Executive Director of Standards

Westcountry Schools Trust, Ivybridge, PL21 0JA

20 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  By mutual agreement

• Closing date

  1 December 2026 at 9am

• Date listed

  6 November 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Other leadership role
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full time equivalent salary: £96,694.00 - £106,637.00 Annually (FTE)

Executive Director of Standards job summary

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.

Further information about the job

The candidate will be required to undergo a full enhanced DBS check and must be eligible to work in the UK.

Visas cannot be sponsored.

If you're interested in teaching or training to teach in England as an international citizen, we can help you understand your next steps.

Commitment to safeguarding

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.

Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.

Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children

You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

Applying for the job

This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

About Westcountry Schools Trust

• Type: Multi-academy trust
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/westcountry-schools-trust

Head office location

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