The relationship between school leaders and their boards should be built on shared understanding. But what happens when assumptions about what's manageable begin to drift apart? New research from ImpactEd Group suggests this is happening more often than we realise.

The study examines how leadership and governance are experienced in practice across schools, trusts and colleges in England, looking beyond formal structures to the lived reality of decision-making, delivery and sustainability. Beyond the agenda’s findings offer both reassurance and challenge for the sector.

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What the research tells us

Across schools and colleges, overall engagement in leadership and governance roles is high. Trustees, governors, board members and leaders report strong commitment, pride and belief in the value of their organisations.

What matters more, however, are the differences in experience that sit beneath those headline scores.

In schools, the most pronounced gap relates to financial sufficiency. MAT Trustees report moderate confidence that resources are sufficient to deliver strategic goals, while school leaders, those closest to day-to-day delivery, report significantly lower confidence. The gradient is consistent: confidence declines as proximity to operational reality increases.

The research  also highlights other, quieter alignment gaps:

• governance stakeholders tend to feel more confident than leaders that challenge is working well,

• leaders tend to feel closer to stakeholder experience than boards do,

• leaders experience more process drag and boundary friction than boards perceive, and

• within the same formal roles, experience is not evenly distributed, with differences clustering around influence, voice and sustainability.

None of this suggests governance is broken. But it does suggest that systems can look strong on paper while carrying unseen pressure, particularly when differences in perspective remain invisible.

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From research insight to a national picture

The findings from Beyond the Agenda provide an important starting point. They raise a clear question for the sector:

How far are these patterns reflected more widely across schools and trusts?

That question sits at the heart of The Engagement Platform (TEP)’s Leadership & Governance Census, opening in April.

The census is a fully funded opportunity to understand leadership and governance alignment both locally and nationally, informed by the findings from Beyond the Agenda. It allows leaders, governors and trustees to see how their own experiences compare with emerging national patterns, while strengthening the sector’s evidence base.

The focus is not on ranking organisations or passing judgement. It is on creating shared visibility, so differences in perspective can be understood early and addressed constructively.

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Why this matters for leaders and boards

One of the hardest challenges in governance is knowing whether what you are experiencing locally is typical, improving, or a signal that needs attention.

The Leadership & Governance Census provides that reference point.

For CEOs and headteachers, it offers evidence to ground conversations about feasibility, pressure and priorities.

For governors and trustees, it provides a way to test assurance against lived experience, rather than relying on confidence alone.

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Above all, it supports a shift from asking:
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“Are we confident?”

to asking:

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“Are we aligned on what is possible?”

That question sits at the heart of resilient governance.

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Want to see where your organisation sits? How to get involved.

The fully funded Leadership & Governance Census opens in April and is now recruiting schools, trusts and colleges to take part.

Participation is designed to be straightforward:

• surveys are short and tailored to role,

• reporting is confidential and context-specific, and

• data collection and reporting are managed securely through The Engagement Platform.

Take part in the next phase through The Engagement Platform, it's fully funded and benchmarked against national data. CEOs and Board Chairs can also access independent governance assurance reviews. Contact us: hello@tep.uk

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