About this role
Westcountry Schools Trust is seeking an exceptional educational leader to join our School Development Team as Executive Director of Standards. WeST serves communities across Devon, Plymouth and Cornwall through a family of schools united by a shared vision of every child achieving in a great school. We believe that educational excellence and equity go hand in hand, and we are committed to disrupting the impact of disadvantage across the South West, so that no child’s background determines their destination and no talent is overlooked.
You will help our secondary academies and sixth forms secure the highest standards of education. Working alongside headteachers, Trust leaders and school improvement colleagues, you will lead our approach to standards, assessment and careers across our secondary academies and sixth forms. Your task is to turn ambitious educational thinking into consistently excellent practice, stronger outcomes and richer opportunities for children and young people.
We are not interested in educational fads or quick fixes. We believe in academic excellence, evidence, professional expertise and careful thought. Nor are we looking for someone with a fixed model to impose across our schools. We value strong headteachers and school leaders with genuine agency, while recognising the enormous potential of working together as one trust.
We are looking for a leader with deep educational expertise and a proven record of sustained school improvement, including better outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and a larger proportion of pupils achieving the highest grades, with no compromise on inclusion. You will be intellectually curious and committed to evidence-informed practice. You will lead highly capable leaders through credibility, judgement and professional trust, be comfortable with challenge, and change your mind when the evidence persuades you. You will want to contribute to the wider education sector as well as to WeST.
There remains much to build and much to achieve. This is a rare opportunity to shape educational excellence across an ambitious, values-led trust. We strongly encourage you to read this pack in full before applying, and we welcome informal conversations about the role.