Boards for Education (formerly Governors for Schools) has served the sector for more than 25 years. As a charity, we work with schools, trusts, and colleges to strengthen governance by connecting them with skilled, committed volunteers who bring the range of experience, perspectives, and professional backgrounds boards need.
Last year alone, we supported more than 1,700 people into governance roles. Many of our volunteers come from our network of partner organisations, providing boards with a pipeline of diverse volunteers outside of their usual reach.
As the sector’s recruitment partner, we offer a range of services designed to help you find the right people for your board – whether you are recruiting local governors, trustees, or members.
We provide recruitment support across all layers of governance, offering services tailored to both local governance and trust boards.
Local layer of governance (school and committee level)
- Free Governor Matching – We connect you with volunteers waiting to serve as school governors, if your vacancy meets their requirements.
- Enhanced Governor Recruitment – For priority recruitment or hard-to-find skill sets. We use targeted search and headhunting to source the volunteer you need at a faster rate.
- Chair Recruitment – We support boards in finding volunteers with the experience and confidence to take on the role of chair, providing training and mentoring to ensure they’re ready to lead.
Trust board recruitment (trustees and members)
- Access Recruitment – Our succession planning tool, for trusts that value a strategic approach to recruitment. You can register roles 6-18 months before a vacancy arises to create a pipeline of potential trustees.
- Specialist Recruitment – A bespoke, targeted search for your next trustee or member, for boards that need specific skill sets, hard-to-find experience, or rapid turnaround.
eLearning and induction support
To support effective induction and early impact, we also provide a range of eLearning materials:
- Become an Effective New School Governor – Supporting volunteers joining local governing committees, with the option to tailor content to your scheme of delegation.
- First 100 Days as a Trustee – Developed with CST to complement your trust’s own induction and training offer.
- Chair mentoring – Delivered in partnership with iGovS, we provide webinars and 1:1 support for new or incoming chairs.
We partner with academy trusts to make governance recruitment straightforward, effective, and responsive to the needs of your board. Our services balance your long-term planning with any urgent vacancies that may arise.
For local governor recruitment, our Free Governor Matching gives you access to volunteers from across our national network, including those referred by our corporate and university partners. When a role is harder to fill or requires specific expertise, our Enhanced Recruitment Service provides targeted search and headhunting. This approach typically fills vacancies within three months, compared with eight months through free matching alone, and has achieved an 81% success rate to date. You only pay if a suitable governor is appointed.
We recommend that every trust use our Access Service to ensure your trustee-level vacancies are visible to skilled volunteers across the country, helping you build a strong pipeline for ongoing renewal and succession planning. When you have a specific, urgent, or high-stakes requirement, our Specialist Service offers a bespoke search focused on the skills, experience, and perspectives your board needs.
