Geoff Barton to step down from ASCL role in 2024

ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton has announced he will stand down from his role in 2024, three years earlier than planned.

The union leader, who was re-elected unopposed to a second five year term last year, was due to hold the role until 2027.

But Barton said he believed 2024 would be the “right time for our association to have a new leader with a fresh approach”. He will leave in April of that year.

The former headteacher was elected in a landslide in 2017, in the first contested election in ASCL’s history. He said he was giving notice now to kick-start the “lengthy” election process for a new leader, to “ensure that there is a smooth transition”.

“I’ve decided to step down as ASCL general secretary in April 2024. By that point I will have been in post for seven years, and I believe it will be the right time for our Association to have a new leader with a fresh approach.

“Over the next 18 months, it will be business as usual for me, and I look forward to continuing to work with the ASCL team – with, and on behalf of, our 22,000 members. As we always say, we work on behalf of members and act on behalf of children and young people.

“That’s what I’ll keep doing.”