How to recruit maintained school governors

Work through this step-by-step process to recruit new governors. It covers identifying your needs, advertising the role, screening candidates and making the appointment. Use our template letter to approach organisations to find candidates.

Last reviewed on 3 April 2024See updates
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Contents
  1. Audit your governors' skills and knowledge to identify your board's needs
  2. Clarify who does what in the recruitment process 
  3. Use a free recruitment organisation like Governors for Schools for co-opted positions
  4. Create a tailored advert
  5. Explain how rewarding the job is
  6. Attract the right people
  7. Create an application pack
  8. Screen candidates
  9. Appoint/elect and induct your new governor

We used the now-withdrawn Governance Handbook, advice from governor recruitment charity Governors for Schools, and our governance expert Matt Miller, to write this article. 

Use our other article if you're looking to recruit trustees and local governors for trusts and academies.

Audit your governors' skills and knowledge to identify your board's needs

The first step when recruiting new governors is to identify what skills and experience your board needs from a new member, for it to be effective. 

Use GovernorHub's board effectiveness tool to do this. 

Our effectiveness tool goes above and beyond your normal skills audit, and is designed to help you and your board:

  • Evaluate strengths and weaknesses in different areas
  • Identify development and training needs
  • Identify board members with experience in specific tasks, e.g. exclusion panels

If any third-party organisations are helping you