Deputy Head (Academic)
Required for September 2026
Bolton School Girls’ Division is seeking to appoint an outstanding and forward-thinking Deputy Head (Academic) to join its Senior Leadership Team. This is a pivotal role, providing strategic leadership of the School’s academic life and playing a key part in shaping teaching and learning across the Senior School.
Reporting directly to the Head of Girls’ Division, the successful candidate will have overall responsibility for academic standards, curriculum development, assessment and reporting, and the professional leadership of Heads of Department. This role offers an exciting opportunity for an experienced school leader to influence whole-school strategy within a thriving and ambitious independent school.
The Deputy Head (Academic) will:
• Provide inspirational and strategic leadership of teaching and learning, ensuring the highest academic standards.
• Line-manage Heads of Department, the Head of Learning Support, the Head of Assessment and Achievement, and the Examinations Officer.
• Lead curriculum development, review and innovation, informed by national developments and student voice.
• Oversee assessment, reporting, setting and option processes, using data intelligently to inform decision-making and pupil progress.
• Lead lesson observation, work scrutiny and the sharing of best practice.
• Play a key role in inspection preparation and compliance (ISI and other statutory bodies).
• Contribute fully to staff development, INSET and whole-school strategic planning.
• Be a visible and supportive presence within the school community, promoting pupil wellbeing and the School’s ethos.
• The role includes a teaching commitment and active involvement in the wider life of the school.
The ideal candidate will be an experienced and highly effective teacher with a strong academic track record, a proven leader with experience of curriculum, assessment and data-informed school improvement as well as being an excellent communicator, able to work collaboratively with staff, pupils, parents and governors.
They will have a background that includes leadership of an academic department and would currently hold a Teaching and Learning role within a Senior Leadership Team, either at Assistant Head or Deputy Head level. Applicants will need to be able to demonstrate a track record of success in those leadership roles, and part of the interview process will focus on their vision for Teaching and Learning.
With some 2,500 pupils, Bolton School is a large, thriving, academically selective day school. It is situated a mile or so from the town centre in a stunning 32 acre campus and is within easy reach of some of the nation’s finest cities and countryside.
In Autumn 2021, significant changes were made to the leadership structure of the School Foundation, investing the newly created position of Head of Foundation with overall responsibility. Within the new structure, there are three sections: Girls’ Division, Boys’ Division and Primary Division. A Head of each Division and the Head of Foundation, together with the Clerk and Treasurer and Director of Operational Services, are the Foundation’s Senior Officers; they are directly accountable to the Governors.
Two adjoining and similar buildings, now attached by a state-of-the art Sixth Form Centre, house the Boys’ and Girls’ Senior Schools, each of which provides a traditional academic education from the age of 11 years. The Primary Division includes separate Junior Schools for boys and girls from the age of 7 and a co-educational Infant School and Nursery.
Academic results at GCSE and A Level consistently place Bolton School amongst the top schools in the North of England and often within the top 100 nationally. The School is also renowned for its provision of a wide range of enrichment activities, which take place both during and after the school day. It serves a wide area of the North West, collecting pupils on over 20 coach routes, and provides fee assistance to a substantial proportion of the student body - one in five Senior School pupils currently receives a bursary.
The vast majority of students progress to their first choice university and the School provides a regular supply of Sixth Formers to highly competitive courses and universities. Whilst the academic work of the two senior schools is largely separate, there are occasionally joint Sixth Form classes and there is considerable collaboration in extra-curricular activities.
Entry to the Junior and Senior Schools is by competitive examination and interview. Interest in the School remains robust and numbers on the school roll have increased in recent years.
Since 2022, the school has formalised its approach to evidence-based practice with the formation of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI). The Centre facilitates both research engagement as well as supporting action research.
Our aim is to ensure Bolton School is at the forefront of educational and pedagogical development. The CERI has a pivotal role in working alongside teachers to investigate the impact of innovation in the classroom. Foundation wide, we are well equipped to test emerging theory and to understand what will give the greatest benefit to students.
The Centre works with staff across our Primary and Senior Schools but also looks beyond to collaborate with external institutions, both universities and other schools seeking to share and develop knowledge and understanding of what helps children and young people to learn.
For further details and to apply online for the position, please visit the School website.
Closing date for applications: Monday 19 January 2026 at 12.00 noon.
Interviews will be held week commencing 26 January 2026.
A generous level of PPA is provided which allows members of staff, as valued professionals, to manage their time appropriately and maintain a healthy work-life balance.