Context: In 2012, the Principals Academy Trust partnered with the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, with funding support from Capitec Foundation, to professionalize school leadership at scale. Recognizing principals as the key levers for change, particularly in a context of high poverty and crime, the goal was to move to durable, systems-based, people-centred leadership, grounded in new-economy skills like systems thinking, creative reasoning and personal mastery. Over time the initiative evolved into a multi-year leadership journey that builds school cultures where academic outcomes and human outcomes rise together.

Approach:  The co-designed programme is a flexible executive course that builds technical and people-focused skills, with the selected participants receiving a full bursary. The curriculum includes critical new economy skills including systems thinking and personal mastery (self-awareness, resilience, empathy) that is applied directly to each school. Learning continues beyond the classroom: principals receive at least three years of one-to-one coaching from veteran former principals and targeted teacher/classroom support to anchor systemic change. A principal peer network strengthens collaboration across schools and districts. In 2023 the programme expanded to include deputy principals and two high-potential teachers per school, creating a shared language and leadership bench so gains endure when principals are promoted. 

Results: The programme has significantly shifted leadership behaviours and school outcomes, reaching 273 school executives across 11 cohorts since launch. Participating schools recorded gains in independently assessed systemic tests and school-leaving results. In the first secondary-school cohort, Bachelor-pass rates rose by 16.4 percentage points, versus 5.8 points provincially, despite starting from a far lower base (19.7% in participating schools vs. 36.5% provincial). By the end of the period, the cohort surpassed the national pass rate by 2.5 percentage points.

In primary schools, the first two cohorts improved by 20.23% on average on the Principals Academy Trust Performance Index, which aggregates results from externally administered, internationally benchmarked assessments. In 2023, 11 programme-alumni schools ranked in the provincial top 10 for performance, and four others won Most-Improved Subject awards. Beyond the numbers, systems and culture are sticking as alumni are regularly promoted to circuit manager roles, extending the model’s reach as they eventually coach other principals.