Skills gap analysis tool
This is a simple tool you can use to help determine the areas where you need to recruit additional expertise to your team in order to have the
necessary skills and expertise required to set up a free school. This is not an exhaustive list and there may be areas specific to your application
that it would be useful for you to have expertise in that are not mentioned here – for example, if your school has a specialism it would be
useful to have someone with expertise in this area on your team.
Area
Experience
Time commitment
required
Education
At a minimum you will need an
individual who has been Head or
Deputy Head in a Good or
Outstanding school of the same type
and phase as your proposed school.
They should have experience in:
- Curriculum planning
- Monitoring and tracking systems
- Devising staffing structures
At least one individual with
experience in managing budgets. This
should ideally be within a school
setting but could be from elsewhere,
e.g. a Chartered Accountant or
someone who has run their own
business.
Individuals with experience of
governance - for example, as a Chair
of Governors in a school or a director
A leading role in
writing the
application.
Finance
Governance
Team members’ level of expertise (none; basic; moderate;
extensive)
e.g. Kate
Around 12 hours
per week in the
pre-opening
period.*
4-6 hours per
week
4-6 hours per
week
www.newschoolsnetwork.org
Registered Charity no: 1132122
Project
Management
Marketing
Legal
Recruitment/
HR
Premises
in a charity or commercial centre. You
will ideally have an individual with
experience of governance within a
school setting but it could be from
other sectors, e.g. a charity or
company.
An individual with experience of
managing large projects, either as
their profession or in another
capacity.
An individual with marketing and/or
media/communications experience.
An individual with experience in staff
recruitment, ideally within a school
setting.
This is optional, as you will work with
the EFA to procure a site for your
school, but groups have previously
found it helpful to have an individual
who can assist in identification of
potential suitable sites for the free
school.
10-15 hours per
week*
Around 4 hours
per week
* The best way to think about the time needed from team members in pre-opening is as one full-time role, so the time commitments
suggested here may vary depending on your project. However, it is expected that the lead applicant and the education lead would together
give a significant proposition of this time.
Marketing and premises – say what the expertise should relate to in the free schools process. Same with recruitment – SLT.
www.newschoolsnetwork.org
Registered Charity no: 1132122