Leadership in Education
Stay connected, informed and inspired with our leadership resource page. This dedicated page provides valuable information tailored to educational leadership.
Our curated research section offers studies and reports to support evidence-based decision making. There are also links to an array of resources of interest, including policy updates, innovative strategies and blogs by fellow leaders.
For ongoing professional growth we have highlighted some of our self-directed leadership learning resources along with ongoing leadership webinars that might be of interest.
Leadership+
Leadership+ is a series of one-off bespoke webinars which complement the work of Education Scotland’s leadership programmes, as well as reflecting big-ticket themes of interest to leaders. Webinars are research-led, delivered by experts in their fields and explore topics from a leadership perspective.
See our Leadership+ section below for new, summary videos from some of our previous speakers.
You can sign up to future Leadership+ webinars events and access more recordings from previous webinars via our dedicated Leadership+ page.
Leadership+ videos
Professional learning
Featured content
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Into Headship
Into Headship is Scotland’s national programme for aspiring headteachers. Successful participants are awarded the GTCS Standard for Headship.
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Aspiring to Middle Leadership
This programme is designed to support aspiring, new and acting middle leaders. The programme is available online and is flexible to fit in with the lives of busy educators.
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Middle Leaders Leading Change
Middle Leaders Leading Change is an online self-led programme which is designed to be flexible. This programme is designed for those in middle leadership roles.
Standards supporting leading in education
Our standards are crucial in developing and enhancing professionalism and are a key tool to support professional growth and leadership.
Knowledge Base > Professional Standards (gtcs.org.uk)
The Standard for Middle Leadership (gtcs.org.uk)
The Standard for Headship (gtcs.org.uk)
The Standard for Career-Long Professional Learning (gtcs.org.uk)
Latest blogs and events
- Changing stories of inquiry. What are the possibilities for Appreciative Approaches? 17 March 2026
- Fortrose Academy Middle Leader programme 11 February 2026
- Leading the ‘How’ of Change: Why Less Can Be More 28 November 2025
- Empowering educators: A journey through Transformative Learning 11 June 2024
- EiH Stretch: Redeveloping my sense of agency and empowerment 02 May 2024
- Excellence in Headship Stretch: Embracing empowerment through collaboration 28 February 2024
More videos can be found in our dedicated video resource library.
Further resources to support leading in education
Leadership think pieces
- Excellence In Headship Stretch 1 (PDF file) chevron_right
- Excellence In Headship Stretch 2 (PDF file) chevron_right
- Connected and Collaborative Systems Leadership - Think Piece summaries 2024-2025 (PDF file) chevron_right
- Connected and Collaborative Systems Leadership - Think Piece summaries 2023-2024 (PDF file) chevron_right
Leadership podcasts
Policy
- Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future chevron_right
- All Learners in Scotland Matter: national discussion on education (gov.scot) chevron_right
- It's Our Future - Independent review of qualifications and assessment (gov.scot) chevron_right
- Fit for the Future: developing a post-school learning system to fuel economic transformation (gov.scot) chevron_right
- Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence (scotlandscurriculum.scot) chevron_right