Headteachers 'becoming younger' - graduate jobs

Education and teaching graduates may be able to aim higher earlier in their career after new statistics showed that headteachers across England are becoming younger, with the number of women holding the top post also on the increase.

Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) figures showed there had been a 38% jump since 2004 in the number of teachers aged under 45 reaching the top. The data also confirmed there had been a 35% rise in the number of women becoming secondary school heads in the past ten years.

Seven out of ten people in the teaching workforce are female, with women filling 67% of head and deputy posts, according to the TDA. Separate figures revealed that the overall British workforce is made up of 60% women, but only one in eight senior management jobs are occupied by a female.

Graham Holley, TDA chief executive, said: "There aren't enough women in boardrooms across the country. But once again the teaching profession is ahead of the trend, boosting opportunities for female school leaders."

"We are also seeing an increase in young school leaders and this highlights the wonderful opportunity teaching offers in terms of career progression. Younger teachers of both genders are in the position to rise up the ranks, by adapting their professional skills for the classroom."