In a maintained school the governing body decides how long a chair or vice-chair of governors serves as there are no restrictions in law.
The governing body must set the term of office before the election, but that term can be of any length.
“Prior to the election of the chair and vice-chair, the governing body must determine the date on which the term of office of the chair and vice-chair will end.”
Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013
The most common term of office for chairs and vice-chairs is one year. A term of office that lasts many years may be daunting to potential candidates and discourage them from volunteering. A term that is too short will not give the chair long enough to make any impact and learn their role.
Before the current Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations were introduced in 2013 the law said that the chair’s term of office must be between one and four years, so it would be reasonable to use four years as the absolute maximum length of time that a chair should serve before a new election is held.
In an academy the current model articles of association (June 2021) say that trustees shall elect a chair and vice-chair “each school year”, so the term of office is limited to one year.
Do check your own articles though to see what the rules are at your academy trust.
“The trustees shall each school year elect a chair and a vice-chair from among their number.”
Model Articles of Association (June 2021)
Can the chair of governors be re-elected?
Yes. There is no restriction on the number of times a chair can be re-elected in either maintained school law or academy model articles (June 2021), so in theory a chair of governors/trustees could be in post at the same school for decades.
However, the DfE warns against remaining in the post for too long in its advice that accompanies the law for maintained schools.
“Although the regulations do not place any restrictions on this, boards should consider carefully how many times they re-elect their chair to a new term of office.
“In some circumstances, a change of chair may be necessary for the board to remain invigorated and forward looking.”
DfE Departmental Advice on Roles, Procedures and Allowances Regulations
The DfE suggest that two terms of office as a governor might be a reasonable length of time to serve as chair. Governor terms of office are usually four years so the chair would be in post for eight years in total.
“To share expertise, an experienced chair may wish to consider stepping down or moving on to another school or academy trust after a reasonable time, for example after two terms of office (eight years) as a governor.”
DfE Maintained Schools Governance Guide
Interestingly, the National Governance Association (NGA) recommends a total term for the chair of just six years.
“NGA has a policy that serving as chair of the same governing board for more than six years should be the exception, not the rule.”
National Governance Association
The NGA explain that this policy forces schools to develop new leaders, provides a “painless” way for chairs who are struggling or ineffective to stand down and leads to healthier governing bodies with a flow of new energy and new ideas.
It will be up to governors at your own school to decide whether they agree with these views.
Must we elect the chair again if their term of office as a governor expires?
Both the law for maintained schools and model articles for academies say the chair or vice-chair loses his role if he “ceases to be” a governor or trustee. This is common sense because the chair must be a member of their own board!
However, if their term of office as a governor is coming to an end and they are reappointed or re-elected as a governor there is no need to run the chair’s election again as long as you plan ahead and ensure they are reappointed/re-elected before their term of office ends.
For example, if the chair is a co-opted governor whose term as a governor expires in June, the vote to reappoint them can be held in May and their term of office will be continuous. If they are an elected governor you will need to ensure the election can be held before their term expires.
How long is a committee chair term of office?
In maintained schools the law limits the term of office for committee chairs to one year only. Committee chairs in maintained schools must be appointed “annually” by either the full governing body or by that committee.
“A chair must be appointed annually to each committee by the governing body or elected by the committee, as determined by the governing body.”
Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) 2013
In academies the rules for committees (including local governing bodies) are set by each academy trust, so you would need to check your committee terms of reference.