heads — is a decision for the governing body or trust board, taking into account the specific demands of the post, local labour market conditions, and the postholder's own experience. It isn't automatically the top, middle or bottom of the range, which is why two headteachers at similarly sized schools in the same group can legitimately be paid quite differently.
How a school's Leadership Group is actually decided
A school's group is determined by a unit-total scoring system set out in the STPCD's statutory guidance, based primarily on pupil numbers weighted by key stage — older pupils generally attract more units than younger ones, reflecting the generally greater organisational complexity of secondary provision — with further units added for specific factors such as a sixth form or specialist SEN provision.
Because the scoring is formulaic at the group-assignment stage, a school's group can usually be calculated with reasonable confidence, even though the exact point chosen within that group's range remains a local governing body or trust board decision. It's also worth knowing that a school's group isn't necessarily fixed for the life of a headteacher's tenure: growing pupil numbers, a school converting into a larger through-school, or the addition of a sixth form can shift a school's unit total enough to move it into a higher group, typically applied at the point of a headteacher's appointment or reappointment.
A bigger school isn't automatically a 'better' headship
Worked example: how pay might build across the pathway
It can be hard to translate "Group 4" or "Deputy Head" into a felt sense of financial progress, so here's a simplified, illustrative example of how total pay might build across the stages described above for one teacher at a mid-sized secondary school. Real figures vary hugely by school, region, individual negotiation and the exact point chosen within each band, so treat this purely as an illustration of the shape of the trajectory, not a prediction for any specific teacher.
| Stage | Illustrative basis | Approx. National total |
|---|---|---|
| Head of Department (U2 + TLR1) | U2 National + a mid-range TLR1 | ~£58,000 |
| Assistant Headteacher | Bottom of a Group 4 school's Leadership Pay Range | £58,100 |
| Deputy Headteacher | Middle of a Group 4 school's Leadership Pay Range | ~£68,450 |
| Headteacher (Group 4 school) | Upper portion of a Group 4 school's Leadership Pay Range | ~£70,920 |
Notice that the biggest single jump in this illustration happens at the move from Head of Department into Assistant Headteacher — the point at which pay moves onto the Leadership Pay Range for the first time — rather than at the final step into headship itself, which is often a more incremental increase within the same group's band the teacher was already progressing through as a deputy. This is one reason some experienced deputies report that the financial jump into their first headship feels smaller than they expected, even though the change in role, accountability and workload is substantial.
It's also worth remembering that every stage above also compounds into Teachers' Pension Scheme accrual, since each year's higher salary adds a proportionally larger slice to the CARE pension pot for that year. A leadership career that reaches headship in its final decade of service can see a meaningfully larger pension accrual in that last decade than in the two or three decades that preceded it, purely because of how much higher the pensionable salary has become by that stage.
Beyond a first headship: executive leadership and MATs
For some headteachers, a single headship is the natural endpoint of this pathway, and staying in that role for the remainder of a career is a completely legitimate and common outcome. For others, a first headship becomes a stepping stone towards leading a larger or more complex school (a move up through the Leadership Group bandings), or towards an executive role overseeing multiple schools within a multi-academy trust — commonly titled Executive Headteacher, CEO, or a similar trust-level title, and often supported by NPQEL.
Executive and trust-level roles typically sit outside the standard single-school Leadership Group structure described above, since a trust's pay committee sets executive pay with reference to the trust's overall scale and complexity rather than any single school's group banding. This means executive pay can, in principle, exceed what any single school's Group 8+ headship would pay, though it also comes with a correspondingly broader scope of accountability spanning every school in the trust rather than one.
A larger trust role isn't automatically the 'next' step for every headteacher
Where NPQs fit on this pathway
NPQSL and NPQH aren't strict legal prerequisites for Assistant Head, Deputy Head or Headteacher appointments in every context, but they've become closely associated with these stages, and many local authorities, dioceses and multi-academy trusts treat them as an effectively expected credential for a substantive appointment even where there's no absolute legal rule requiring it. NPQSL commonly sits alongside the Assistant or Deputy Head stage, while NPQH is most commonly undertaken by a Deputy Head with a genuine near-term headship ambition, or in the first period of an already-substantive headship where it wasn't completed beforehand. See our dedicated NPQs explained guide for the full detail on eligibility, delivery and the current funding position.
Signs headship (or senior leadership generally) might be right for you
Headship is a genuinely different role from classroom teaching, not simply "teaching with more pay and more meetings" — it's worth being honest with yourself about whether the role itself, not just the salary uplift, is something you'd actually want.
- ✓ You find strategic, whole-school problems (curriculum design, staffing structure, budget trade-offs) genuinely engaging, not just tolerable.
- ✓ You're comfortable being accountable for outcomes you don't directly control day to day, including other staff's classroom practice.
- ✓ You can sustain motivation through governance, compliance and safeguarding work that has little in common with classroom teaching.
- ✓ You're willing to accept greater public accountability, including to governors, parents, the local authority or trust, and Ofsted.
- ✓ You've sought out leadership responsibility at each stage so far because you wanted it, not only because it was the next expected step.
If several of these don't resonate, that's a genuinely useful signal, not a failure — a long, successful career on the Upper Pay Range, or with a TLR-holding subject leadership role, is a completely legitimate outcome. See our Upper Pay Range threshold guide for the alternative route to higher pay that doesn't require pursuing formal leadership at all.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the pathway to headship typically take? +
There's no fixed national timeline. A common pattern sees a teacher take on a first TLR-holding responsibility two to four years into their career, move into a Head of Department or pastoral leadership role a few years after that, then progress through Assistant Head and Deputy Head roles before a first headship — often somewhere in the region of fifteen to twenty years in total from qualifying, though plenty of teachers move faster and plenty take considerably longer, or choose to stop at any stage.
Do I have to go through every single stage in order? +
Not necessarily. Some teachers move faster by combining stages — for example, taking on a substantial pastoral leadership role that carries genuine whole-school responsibility earlier than the 'typical' sequence might suggest — and a smaller number are appointed directly into an Assistant Head role from a strong middle-leadership position without an intervening Head of Department post. It's a common pattern rather than a rigid, mandatory sequence, and different schools and trusts value different combinations of experience.
Is it possible to become a headteacher without ever holding a TLR? +
In principle yes, since there's no strict legal requirement to have held any specific prior role — but in practice it would be unusual, since a TLR-holding role is typically how a teacher first demonstrates and evidences leadership responsibility beyond their own classroom. Almost all successful headship candidates have a substantial track record of formal leadership responsibility of some kind by the time they apply, even if the exact titles and sequence vary.
What's the difference between an Assistant Head and a Deputy Head? +
Both are senior leadership roles paid on the Leadership Pay Range, but a Deputy Head typically carries broader, more senior whole-school responsibility and is more often positioned as the headteacher's direct second-in-command, including standing in for the headteacher in their absence. An Assistant Head typically holds a defined portfolio of responsibility (such as curriculum, behaviour, or a key stage) that's significant but somewhat narrower in scope. Exact responsibilities and seniority vary by school, and some larger schools have several Deputy Heads with genuinely differentiated portfolios.
How is a school's Leadership Group actually decided? +
Through a unit-total scoring system set out in the STPCD's statutory guidance, based primarily on pupil numbers weighted by key stage (secondary pupils generally attract more units than primary pupils), with further units added for specific factors like a sixth form or specialist SEN provision. A larger, more complex school scores more units, lands in a higher group, and has access to a higher Leadership Pay Range band. See our full pay scales guide for the complete Leadership Pay Range structure.
Can a headteacher's pay increase without moving schools? +
Yes, in a few ways. The governing body or trust board can move a headteacher's individual salary point within their school's existing group range over time, in the same way any pay review might. Separately, if the school's pupil numbers or complexity genuinely grow enough to shift it into a higher group — for example, a primary school growing into a larger through-school, or a school adding a sixth form — the ceiling available to that headship rises too, typically applied at the point of reappointment or a formal review rather than automatically mid-contract.
Do I need an NPQ at every stage of this pathway? +
No specific NPQ is a strict legal requirement at any single stage, but NPQSL and NPQH have become closely associated with the Assistant/Deputy Head and Headteacher stages respectively, and many local authorities, dioceses and trusts treat them as an effectively expected credential in practice, even where not a hard legal rule. See our dedicated NPQs guide for the full detail on which qualification tends to map to which stage.
Is headship worth pursuing purely for the pay? +
Pay is a real and legitimate factor — the Leadership Pay Range does pay substantially more than the Upper Pay Range, as the table on this page shows — but headship also carries substantially greater accountability, a different kind of workload (governance, budget, safeguarding, staffing, Ofsted accountability), and a role that's genuinely different in character from classroom teaching, not simply 'teaching with more pay'. Most teachers who thrive in headship pursue it because they want that different kind of role, with the pay increase as a meaningful but secondary factor rather than the sole driver.
Related guides
NPQs Explained
The specialist and leadership qualifications that sit alongside this pathway.
Upper Pay Range Threshold Guide
The alternative route to higher pay for teachers who want to stay in the classroom.
Teacher Pay Scales 2026/27
The full Main, Upper and Leadership Pay Range tables.
TLR Payments Explained
How the first rung of the leadership ladder is actually paid.