Hundreds of schools 'without head'

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Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, called on the Government to take urgent action to tackle the shortage.

According to reports, he has written to the Training and Development Agency for Schools saying that between 600 and 1,000 schools had no permanent leadership teams.

"Arguably the key objective for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and its agencies is the retention, supply and recruitment of headteachers," he wrote.

There is also concern about the number of teachers who could be in line for roles in in new academies.

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: "It's a tremendous own goal by the DCSF to dilute the availability of good headteachers."

But the DCSF rejected the figures quoted by Mr Brooke, insisting that the number of headteacher vacancies was much lower.

"Head vacancies remain low and stable and less than 1%," a DCSF spokesman said.