| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Education and Teaching |
| Level | Senior management |
| Reports to | School Director |
| Direct reports | Academic Coordinator, Subject Matter Expert, Instructional Designer, Content Developer (Education) |
| Experience | 12+ years of teaching, with at least 4 years leading academics as a coordinator, vice principal or principal |
Academic Head job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Academic Head
Department: Education and Teaching
Reports to: School Director
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
An Academic Head owns the quality of teaching and learning across a school, a group of schools or a chain of coaching branches. They set the academic plan, choose the assessment pattern, train and observe teachers and answer to management for results. Fees, admissions and facilities stay with principals or branch managers, so this role can focus on one question: are students learning what the curriculum promises? A strong Academic Head turns results data into specific changes in classrooms, not just more tests.
Key responsibilities
- Build the annual academic plan before the session opens, with a term-wise syllabus split, assessment calendar and teacher training days for every grade or course.
- Select textbooks, reference material and the assessment pattern for each grade, in line with the affiliating board or the entrance exam pattern the students are preparing for.
- Set the standard for lesson plans and question papers, then audit samples from every branch or section each term and return written comments.
- Observe classes across campuses using one common rubric, and agree a follow-up plan with each teacher's coordinator after the visit.
- Design the induction programme for new teachers and the in-service training calendar, including workshops on board circulars and competency-based questions.
- Analyse unit test, term exam and board results by subject, class and teacher, and approve remedial plans wherever scores drop.
- Approve teacher and subject allocation proposed by principals or coordinators, so specialist subjects get qualified teachers and workloads stay balanced.
- Sit on interview panels for senior teachers and coordinators, and run demo class evaluations for shortlisted candidates.
- Lead the academic set-up of new branches or courses, from curriculum and staffing to the first-term quality review.
- Present a termly academic dashboard to management covering syllabus completion, results, teacher attrition and parent feedback on teaching.
Requirements
- Postgraduate degree in a school subject with a B.Ed
- An M.Ed or a diploma in educational leadership is an advantage
- Training in assessment design from a school board or examination body is an advantage
- 12+ years of teaching, with at least 4 years leading academics as a coordinator, vice principal or principal
KRAs and KPIs for a Academic Head
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Board and final results | Pass rate of 100 percent in board exams, and the share of students scoring above 80 percent up year on year |
| Syllabus completion | Syllabus finished at least two weeks before term exams in every section, checked monthly |
| Teaching quality | Every teacher observed twice a term, with at least 80 percent rated at or above the expected standard |
| Teacher development | At least 50 hours of training per teacher in the academic year, with attendance records kept |
| Assessment quality | All term papers checked against the blueprint before printing, with zero reprints caused by errors |
| Academic staff retention | Teacher resignations during the running session below 10 percent of teaching staff |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: School ERP, MS Excel, Google Workspace for Education, Learning management system, Question bank software, OMR test scanning software.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: School Director, Dean Academics
Interview questions for a Academic Head
- Class 10 maths results fell this year in two of our branches. How would you find the cause and what would you change?
- How do you build a blueprint for a term exam paper, and who checks the paper against it?
- Describe a classroom observation you conducted and the feedback conversation that followed.
- How would you move teachers who only set textbook questions towards competency-based questions?
- A principal objects to your academic calendar because of local festivals. How do you settle it?
- Which three numbers would you show management each term to prove teaching is improving?
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What does an academic head do in a school?
An academic head decides what is taught, how it is assessed and how teachers improve. They plan the academic calendar, set lesson plan and question paper standards, observe classes, run teacher training and study results by subject and teacher. Admissions, fees and facilities usually stay with the principal or administrator, so the academic head can focus fully on teaching quality.
What is the difference between an academic head and a principal?
A principal runs one school as a whole: staff, discipline, parents, compliance and operations, along with academics. An academic head works only on teaching and learning, often across several schools or branches of a group. Single schools often combine the two jobs, while larger groups separate them so every principal gets curriculum support from a central team.
Who does an academic head report to?
In a school group, the academic head reports to the School Director, the CEO or the chairman of the trust. In a coaching chain, the usual manager is the founder or business head. Principals and branch heads often have a dotted line to the academic head on curriculum, assessment and training, while reporting to operations leadership for everything else.
What qualifications does an academic head need?
Most academic heads hold a postgraduate degree in a school subject with a B.Ed, and many add an M.Ed. Employers look for 12 or more years of teaching, including several years as a coordinator, vice principal or principal, along with proven work in assessment design, teacher training and board exam preparation.