• Job title:Head of Politics
• Job Type:Full Time, permanent
• Salary:£38,663-£65,199 per annum and a generous remuneration for the Head of Politics role
• Department:Department of Politics
• Reporting to:Assistant Head (Director of Studies)
• Location:Highgate, North London
• Start:September 2026
• Closing Date:4 February 2026 at 8:00 am

Highgate is looking for an enthusiastic and inspiring Head of Politics, starting in September 2026. The position would suit an experienced teacher.

Applicants should have an undergraduate degree in Politics, or a related degree such as PPE, International Relations, etc. from a university with an excellent reputation for Politics. Applicants should be experienced Sixth Form teachers who demonstrate a profound and continuing academic interest in their subject and an enthusiasm for sharing this passion with pupils and colleagues. The successful candidate will have excellent managerial instincts, a commitment to professional development, an enthusiasm for learning, and the ability to reflect deeply on their practice.

The successful applicant will lead an experienced department of five teachers who regularly teach up to 100 pupils across the Sixth Form, making Politics one of the most popular subjects at A Level. The pupils currently follow the Edexcel specification, which covers UK Politics, Political ideologies, and US Politics. Outcomes in A-Level Politics are excellent, and well above national averages: in 2025, our Politics cohort of 28 achieved 57% A*/A. A majority of these pupils applied for Politics or a Politics related degree at university. Pupils regularly take up places at Oxford and Cambridge, as well as at overseas universities.

The Politics department runs a weekly programme of extension classes to Year 12 pupils (often collaborating with other Sixth Form departments) in the Lent term, introducing pupils to topics outside the scope of the A-level curriculum. This programme continues in Year 13 as a more bespoke mentoring programme for all Sixth Formers who intend to pursue Politics, or a related discipline, at university.

Colleagues in the department also have a significant co-curricular footprint, including the popular current affairs focused Masaryk Society (which attracts over 30 pupils from all years every week), the Lower School Politics Society, the annual pupil-led publication The Arbiter and running mock elections. New for 2026, colleagues in the Politics department will teach all Year 10 pupils an in-house 24-lesson course on Political Literacy.

The department is well equipped and resourced, with its own classrooms and dedicated office, which is shared with colleagues in the Economics and History of Art departments. Colleagues in this office are highly collaborative. All classrooms have large digital screens which connect wirelessly to teachers’ MS Surface devices. Members of the Politics Department can and do teach History or Economics, though the ability to teach another subject is neither a requirement, nor a recommendation, for this post.

Person Specification

Highgate School seeks to appoint teachers who will have, in addition to the professional qualities outlined below, the following proven personal qualities, or the potential to develop them. At interview, candidates will have the opportunity to demonstrate or give an account of these attributes.

• Profound and continuing interest in the academic subject/s to be taught.
• The depth of knowledge and agility of mind to allow flexibility in lessons, adapting delivery as appropriate in the light of pupils’ responses.
• Empathy with pupils across the age and ability spectrum at Highgate and the ability to implement a range of teaching strategies to cater for each individual pupil.
• Capacity to deal sensitively with problems raised by pupils, in line with Highgate’s pastoral policies and sanctions system, working in partnership with Highgate’s designated staff i/c pastoral care.
• Ability to create effective rapport and a sound relationship with pupils, earning their respect and trust but maintaining proper professional boundaries by not deliberately courting popularity or friendship.
• Dynamism and enthusiasm to contribute broadly to the life of a busy co- educational independent day school.
• Willingness to contribute to the extensive range of activities provided for pupils and to support them in their co-curricular pursuits.
• Capacity for industry and initiative in both independent work and as part of teams of colleagues in academic work, pastoral care, sports and co-curricular activities.
• Awareness and understanding of matters relating to the personal, social, health and emotional development of pupils.
• Willingness and ability to liaise effectively and professionally between pupils, staff and parents when required, making accurate records of these exchanges.
• Patience and thoughtfulness to see any issues that may arise with pupils, parents or colleagues from a variety of perspectives.
• The ability to defuse difficult situations using different strategies such as careful listening, sensitive use of humour, praise and recognition where due, utilising the School’s reward system.
• Retention of a sense of perspective and, on occasion, the invaluable ability to laugh at oneself.

Essential Professional Criteria

• Criteria
• How will these be tested or verified?
• A good honours degree in a related subject
• • Original degree certificate(s)
  • Questions about subject specialisation (and course content for more recent graduates)
  • Opportunities at interview to discuss techniques for teaching set topics
• Excellent communication skills
• • Two panel interviews
  • A taught lesson
• The ability to use ICT appropriately to support teaching, or a willingness to learn the skills
• • Lesson planning and resources
  • Opportunities to recount experience and expertise at interview
• The ability to establish good relations with colleagues and pupils.
• • Opportunities at interview to recount experiences where these skills have been demonstrated
  • Questions which referees will be
  • Asked as part of the confidential reference request
• Sympathy with and knowledge of fundamental British values
• • Questions at interview to test this
• Awareness and understanding of safeguarding and welfare of children
• • Questions at interview to test attitudes towards and knowledge of children’s safeguarding and welfare
  • Questions which referees will be asked as part of the confidential reference request

