Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government has taken to increase the diversity of (a) heads and (b) deputy heads in state-funded secondary schools in England.

In October 2018, the Department set out its commitment to increasing the diversity of the teaching workforce when it launched the Statement of Intent.

The Department has been making progress against the activities it committed to in the statement, including:

• Providing £2 million of funding to nationwide Equality and Diversity regional ‘hubs’ to support aspiring leaders, including those from ethnic minority backgrounds, into headship.
• Reflecting the importance of diversity in the Department’s Recruitment and Retention Strategy published in January 2019.
• Encouraging representative recruitment for National Professional Qualifications for school leadership through key performance indicators.

Between 2014 and 2018, over 2,900 teachers have been helped to take the next steps in their career through school-led diversity leadership training because of Equality and Diversity funding.