Unions say the demands of the job make it less attractive

A total of 1,340 schools in England and Wales advertised for a new head, according to Education Data Surveys.

This was nearly 200 more than in the same period last year. The previous record was 1,325 in 1997.

The Department for Education and Skills said a tally of newspaper adverts was not accurate: vacancies had actually fallen, while salaries were up.

Ageing

But Professor John Howson, who did the study, said: "The crisis in leadership in our schools that we have been warning of for the past few years shows no signs of abating".

Indeed it might be getting worse, with many more head teachers reaching retirement age, he said.

And already, about 118 schools that advertised during January had re-advertised their headship after not making an appointment.

Ministers are considering the problem, flagged up in last autumn's report from the School Teachers' Review Body, which advises them on pay and conditions.

Rewards and risks

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills questioned the survey.

"A tally of advertisements placed in newspapers is not an accurate reflection of the situation in our schools," he said.

"Vacancy rates for head teachers and deputy head teachers have actually fallen significantly with only 0.7% of posts now vacant compared to 1% of head teacher posts and 1.8% of deputy head teacher posts in 1998."

Maximum pay had risen by more than 35% in real terms to �93,297.

But union leaders said the findings confirmed their worst fears about the reduction in the number of people willing to apply for headship.

At the National Association of Head Teachers, general secretary Mick Brookes said many senior school staff were unwilling to step up to headship because they feared that one bad inspection report would get them sacked.