Recruiting school governors and trustees is a familiar challenge for many boards. According to the National Governance Association (NGA), two-thirds of governing boards have at least one vacancy, and 38 per cent have two or more.
Overall, the NGA estimates there are 20,000 vacancies and that things are worse now than pre-pandemic.
I’m chair of governors for a large primary school in London. We’re one of the lucky ones: we generally don’t have more than one vacancy. Two or more vacancies, we are keenly aware, would have a substantial impact on our ability to drive improvement and provide scrutiny.
When we do have a vacancy, we use as many ways as possible to try to recruit: school newsletters, advertising and through our own networks. But the recruitment challenge needs creative solutions. I’m also the co-founder of an edtech company, so you won’t be surprised to hear me say that I think the edtech sector can help – but perhaps not how you think.
