Headteachers are getting younger. As a generation of school leaders born in the baby boom era retires, a new generation of ambitious teachers under 35 is stepping up to the mark.

Amid fears that younger teachers are being deterred from seeking headships by the burdens of public accountability and government micromanagement, figures from the National College for School Leadership suggest that the answer may lie among the profession's newest recruits.

Latest figures from the college show there are 35 secondary head teachers aged 30 to 34, and more than 530 aged 30 to 34 in primary schools. The average age of a primary head teacher in their first job is 42, and 45 for a secondary head.

Typical of the new breed is Ben Slade, who became head of Manor Community College in Cambridge last September at the age of 30, which is the average age of new recruits to the teaching profession these days. He began teaching drama nine years ago and rose swiftly through the ranks, becoming head of department at a school in Kent, then its vice-principal.

Although his school is in a deprived area of Cambridge and does not boast high exam results, Mr Slade said: “It's a job like no other, it's a privileged position because you have a direct effect on lots of people's lives.

“Taking a headship is challenging enough but it's even more difficult when you take it on with no experience. But it's been good to dive in.

“I haven't had anyone directly say that they wouldn't do what I asked because I'm younger, but this wry smile goes across some people's faces sometimes, as if to say, ‘we've done this before and it doesn't work.'”

Stuart Tulloch, who has just been handed his first deputy headship at the age of 26, will take up his new role at the 150-pupil Pilgrim Primary in Plymouth in September.

He qualified as a teacher three years ago and attributes his speedy rise primarily to ambition and focus. He has also gained valuable experience in his current job at as a teacher at Catforth Primary near Preston, which has 55 pupils.

As there are only two full-time teachers, he has had to develop a wide range of skills and take on a lot of different roles.

He hopes to become a head by the age of 30, but accepts that some older teachers do not always appreciate being led by a younger head.

“They may well think, ‘what does he know?'. But once they get to know me and they see that I am very straight and very honest, then it's OK. The important thing is to show that you are willing to learn from colleagues all the time,” he said.

His current headteacher, Mandy Colligan, who sent him on two leadership courses and who frequently delegates to him, said: “I don't think that age should be a barrier to becoming a head. Being a head is more about personality, energy and drive. It also helps if you are a workaholic.

“With a lack of people currently wanting to take on headships, when there are young people willing to take on such roles, we have to support them and offer them all the experience within school that we can,” she said.

She accepts, however, that established teachers can find it hard to relate to a very young head, who may have to work harder to prove themselves.

A range of schemes has been introduced with the aim of nurturing young teaching talent for leadership roles in schools. They include the National College for School Leadership's Tomorrow's Leaders Today campaign, which promotes the concept of “greenhouse” schools, offering advice to local authorities, heads and senior staff on how to bring on young talent.

In some areas head teachers are coaching, mentoring and providing job-shadowing opportunities for those interested in following their footsteps. Key parts of the drive include boosting interest from women candidates and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.

There is little doubt that such schemes are needed. About half of heads in England are over 50 and the NCSL estimates the number of those retiring will peak next year at 3,500, followed by a decline to 2,500 in 2016.

Primary schools, in particular, are finding it increasingly hard to recruit head teachers, according to the latest figures from John Howson, a former government adviser and now an independent consultant and director of Education Data Surveys.

More than 2,600 schools advertised for a new headteacher for the first time during 2007, according to Professor Howson's research. These included nearly 400 secondary schools, some 2,100 primary schools and 144 special schools and units.

The survey showed that that 37 per cent of headteacher positions in the primary sector had to be re-advertised in 2007.

But secondary schools found recruiting a new headteacher easier last year. The level of re-advertisements was lower than at any time since the 2001/2 school year, only 25 per cent of advertisements during 2006/7, against 36 per cent two years before.

Where schools struggle to fill head teacher vacancies it is often because they find it hard to offer attractive salaries. The difference in salary between a classroom teacher and the head can sometimes be less than £6,000 in a small school, not sufficient to compensate for the extra burden of running a school.

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