A momentous year
It has been another eventful year in education, often challenging, occasionally uplifting, and, unfortunately, at times tragic. In the latter category, the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry brought into sharp focus the problems that have long existed with an inspection system that is too harsh, too punitive. The arrival of a new His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, with a willingness to listen, and a commitment from the new government to scrap graded judgements – as ASCL has long argued – hopefully marks a new era.
The problems of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) threw a spotlight on the consequences of more than a decade of underinvestment in school and college buildings. Our work continues to secure improved funding in all areas – capital, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and school and college revenue budgets. The next stop is the Autumn Budget on 30 October.
The year began with a Conservative government that had – and we say this as objectively as possible – clearly run out of steam. ASCL ran a campaign during the General Election under the banner #Education Matters. The new Labour government has come in with some promising ideas – 6,500 new teachers, an expert-led review of curriculum and assessment, free breakfast clubs in every primary school and so on – and a commitment to work with the profession. But there remains a lot of detail to work through on a number of issues and a big question mark over funding. We are also working to support independent school members over the implications of Labour’s plans to levy VAT on school fees.
One of the new government’s first decisions was to agree to and fund the pay review body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for school teachers in 2024/25, marking a second successive year in which our lobbying over recruitment and retention has been successful. We are continuing to represent to the new government the necessity of similar funding for college teacher pay, as well as arguing for the pay of business leaders to be aligned with that of senior leadership team colleagues and continuing to campaign for further action to address pay erosion.
In March, we held our Annual Conference in Liverpool for the first time, a stunning event attended by more than 1,000 members and addressed by a who’s who of education. We highlighted the problem of persistent absence, called for a change of tone in the national conversation about education, and released compelling data on the condition of classrooms.
New General Secretary
At the highest level of government, representation comes through the General Secretary. We were delighted this year to welcome Pepe Di’Iasio to the role following our previous general secretary Geoff Barton retiring after seven successful years in the post. Pepe has come directly from being headteacher of Wales High School in Rotherham and was a long-serving member of ASCL Council, including as President in 2021/22.
Since becoming General Secretary in April, Pepe has already established himself on the national stage and is frequently interviewed in the media where he speaks powerfully about the support that schools and colleges need to close the disadvantage gap and support our most vulnerable students. He meets regularly with the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, her ministerial team and officials, and with a range of other agencies and stakeholders. This representation ensures your voice is heard by the decision makers.
Similarly, our ASCL Cymru Director Claire
Armitstead and ASCL Northern Ireland Director John Trueman negotiate with the devolved governments, representing the views and concerns of members in Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively.
Find out more about the people who work for ASCL at
www.ascl.org.uk/people
Value for money
Our total budgeted income in 2024 is £7.62 million, of which £7.09 million comes from membership fees. The rest of our income comes from investments and commercial activity. This means that we’re actually able to spend more on member services than we derive from membership income.
In 2024, we’re spending £7.48 million on our services, and we’ve budgeted for a small surplus of £142,000, which we will reinvest in future member support.
The majority of our expenditure is dedicated to staffing, reflecting our commitment to maintaining a team of highly skilled professionals across the association and throughout the UK. We take great pride in the quality and expertise of our staff, who are the cornerstone of all our services and support for members. Our staffing costs are broken down below.
Other costs include our headquarters in Leicester, which we use to host a number of our professional development events and meetings of elected members. This saves on hiring premises and ensures that we are operating in the most cost-effective manner possible.
ASCL Council
Our expenditure includes convening
ASCL Council, our policymaking body, which consists of serving school and college leaders who are elected to represent the wider membership. Council meets in person three times a year and it decides what we say and do on your behalf when we lobby the government, Ofsted and other agencies. We have similar representative networks in Wales and Northern Ireland and are proudly affiliated to School Leaders Scotland (SLS). This representation ensures that ASCL is run by members for members.
Council is led by the President, who serves for a year in office, and who is supported by the Vice President and Immediate Past President. The President for 2024/25 is Manny Botwe, Headteacher of Tytherington School in Macclesfield.
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
ASCL is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion within the association and the wider education profession. We organise an annual EDI conference, and have developed leader networks, focused on ethnic diversity, LGBT+ and women leaders, which offer a safe space for members in these groups to support and empower one another. You can find out more
here.
Our staffing
The largest element of our staffing costs goes on our member support services across the UK. These are the services that support members when they face professional and employment problems that require our expertise. The stark reality is that school and college leaders are frequently under enormous pressure, whether that is the result of an inspection, restructuring, or the host of dilemmas that leadership throws in your direction.
Whatever the situation our member support teams are there to offer you professional and supportive advice and guidance, and, when necessary, to negotiate on your behalf. That includes access to a first-class team of employment lawyers.
Hotline
The first port of call is our hotline, which is staffed by experienced school and college leaders seven days a week throughout the year. The details are
here. The hotline can refer members to our specialist team on everything from accountability data to pensions, or to our regional and legal teams if your employment is under threat.
With academy trusts forming, merging or taking on new schools, we have also created an industrial relations team that represents members in negotiations with employers over terms and conditions of employment.
Policy
Our policy team comprises nationally recognised experts on funding, pay and pensions, as well as curriculum, assessment and inspections, and special educational needs. We have dedicated specialists who support independent school members, business leaders, members in post-16 and primary education, and trust leaders. In addition to providing direct support to members, the policy team also represents ASCL in talks with the government, pay negotiations and with a wide range of stakeholders, as well as providing information to members in our newsletters, and supporting our professional development programme.
Member communications
We pride ourselves on providing our members with information and advice in the ever-changing world of education that is clear and concise and cuts through spin and jargon. This is done through a series of newsletters comprising a general update for all members on Tuesdays and Fridays in term-time, as well as newsletters for members in Wales and Northern Ireland and special interest newsletters. You can subscribe to our newsletters
here.
Three times a year we also produce
Leader magazine, which is packed with useful information and features on educational leadership.
Leader has, over the past year, made a successful transition from print to digital as part of our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and saving costs that we can then reinvest in other member services.
Professional development
ASCL is not one organisation, but two. We also have a superb professional development arm, ASCL PD, which runs a programme of highly successful events each year. It includes our leadership appointment service, which will help you appoint the very best candidate for your senior team, and our much sought-after, one-year development programme for aspiring and current trust leaders. During October and November, you can attend one of our Autumn Leadership Conferences, which are a one-stop shop of education updates and an opportunity to network with other leaders. Visit our
PD website.
Associates
On retirement, many members like to keep in touch with the profession by becoming an
Associate member. It’s a thriving network with its own committee and dedicated magazine.
We’re here for you
Everything that ASCL does is informed by our motto: “We speak on behalf of members and act on behalf of children and young people.” That’s what we’ve endeavoured to do over the course of the past year and what we’ll be doing over the next year.
From 1 November, we’ll be sending out notification of our fees for 2025. As ever, we have done our best to keep these to the minimum possible and provide you with a high-quality service that is excellent value for money.
May we take this opportunity, on behalf of everyone at ASCL, to thank you for your support and to wish you well for the new academic year. Whatever the challenges ahead, we’ll be there for you every step of the way.