Toby Salt

Professor Toby Salt is a Senior Advisor at RSAcademics, bringing extensive leadership experience from across the education sector. He supports boards with the search and assessment of senior leaders, drawing on a career that includes executive roles in national policy, multi-academy trusts, and individual schools. Toby’s analysis of the context of each leadership role and of the candidates who are applying for that role is built upon a formidable career which equips him to support clients in their recruitment with a depth and range of experience which is, quite simply, unrivalled.  

Toby was Chief Executive of Ormiston Academies Trust, overseeing 37 academies and leading 3,500 staff and 26,000 students. Prior to this, he served as Deputy Chief Executive of the National College for School Leadership, advising ministers and shaping national leadership development policy. Toby is a former CEO of AQA, the largest exam board in the UK. He has held senior roles in school leadership, including as Executive Head of a federation of schools, and has led schools to ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted ratings. He continues to mentor CEOs and senior leaders across the sector. 

He is Chair of CATS Global Schools and Lift Schools Academy Council, Visiting Professor of Education Leadership at the University of Wolverhampton, and Chair of the Teaching Awards Trust. His involvement with the All Souls Group, Oxford, and the Windsor Leadership Trust reflects his ongoing contribution to thought leadership in education. 

Toby’s deep sector insight and strategic perspective help boards appoint leaders who will lead schools and educational groups with long-term vision and impact.