We’re excited to announce the launch of TEP's Leadership & Governance fully funded study – the only fully funded live benchmarking census for leadership and governance teams in English education – designed to give school and trust leaders meaningful, trusted insights to lead with confidence.  

This initiative is fully funded by ImpactEd Group to give every school – regardless of their resources – the same high-quality data and analysis.  

Following the success of “Beyond the Agenda”, the first dedicated project into leadership and governance, ImpactEd and TEP now aim to engage even more schools and trusts, building robust nationwide research on education leaders and their teams.

The study allows headteachers and trust leaders to reflect on where they stand compared to peers in the sector, while also understanding whether their teams share the same priorities, purposes, and vision.  

What Is the Leadership & Governance Study?

The Leadership & Governance study is the only live benchmarking survey in English education of how leadership and governance perceive effectiveness and strategic priorities.

It’s designed to show if there are misalignments between your leadership and governance teams, compare them to peers nationally and within your trust, and highlight where to focus to improve the effectiveness of your strategies.

Leaders will get insights into questions such as:

• ‍To what extent is there shared understanding between governance and executive leadership?
• ‍How confident are you in influencing the strategic priorities of your organisation?
• ‍How far are different perspectives valued and taken seriously in leadership discussions?

And through clear, actionable insights, leaders will be able to:

• Uncover hidden blind spots between SLTs, boards, and trustees.
• Benchmark their results against national and contextualised data, segmented by role and phase.
• Use reliable data, not perception, to strengthen decision-making and strategic direction.

Why Should I Join?

In education, so much goes unseen: invisible misalignments between senior leaders, executive teams, boards and trustees; blind spots in decision-making; and no meaningful benchmarks to show whether your challenges are unique or shared across the sector.  

In other words, the people with the greatest influence over school outcomes often have the least access to structured feedback, meaningful insight, or comparison against peers.

The census offers a structured, sector-wide solution to these challenges.

• Understand your alignment
  Discover how closely your senior leaders and governors or trustees are aligned in priorities and perceptions. Build shared understanding and improve strategic cohesion.
  
• Benchmark against peers
  Compare your results nationally, segmented by phase, role, and context. See whether your challenges are shared and gain confidence in governance capability, succession, and diversity.
  
• Turn insights into action
  Use your tailored, visual reports to spark meaningful conversations, guide professional development, and take coordinated action for improvement.

This isn’t about compliance – it’s about capacity. The census helps you turn insight into improvement, with pupils' outcomes at the heart. Moreover, by joining, you’ll help shape a stronger, evidence-based understanding of leadership and governance across the English education sector.

Who Can Join?

The census is open to both individual schools and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) and is designed for CEOs, executive leaders, headteachers, senior leaders, governors, and trustees.

What Do I Get?

Each participating school receives:

• A Headteacher Reflection Report, privately benchmarking your perceptions against peers nationally.  

• A School Overview Report comparing SLT and governor perspectives to identify alignment and blind spots.  

• Role-specific insights to guide professional development, school improvement, and board discussions.

In addition to the above, multi-school organisations receive:

• A CEO Reflection Report, privately benchmarking your perceptions against peers nationally.

• A Trust Overview Report benchmarked nationally for leadership alignment and governance strength.  

• Role-specific insights with system-wide visibility to identify shared challenges, prioritise support, and plan strategic development.

Whether you’re leading a single school or a growing trust, the census provides the evidence and insight you need to lead with confidence.

Is It Fully Funded?

Yes – the Leadership & Governance study is fully funded by ImpactEd Group.

There’s no cost for schools or trusts to participate this year. Every participant will receive benchmarked reports and practical insights to support leadership and governance development.

This national research project ensures that every school – regardless of size or resource – can access the same high-quality data and analysis.

How Can I Join?

The census will take place in February 2026, but registration of interest is now open.

Registering early ensures you secure your place in the study.

After that, there is little left to do. The census is designed to be as low-burden and straightforward as possible for leaders. You sign up, and we handle everything.

Hundreds of schools and trusts have already registered. Be the next one, register here.