The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), formerly the Secondary Heads Association (SHA), is a UK professional association and trade union for leaders of schools and colleges.
History The Association of Head Mistresses (AHM) was founded in 1874. The Headmasters' Association (HMA) was founded in 1890. The Secondary Heads Association was formed in 1977 by the amalgamation of these two organisations. In 1983, deputy heads were allowed to join, with other senior teaching staff following in the early 1990s and business managers in 2005. By 2005, two-thirds of the membership were not heads but other senior staff, and the association also had a membership in the college sector, so the name was changed in January 2006 to the current name.
Membership The ASCL's membership is formed of headteachers, principals, deputy heads, vice-principals, assistant heads, assistant principals, business managers and other senior post holders in schools and colleges. There are also some members in other education posts of similar seniority. ASCL has accepted members from primary schools since July 2015. It has members in every type of school including community, foundation, trust, academy, voluntary, independent, grammar, comprehensive, and special schools, and also in FE and sixth form colleges both maintained and independent. It has at least one member from virtually all such schools and colleges, in the great majority including the headteacher or principal. Members in Wales and Northern Ireland are represented by ASCL Cymru and ASCL Northern Ireland respectively, and ASCL is affiliated to School Leaders Scotland (SLS).
Structure The Association of School and College Leaders has as its ruling body a group of elected members collectively known as council. It is at council that association policy is determined. It is from council that national officers, including the president, are elected. There are 40 staff at the association's HQ in Waterloo Way, Leicester, and a further 48 across the UK. ASCL has a training section called ASCL Professional Development.
Past Presidents of ASCL
The current Presidential trio consists of Dr Jo Rowley (President), Gurpall Badesha (vice-president) and Manny Botwe (Immediate Past President).
ASCL Presidents:https://www.ascl-heritage.org.uk/
2025/2026 Dr Jo Rowleyhttps://schoolsweek.co.uk/profile-jo-rowley-ascl-president-and-deputy-head-walton-high-school/ 2024/2025 Manny Botwe 2023/2024 John Camp 2022/2023 Evelyn Forde 2021/2022 Pepe Di'Iasio 2020/2021 Richard Sheriff 2019/2020 Rachael Warwick 2018/2019 Richard Sheriff 2017/18 Carl Ward 2016/17 Sian Carr 2015/16 Allan Foulds 2014/15 Peter Kent 2013/14 Sir Ian Bauckham 2012/13 Sir Michael Griffiths 2011/12 Dame Joan McVittie 2010/11 John Fairhurst 2009/10 John Morgan 2008/09 Jane Lees 2007/08 Brian Lightman 2006/07 Malcolm Trobe 2005/06 Sue Kirkham
Affiliations ASCL has corporate membership agreements with HMC, GSA, SLS and SofH.
References
External links ASCL Official Site SLS Official Site SoH Official Site HMC Official Site GSA Official Site Catalogue of the AHM archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Catalogue of the HMA archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Video clips ASCL YouTube channel ASCL Vimeo channel
News items ASCL: Base Ofsted report cards on ‘slim set of statutory standards’ Funding crisis ‘will increase class sizes’ in most schools Headteachers warn children miss class due to disputes between parents and schools Government ‘must do better to ensure classrooms are fit for learning’