Desirable Professional Criteria

• Criteria
• How will these be tested or verified?
• Experience of teaching academic lessons, either as an employed teacher or during a teaching placement, and an understanding of effective assessment.
• • A 50-minute lesson to be taught
  • Potentially, the opportunity to comment on and grade pupils’ written work
• A teaching qualification (eg PGCE, GTP)
• • Original certificate
• Experience of teaching successfully in an academically selective school
• • Opportunities at interview to recount
• Knowledge of, and experience of, teaching Politics at A Level
• • Opportunities at interview to recount experience of teaching and of successful strategies used in teaching these topics
• A willingness to be involved in the wider life of the department and school.
• • Opportunities at interview to recount experience of running or participating in such activities or to give ideas for these

Head of Politics: Job Specification

The Head of Politics reports to the Assistant Head (Director of Studies), and through them, to the Deputy Head (Academic). The main responsibilities are:

• to develop a strategy and vision for Politics across the curriculum, including the creation of a coherent co-curricular programme
• to lead the department in delivering excellent teaching and learning, ensuring consistently high-quality lessons are taught by all Politics teachers, leading to excellent educational outcomes for pupils
• to ensure that Politics fully espouses the school’s academic ethos, especially in normalising academic struggle, teaching beyond public examinations and promoting scholarship for all

The particular responsibilities are:

Curriculum and Teaching and Learning

• to ensure the consistent delivery of lessons of high quality which stretch, stimulate and educate pupils of every level of ability
• to carry out regular lesson observations, learning walks and work scrutinies; on the back of these, to develop colleagues’ accordingly, and to feed findings into curriculum development
• to play an active and pro-active role in curriculum development, in particular, in the short term, assessing the efficacy of the current A Level board
• to ensure the Deputy Head (Academic) is assured of the effectiveness of provision in Politics and remains informed of significant curricular changes that need to be discussed and implemented
• to review and ensure that appropriate support is provided for pupils with LDD and Gifted and Talented pupils studying Politics, both within and beyond the classroom
• to oversee the provision of extension and university mentoring, and to support and monitor students’ applications to study Politics and related disciplines at university
• to ensure a robust programme of peer observation within the department

Management

• to oversee excellent results in public examinations and to perform thorough analysis of results data, scripts and mark schemes to inform strategy
• to ensure that the thrust of the school’s development plan is reflected in annual Politics department development plan
• to establish and maintain good relationships with all Politics teachers, encouraging good working practices and support across the Politics department and leading by example in the classroom
• to ensure that full support and coaching is given to all teachers, and appropriate monitoring takes place when a teacher encounters difficulties, whether of an academic nature or with regard to classroom discipline
• to play an active role in the recruitment of Politics teachers, and to then assist with induction and probation, acting as a mentor to any new Politics teachers
• to support Politics staff in order to meet personal and professional targets, both generally and as part of the school’s appraisal system; the Head of Politics will carry out appraisals for most of their team
• to organise Politics department meetings, to set the agenda and ensure decisions are implemented
• to ensure the department is sensibly timetabled each year
• to submit and manage the annual Politics budget
• to advise their line-manager of necessary improvements to teaching facilities
• to be on site for the release of A Level results and to assist pupils with any post-results services and advice
• to liaise, where appropriate, with other Heads of Departments (particularly the Head of Economics) and the head of Sixth Form (Academic) on cross-curricular initiatives and ensure these are well-planned

Co-curricular and Enrichment

• to ensure that there are effective and lively co-curricular opportunities for pupils across Politics inlcuding academic societies, visits, guest speakers, pupil publications, , essay competitions, etc.
• to establish contacts with Politics departments at universities to promote the studying of Politics, or associated degrees, at university

Support | A welcoming, comfortable and exceptionally well-resourced environment with significant assistance from a range of support staff.

Pension | The School pays the employer’s contribution to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

Professional development | Comprehensive induction. Focus on continued learning and development for all employees.

Holidays | Terms are shorter than in the maintained sector.

Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.

Facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and new swimming pool. Staff can borrow from 1,700 books held in the Sir Martin Gilbert Library.

Lunch | Free tea and coffee A complimentary lunch including hot meals, sandwiches, salads, fresh fruit and dessert.

Sustainable travel | Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.

Flexible working | Flexibility for parents, enhanced maternity pay and paid dependant leave.

Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.

Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.

In a recent ISI inspection (Dec 2021), it was noted that “Pupils show exceptional respect for, and appreciate diversity within the school and wider community, and their own and other cultures, demonstrating sensitivity and tolerance to those from different backgrounds and traditions.”

Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.

The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental-Health First Aiders.

We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.

More details about working at Highgate can be found here:

As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible – through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham – an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.

Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.

As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.

• Closing Date:4th February 2026
• Timing of interviews:Week commencing 9 February

Contact: James Newton, Deputy Head (Academic) is happy to answer any questions about this post.

Early Application: Applications will be considered ‘as and when’ received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.

We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro-divergence) when you submit your application.

As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate’s Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. If, in the course of carrying out the duties of the post, the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If, while in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community, these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment. Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice.

Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities.

Please note that this role is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ (i.e. filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview.

In accordance with the latest guidance from KCSIE, we shall be conducting online searches on any candidates who are shortlisted.