Carl Ward

About Carl Ward

Carl Ward is chief executive of the City Learning Trust, a 3 to 19 multi-academy trust (MAT) in Stoke on Trent, and chair of the Foundation for Education Development.

In a career that spans 26 years in teaching, 18 of them in senior leadership, Carl has worked in a range of schools and organisations across a number of settings. Further to this, Carl was Association of Schools and College Leaders (ASCL) President from 2017-2018, and between 2009 and 2011, formed part of the Prime Minister’s Talent & Enterprise Taskforce, advising the Number 10 policy unit on several aspects of education. Carl is chair of the Careers and Enterprise Company’s Education Advisory Board and has previously been chair for the Schools Cooperative Society and the Chartered College of Teaching’s trustee selection committee. He is a serving council member of the International Confederation of Principals, and a member of the Global Education Leaders Partnership. In addition, Carl has been a member of the Education Funding Agency advisory board, DfE School and Academy Funding Group, Confederation of School Trust board and the European School Heads Association. 

Last year, Carl was recognised for his impact in education and named as a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and as a Fellow of the Leadership Council at the Center for Universal Education, Brookings Institute, Washington DC.

Find out more about Carl’s work: