This presentation was given by Ben Page for The Key.

1. What do school leaders and the public really
think?
The Key and Ipsos MORI share the latest findings
Ben Page | Fergal Roche

2. • Survey conducted online in March 2014
• Sample of 12,000 school leaders selected from The Key’s database
o 1,198 school leaders completed the full survey
o The Key’s database of school leaders covers 84% of schools in England
• Census of 7,000 school governors on The Key’s database
o 1,079 school governors completed the full survey
o The Key’s Governor database covers 74% of schools in England
• Data quoted provides an indication of the opinions of school
leaders and governors in state schools in England
Latest results…

3. Base: representative sample of c.1,000 British adults age 18+ each month, interviewed face-to-face in home Source: Ipsos MORI Issues Index
An Education War?? Not for public
What do you see as the most/other important issues facing Britain today?
0
10
20
30
40
50
May
1997
May
1998
May
1999
May
2000
May
2001
May
2002
May
2003
May
2004
May
2005
May
2006
May
2007
May
2008
May
2009
May
2010
May
2011
May
2012
May
2013
May
2014
London
Bombs
Introduction of
means-tested
tuition fees.
Education most
important issue.
Fuel
Protests
City academies introduced
to combat entrenched
failure in some urban
schools
Lowest score
since Dec 1985
(9%)
Labour’s second term - pledge
to improve failing secondary
schools
Education and
Inspections Bill limits
the power of LAs to
open new schools
April 2011 – Pupil Premium
introduced
Cameron becomes
PM

4. School leaders are happy in their job, especially
those in the best-rated schools
72%
82%
75%
62%
57%
Question: How satisfied or dissatisfied are you in your current role?
Base: 1,198 school leaders responding to question where Ofsted data available
Unweighted data
Outstanding
(n=130)
Good
(n=657)
Total
(n=1108)
Requires
improvement
(n=235)
Inadequate
(n=28)
Ofsted rating
% very/ fairly satisfied in current role

5. Rates of satisfaction are better than other public
services
72%
66%
63%
57%
Question: How far do you agree or disagree: ‘you are happy in your job’?
Source: Ipsos MORI Loyalty Representative Employee Data 2012
Education Health and
social work
School leaders
(The Key)
Public administration/
government
% agree ‘you are happy in your job’
Ipsos MORI Loyalty Representative Employee Data (2012)

6. 66% of school leaders believe that morale in the
teaching profession nationally is poor and 82% think it’s
worse than in 2010
44% of governors believe that morale in the teaching profession
nationally is poor and just 19% believe it is good
Question: How do you rate the level of morale in the teaching profession nationally?
Base: 1,198 school leaders responding to question; 1,079 school governors responding to question
Question: How much better or worse is morale in the teaching profession now, compared with 2010?
Base: 1,198 school leaders responding to question; 1,079 school governors responding to question
Despite their own satisfaction, leaders and governors
perceive that morale nationally is low

7. Evidence of a perception gap?
Excellent Very good Neither
good nor
poor
Very poorPoorGood
My school
Schools generally
Extremely
poor
35%
8%
58%
27%
% Excellent/
very goodQuality of governance
Quality of teaching
My school
Schools generally
Question: What is your impression of the quality of school governance in England? / How
would you rate the quality of governance in your own school?
Base: 1,198 school leaders responding to question
Question: What is your impression of the quality of teaching in England? / How would you
rate the quality of teaching at your school?
Base: 1,198 school leaders responding to question

8. School leaders and governors rate teaching highly,
especially in best-rated schools
Question: How would you rate the quality of teaching at your school?
Base: 1,192 school leaders responding to question and for whom Ofsted
data available
57%
79%
63%
34%
10%
Outstanding
(n=109)
Good
(n=443)
Total
(n=1192)
Requires
improvement
(n=87)
Inadequate
(n=29)
Quality of teaching at your school - % rating quality ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’
Ofsted rating

9. Although ratings suggest there may be room for
improvement
Leaders
36%
Good
42%
Very good
15%
Excellent
Governors
35%
Good
39%
Very good
18%
Excellent
93% 92%
Quality of teaching at your school
Question: How would you rate the quality of teaching at your school?
Base: 1,198 school leaders; 1,079 school governors responding to question

10. Leaders and governors think the teaching
profession is an unattractive prospect
Question: In your view, how attractive or unattractive is the teaching profession to people
choosing a career?
Base: 1,198 school leaders; 1,079 school governors answering the question
60% of school leaders believe the
teaching profession is unattractive

11. But school leaders would still recommend the
profession, especially in the best-rated schools
66%
76%
66% 66%
32%
Question: If you felt that somebody had relevant skills and experience, how likely
would you be to recommend the teaching profession to him or her?
Base: 1,170 school leaders responding to question where Ofsted data available
Unweighted data
Outstanding
(n=136)
Good
(n=693)
Total
(n=1170)
Requires
improvement
(n=251)
Inadequate
(n=28)
% very/fairly likely to recommend the teaching profession to somebody with relevant
skills and experience
Ofsted rating

12. School leaders are less satisfied with the
government’s performance cf. 2010
Question: Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the current government’s
performance on education? Base: 1,198 school leaders (2014); 366 teachers on Senior
Leadership Team interviewed for Ipsos MORI’s 2010 Teachers Omnibus
Source: The Key/Ipsos MORI; Ipsos MORI Teachers Omnibus
Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the current government’s
performance on education?
Very satisfied Fairly
satisfied
Neither
satisfied nor
dissatisfied
Very
dissatisfied
Fairly
dissatisfied
2010
2014

13. This may reflect views about the role of
government in education
“Education should not be
politicised. Teachers and school
leadership are best placed to
make these decisions.”
School leader
“A long-term, cross party
education policy would be
far more beneficial for
pupils and teachers, which
no party currently
champions.”
School governor

14. Nevertheless school leaders perceive that the
quality of education is improving
Question: Do you think the quality of education in England’s schools is better or worse
than in 2010, or do you think it’s about the same?
Base: 1,198 school leaders
47% school leaders say
the quality of education
has got better since
2010
20% school leaders
say the quality of
education has got
worse since 2010

15. Do you think each service has got better or worse in the last five years, or has it
stayed the same?
Public agree…..
Base: 1,031 Source: BBC October 2013
27
15
11
13
11
8
14
8
8
9
7
5
4
4
21
18
18
16
16
20
11
13
12
11
12
10
7
7
3
6
9
14
11
14
9
4
11
9
9
10
15
10
18
3
6
6
14
12
16
8
3
8
8
7
11
13
12
49
2
Recycling collection
Parks and open spaces
GPs surgeries
Refuse collection
Hospitals
Schools and colleges
Leisure centres
Bus service
Street lighting
Libraries
Street cleaning
The police
Care for the elderly
Road maintenance
Meals-on-wheels
Got much better Got a little better Got a little worse Got much worse

16. Do you think each service has got better or worse in the last five years, or has it
stayed the same?
43% better vs 22% worse – good news
Base: Response from those who use the service Source: BBC October 2013
36
43
36
23
29
29
29
28
22
9
22
16
11
22
23
28
32
32
Leisure centres
Schools and colleges
Parks and open…
Meals on wheels
Libraries
Bus services
GP service
Hospitals
Care for the elderly
Better Worse Net score
+27
+21
+20
+7
+12
+6
+1
-4
-10

17. What are schools for?
Which of the following are most important in your school? (Select up to 3) All leaders
Preparing young people with the skills needed for adulthood 68%
Helping young people to have high self-esteem 54%
Creating good citizens 47%
Helping young people to be happy 45%
Creating well-behaved young people 23%
Ensuring young people do well in their examinations 20%
Preparing young people for the world of work 15%
Ensuring that young people are healthy 15%
Preparing young people for FE/ HE 14%
Question: Which of the following are most important in your school?
Base: 1,198 school leaders

18. School leaders consider pupils are generally
happy – less so in academies
Question: On the whole, how happy or unhappy do
you think pupils in your school are?
Base: 1,198 school leaders; 1,079 school governors
59%
academy
leaders think
their pupils are
very happy
72% non-
academy
leaders think
their pupils are
very happy
98%
of school leaders
and 99% school
governors believe
their pupils are
happy at
school

19. More academic focus in academies vs. other
schools
Which of the following are most important in
your school?
(Select up to 3)
All
leaders
Academy Non-
academy
Preparing young people with the skills needed for adulthood 68% 62% 69%
Helping young people to have high self-esteem 54% 43% 57%
Creating good citizens 47% 44% 48%
Helping young people to be happy 45% 41% 46%
Creating well-behaved young people 23% 24% 22%
Ensuring young people do well in their examinations 20% 34% 17%
Preparing young people for the world of work 15% 20% 14%
Ensuring that young people are healthy 15% 8% 16%
Preparing young people for FE/ HE 14% 22% 13%
Question: Which of the following are most important in your school?
Base: 1,198 school leaders / 180 academy leaders / 851 non-academy leaders
Pink shading indicates statistically significant differences between academy/ non-
academy school leaders

