NGA Annual Governance Survey 2023 

~ Bruce Levitan

The latest annual survey from the NGA is available using the link below. The report highlights several issues that governors have raised, including:

  • The challenge of recruiting and retaining governors and trustees has reached an all time high.
  • The percentage of respondents sharing the view that the governance role should be paid is steadily increasing (but still in a minority).
  • The percentage of governors and trustees reporting that their governance role is manageable alongside remains broadly similar to previous years, but it is seen as becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
  • The longitudinal data reveals a shift in employer attitudes towards paying for the time off to conduct governance duties with less than a third of respondents being provided paid time off to conduct their governance duties.
  • Young people continue to be underrepresented in school and trust governance.
  • Only 9% of respondents were satisfied with how the government has performed in the last 12 months. This is the lowest rating since NGA began asking this question in 2011.
  • The report also outlines the areas of greatest concern to governors in terms of school needs, e.g. finances, safeguarding and behaviour.
Download the report here