Dr Phil Smith

Phil works closely with executive principals, academy principals and subject directors to drive academic excellence across the Trust and create an environment where students thrive. He is passionate about school improvement and is committed to raising academic achievement, ensuring each pupil receives a top-tier education that paves the way for their lifelong success.

With a background as a principal and executive principal, Phil has a proven track record of transforming schools; as a principal he simultaneously led two failing schools and a Post-16 to Outstanding in every category, with one of the schools cited by the DfE as the country’s fastest transformation of a secondary school from Special Measures to Outstanding. The outcomes secured by students at one of his academies placed it in the top ten schools in England for Pupil Progress.

Phil holds a degree in Theoretical Physics, a Masters in School Leadership, and a Doctorate in the Transformational Leadership of Schools. In 2020 he was invited to Buckingham Palace where he was awarded an OBE for services to education, after improving the educational outcomes for thousands of children.