The role of Head has always required educational vision and strong leadership. But today’s Heads are also navigating an increasingly complex financial and commercial landscape, making financial confidence an essential part of the job.
Drawing on conversations with 56 independent school Heads for 20% More: The Art of Headship 2026, Richard Backhouse explores how financial literacy has moved from a useful leadership skill to a fundamental part of modern headship, and what that means for aspiring Heads, serving Heads and the boards that support them.
“I’ve really had to gen up… financially far more than I would have.” “Commercial awareness used to be optional—now it’s compulsory.” “I’m starting to talk about EBITDAs… and had no idea about it.” “I’m now CEO of a business without having any of the training.”
A generation ago, financial literacy was helpful for heads; today it’s close to non-negotiable. Not because heads have stopped being educational leaders, but because the environment in which schools are operating demands financial control more than ever.
In our interviews with 56 independent school heads this summer, finance was not a side issue – it sat at the centre of conversations about affordability, VAT, staffing, pensions, pupil numbers, bursaries, development, estates, commercial income and long-term strategy. One head talked about needing to “gen up” financially; another reflected, ruefully, that they were discussing EBITDA more than at any other point in their life; several described spending a third, sometimes closer to half, of their time on business or organisational matters.
This doesn’t mean governors should expect heads to become bursars, CFOs or accountants in disguise; that would miss the point. Modern heads need enough financial fluency to ask good questions, understand risks, test assumptions, connect numbers to strategy, and know when they need specialist advice. The best heads aren’t trying to possess every technical answer: they are learning to deploy the expertise of others well.
There is hope in the research here: some heads find this commercial dimension energising, especially where finance is linked to purpose — sustaining bursaries, protecting staffing, investing in provision, developing partnerships, or keeping a school viable for the next generation. Seen like this, finance becomes part of their stewardship of the community rather than dull or detail.
For aspiring heads and senior deputies, the message is simple: develop financial confidence before you need it: sit with the bursar; understand the accounts; learn the difference between cash, surplus, margin and affordability. Ask how pricing, staffing, admissions and capital expenditure connect.
For boards, there is an equal responsibility. They can’t appoint educational leaders and then expect them to acquire an MBA by osmosis; heads need support around them: strong finance leadership, clear reporting, patient explanation, commercial expertise at the table and a culture in which questions are welcomed rather than exposed. There may also be value in sharing management accounts more widely, so financial understanding and accountability become cross-departmental rather than private mysteries held only by the head and bursar.
Financial fluency isn’t a departure from educational purpose; done well, it is one of the ways heads and senior teams now protect it.