20. What next? Support for Pupil Premium and
SEN reforms
Question: How far do you support or oppose each of the following national policies/initiatives?
Base: 1,198 school leaders; 1,079 school governors
School leaders School governors
%
Support
%
Strongly
support
%
Tend to
support
%
Support
%
Strongly
support
%
Tend to
support
Pupil premium funding 74 31 42 80 40 40
0-25 statements for
children with special
educational needs
55 24 32 65 23 42
Universal free school
meals for infants
51 25 26 52 24 28
Forced academisation
of underperforming
schools
8 2 6 13 3 10
Creation of free schools 7 2 5 16 4 12

21. Summary
• Perception that morale in the profession is low, but real picture is
more complex
o Leaders are generally satisfied in their role, and would
recommend the profession
o Ofsted scores reflected in morale and perceptions of quality
• Leaders are relatively positive about aspects of teaching within their
control and experience
o Exception is quality of governance – rated relatively poorly by
leaders for their own schools
• Perception that quality of education has improved since 2010,
despite dissatisfaction with government
• Public agree!!!

22. Why is morale so low when
school leaders think teaching
is getting better?

23. Which of the following are most important in your
school? (top four responses)
Preparing young
people with the skills
needed for adulthood
Helping young people to
have high self-esteem
Creating good citizens
Helping young people
to be happy
68% of school leaders
61% of school governors
54% of school leaders
54% of school governors
47% of school leaders
41% of school governors
47% of school leaders
41% of school governors
Question: Which of the following are most important in your school?
Base: 1,198 school leaders; 1,063 governors

24. Which of the following are most important in your
school? (bottom five responses)
Creating well-behaved
young people
Ensuring young people do
well in their examinations
Preparing young people
for the world of work
Ensuring that young
people are healthy
23% of school leaders
31% of school governors
19% of school leaders
24% of school governors
15% of school leaders
15% of school governors
15% of school leaders
16% of school governors
Preparing young people
for further or higher
education
15% of school leaders
14% of school governors
Question: Which of the following are most important in your school?
Base: 1,198 school leaders; 1,063 governors

25. Pupil
Premium
funding
0-25 EHC plans for
children with special
educational needs
Universal free
school meals for
infants
The three most popular policies:
Question: How far do you support or oppose each of the following
national policies/initiatives?
Base: 1,198 school leaders

26. 0 20 40 60 80 100
Other
Business awareness
Relevant work experience
Qualification obtained
Academic results
Basic literacy and numeracy
Aptitudes for work
Attitudes towards work
Percentage of respondents
What do employers look for in school and college
leavers?
78%
Attitudes
towards
work57%
Aptitudes
for work
CBI/Pearson, 2013

27. How can we help schools
continue to improve in an
increasingly autonomous
system?

28. • Examination system
• Inspection regime
• Governance
• School leadership

29. Examination system
55% of school
leaders do not feel
that the current
examination system
accurately measures
the abilities of pupils
Question: In general, how
accurately, if at all, do you think
the 2013/14 examination
system measures pupils’
abilities?
Base: 1,198 school leaders

30. Inspection regime
• 64% of school leaders
do not believe that the
inspection system
accurately measures
schools’ performance
Question: How accurately, if at all, do you
think the current inspection system
measures schools’ performance?
Base: 1,198 school leaders

31. Effectiveness of governance in England
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Extremely poor
Very poor
Poor
Neither good nor poor
Good
Very good
Excellent
Percentage of respondents
Question: What is your impression of the quality of school governance in
England?
Base: 1,063 governors
“Good governance isn’t
universal. Most of the
6,000 schools that
aren’t good not only
have weaknesses in
leadership, but also
governance.”
Wilshaw, 2013

32. The role of school governor – Perceptions vs reality
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Extremely unattractive
Very unattractive
Fairly unattractive
Not sure
Fairly attractive
Very attractive
Extremely attractive
Percentage of respondents
Question: How attractive or unattractive do you think the role of
school governor is to potential volunteers?
Base: 1,063 governors

33. School leadership
0
20
40
60
80
100
School leadership is very or
fairly important in attracting
and retaining high quality
teaching staff
0
20
40
60
80
100
The role of
headteacher is
unattractive to those
in senior leadership
positions
71%
Of school
leaders feel
the role of
headteacher
is unattractive
%
%
Question: How important, if at all, do you think each of the
following are in attracting and retaining high quality staff into
the teaching profession? Base: 1,198 school leaders
Question: How attractive or unattractive do you
think the role of the headteacher is to those in
other senior leadership positions?
Base: 1,198 school leaders

34. Questions
• Have we got the balance of support and accountability right?
• Does the current inspection regime meet the needs of self-improving
school system?
• How do we get the very best people into school governance?
• How do we ensure headship is an attractive role for talented school
leaders?
• How can we support school leaders and governors to continue
improving?