Education and EdTech Executive Recruitment

Education and EdTech Executive Recruitment

Exec Capital provides senior executive search for UK education and EdTech firms across independent schools and school groups, higher education institutions and university spin-outs, EdTech scale-ups and platforms, training and professional development providers, language schools, and broader education-adjacent businesses. The UK education sector spans substantively different commercial environments — from charity-status independent schools and universities operating under Office for Students oversight, through commercial education businesses (including PE-backed school groups and listed-tutoring platforms), to fast-growing EdTech scale-ups operating in genuinely international markets. Senior hiring across this range warrants substantively different approaches calibrated to the specific sub-sector context.

Our practice covers UK senior appointments across CEO, Bursar, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Technology Officer, Director of Studies, Head of Admissions, and broader senior leadership at education and EdTech firms. Senior NED and Chair appointments at education governing bodies and EdTech boards also covered. Every mandate is led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA.

Sub-sectors we cover

Independent schools and school groups. Single-school appointments and senior leadership at multi-school groups. Distinct governance environments (charity status, ISI inspection regime) and senior team patterns (Head, Bursar, Director of Studies). Increasing PE-backed activity in this sub-sector creates additional commercial dimensions.

Higher education and university spin-outs. Senior appointments at UK universities (typically governance bodies and senior leadership teams), at university spin-out commercial businesses, and at higher education-adjacent firms.

EdTech scale-ups and platforms. Venture-backed and PE-backed EdTech firms operating in genuinely international markets — learning platforms, K-12 EdTech, higher education technology, professional development EdTech, language learning, assessment technology.

Training and professional development. Commercial training providers, executive education firms, professional qualifications providers, and corporate L&D businesses.

Language schools and English language teaching. UK language school operators, ELT publishers, and the senior leadership of these firms typically operating in international markets.

Broader education-adjacent. Education publishers, assessment firms, education services and consulting businesses.

Senior roles we recruit

Chief Executive Officer. Independent school heads, EdTech firm CEOs, training provider CEOs. Substantive variation by sub-sector — independent school heads typically have substantive prior senior school leadership; EdTech CEOs typically have substantive technology and commercial credentials.

Bursar / Chief Financial Officer. Independent school Bursars (typically combining finance and operations leadership), and CFOs at EdTech and commercial education firms. Cross-portfolio with our sister firm FD Capital.

Chief Operating Officer. Senior operations leadership at multi-school groups, EdTech firms with substantive operational complexity, and education services businesses.

Chief Technology Officer / Head of AI. Particularly central in EdTech firms where technology is the substantive product. Increasingly relevant in independent schools and universities as digital learning capability matures.

Senior commercial leadership. Director of Admissions, Director of Marketing, Head of Sales — senior commercial roles particularly central in commercial education businesses.

Non-Executive Directors and Chairs. Independent school governors, university council members, and NED/Chair appointments at EdTech and commercial education firm boards.

Further reading

For role-specific senior hiring guides, see our CEO hiring guide, COO hiring guide, CTO hiring guide, and the rest in our Knowledge Centre. For senior CFO appointments at education and EdTech firms specifically, see our sister firm FD Capital. For PE-backed and VC-backed education firm senior hiring, see our PE Executive Hiring Guide and our Scale-Up Hiring Guide.

For UK education sector context, see the Department for Education, the Office for Students for higher education, the Independent Schools Inspectorate for independent schools, and (for EdTech industry context) the British Educational Suppliers Association.