Annual retention payments to encourage headteachers to work in under-served areas fail to address reasons why leaders quit and risk repeating the failure of a similar scheme for teachers, experts have said. The government鈥檚 will include a trial of a 鈥減lace-based headteacher retention incentive鈥, aimed at attracting and keeping new headteachers in areas that most need them. However, sector leaders remain 鈥渦nconvinced鈥 the scheme will address leadership shortages and say more detail is needed on how the government plans to better support leaders. The government has pledged 拢1 million a year, starting next year, to award newly appointed heads annual payments of up to 拢15,000. It has yet to explain how payments will be allocated or who will qualify. 鈥淲e remain unconvinced that the answer to restoring school leadership and teaching as attractive career paths lies in differentiated regional pay rates, and the same is likely to be true of the proposed retention payment for heads in certain areas,鈥 said NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman. Payments ‘don’t address fundamental issues’ Paul Whiteman He added such payments 鈥渕ight be welcome鈥 in individual areas, but would be 鈥渉ugely divisive鈥, risking new pay inequalities. 鈥淐rucially, it does not address the fundamental issues which are driving leaders to quit and deterring senior teachers from aspiring to leadership.鈥 Whiteman cited 鈥渋ntolerable workload, high-stakes accountability鈥 and significant real-terms pay cuts since 2010鈥. He instead called for a reformed national pay structure with minimum pay points, to protect salaries when staff move schools. Pepe Di鈥橧asio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, agreed while retention payments 鈥渕ay help鈥, the difficulties of leading schools in disadvantaged communities would remain. Pepe DiIasio The scheme shares similarities with a decade-old Conservative government initiative. Nicky Morgan鈥檚 National Teaching Service 鈥 a 2016 pilot aimed at parachuting teachers into north-west schools struggling to recruit and retain staff 鈥 set out to redeploy hundreds of teachers with incentives of up to 拢10,000. It was scrapped after less than a year after placing just 24 teachers. 鈥淟essons from that scheme need to shape this new one, otherwise history risks being repeated,鈥 said Teacher Development Trust chief executive Gareth Conyard. 鈥淔or us, the key test is whether the support being provided for leadership development meets the challenges of the current system and the new proposals included in the white paper. It is hard to see how the excellence in leadership programme will do this.鈥 ‘Retention incentives can work’ Education Endowment Foundation research has shown targeted incentives can help schools attract and retain strong teachers and heads. Becky Francis, the EEF鈥檚 CEO, said the government鈥檚 plan 鈥渞ecognises the importance鈥 of such incentives. Becky Francis However, money is not the biggest factor driving leaders out of the profession. In the government鈥檚 most recent working lives of teachers and leaders report, just 25 per cent of those who left the state sector cited pay. Among the top reasons were workload (74 per cent) and pressures around pupil outcomes or inspections (53 per cent). Jack Worth, lead economist at the National Foundation for Educational Research, said studies show teachers still 鈥渢end to respond to incentives鈥. But less is known about headteacher career decisions, and 鈥渢he jury鈥檚 out鈥 on the impact of financial incentives. 鈥淲e might expect it to have a positive effect,鈥 said Worth, but it is unclear how strong that will be against the 鈥渟heer challenge鈥 of leading a school in difficult circumstances. Extra cash for wellbeing support The government will also invest an extra 拢1 million a year in wellbeing support, giving up to 2,500 leaders a 鈥渃onfidential space鈥 to build resilience strategies, revealed the white paper. Schools Week understands the funding will extend an existing government contract run by Education Support, which provides professional supervision for heads, and was due to end next March. Education Support CEO Sin茅ad Mc Brearty welcomed the move. In the charity鈥檚 , 86 per cent of senior leaders reported stress, and 43 per cent had considered leaving the profession. Mc Brearty said professional supervision helped heads perform their roles, and 鈥渃ontributes directly to reducing school leader attrition鈥. Sin茅ad Mc Brearty But for real impact support must be consistent, reach leaders early, and sit alongside wider action on workload, accountability, and budgets, she added. Whiteman said the support 鈥渃ould be an important step in the right direction鈥, but called for an entitlement to professional supervision for all leaders. The government will also invest an extra 拢500,000 a year in an 鈥渋mproved鈥 early headship coaching offer, expected to reach around 500 additional heads, especially in disadvantaged areas. It will also create a new support offer for leaders, helping them access mentors and peer support networks. However, information on these initiatives remain limited. 鈥淲e need to see further details of the plans,鈥 said Whiteman. The white paper also includes a pledge to review headteachers鈥 standards to ensure they 鈥渞eflect key expectations for high-quality leadership鈥.