Leading and Managing an Education Estate: Strategic leadership, risk, and accountability

A CPD-accredited programme developed by Tracey Field Consulting in partnership with ASCL

Your estate is one of your biggest responsibilities, but how confident are you in the decisions you’re making about it?

Expectations are shifting. Leaders are now expected to understand their estate position, explain it clearly, and take an active role in shaping decisions, not simply defer to operational teams or external advice. The DfE School Estate Management Standards and forthcoming Education Estates Strategy make that expectation explicit.

This programme, developed and delivered by Tracey Field - estates specialist, experienced education sector practitioner, and author of Leading and Managing an Education Estate - is designed to close the gap between accountability on paper and genuine confidence in practice. It is not about becoming an estates expert. It is about leading your estate with the clarity and confidence your role demands.

What you will leave with
By the end of the programme you will:

understand your role and accountability in leading and overseeing the estate at senior and board level
have greater confidence in interpreting estate information and making informed, defensible decisions
be able to ask better questions, provide effective challenge, and strengthen governance and assurance
have a practical approach to aligning estate priorities with your educational and organisational strategy
have a clear view of where your current oversight may be incomplete and what you need to do next

Programme structure
A blended programme combining in-person, live online sessions and independent on-demand learning, running from September through to November. The on-demand modules are self-directed and completed within a set window at a time that suits you, designed to build your thinking between the live sessions rather than add to your workload.

Short reflective activities between sessions support you to review your current estate position, test your level of visibility and assurance, and apply your learning directly within your own organisation. No technical preparation is required.

Speaker

Tracey Field

Founder, Tracey Field Consulting

Module 1: Leadership Accountability for the Estate

In-person | 22 September | Venue TBC

The programme opens in person to establish the foundations of estate leadership and create the conditions for honest peer discussion. You will explore where legal accountability sits in schools and trusts, why estates failures become leadership failures, and the gap between operational delivery and executive oversight — including what the DfE now expects of senior leaders.

By the end of this module you will understand why estate oversight sits at senior leader and board level, and what that means for your role.

Module 2: Visibility: Understanding Your Estate

Independent learning | Available 23 September – 5 October

This self-directed module is completed independently within a two-week window before the next live session. It focuses on what leaders need to see in order to understand estate risk — including the difference between what leaders are often shown and what is really happening, how to read condition and backlog data, and the warning signs that are easy to miss.

By the end of this module you will know how to read estate information without being a technical expert — and the right questions to ask.

Module 3: Assurance: Is the Estate under control?

Live online | 6 October | 10.00–11.30

This session focuses on how leaders can gain genuine confidence in statutory compliance, rather than simply receiving assurance and accepting it. You will explore the limits of dashboards and reports, where assurance failures typically occur, and how to strengthen your leadership challenge.

By the end of this module you will understand how to challenge assurance rather than simply accept it.

Module 4: Strategy: Turning Insight into direction

Independent learning | Available 7 October -2 November

This self-directed module is completed independently within a four-week window. It focuses on what an effective estate strategy looks like and how to align it with your educational priorities — including governance, escalation, sustainability, digital systems and SEND. A structured reflection task prepares you to bring your thinking into the final session.

By the end of this module you will understand how estates strategy supports and enables organisational strategy.

Module 5: Decision making: Prioritising investment and risk

Live online | 3 November 10.00–11.30

Building on the strategy work completed in Module 4, this session focuses on leadership decision making. You will explore the pressures of capital versus revenue decisions, lifecycle planning and backlog, and how to make — and defend — difficult prioritisation choices with transparency and rigour.

By the end of this module you will understand how estate investment decisions are made and defended.

Module 6: Leadership Application and Reflection

Live online | 19 November | 10.00–11.30

The programme closes with a session focused on application and next steps. Drawing on the reflection task from Module 5, you will explore what needs to change in your organisation, how your leadership oversight should evolve, and what questions your board should be asking.

You will leave with a clear set of leadership actions to take back into your setting.

Fees

ASCL members: £849+ VAT
Non-members: £899+ VAT

Multi delegate discount 10%

Who can attend?

Until now, training in school estate management has focused almost entirely on estates professionals and premises teams. This programme is different. It is designed specifically for senior leaders who carry accountability for the estate but are not estates specialists - and who want to lead it with greater confidence and clarity. It is relevant for: