Biography
Carla Whelan is a seasoned education leader with deep expertise in system leadership, school improvement, and strategic operations across multi-academy trusts and local authorities. Her leadership has driven significant transformation in challenging contexts—raising school ratings, improving pupil outcomes, and embedding robust quality assurance frameworks.
She has led schools from “Requires Improvement” to “Good,” with outstanding evaluations in leadership and management, and consistently accelerated progress to exceed national benchmarks.
Carla remains actively engaged in the wider education community, contributing to national leadership groups and policy development. As a founding member of the Chartered College of Teaching, she has helped shape ethical leadership frameworks and curriculum innovation. Her advisory work spans safeguarding, learning, and operational strategy, with a focus on streamlining services and securing excellence across all aspects of school life. With qualifications including NPQH, NPQEL, and postgraduate study in school leadership, Carla brings a values-driven approach to building resilient teams and sustainable networks for long-term impact.
Why have I joined nEdEx?
Carla Whelan has joined the nEdEx advisory board to help shape a network that champions innovation, collaboration, and excellence in education. With a track record of leading improvement at both school and system level, she brings strategic insight grounded in lived experience. Carla is committed to staying sector-relevant—engaging with research, policy, and national initiatives—and sees nEdEx as a space where that learning can be shared, challenged, and deepened.
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Her advisory roles have kept her close to the realities of implementing policy on the ground, and she’s particularly interested in contributing to conversations around quality assurance, ethical leadership, and sustainable improvement. For Carla, nEdEx offers more than dialogue—it’s a platform for shaping meaningful responses to the sector’s evolving challenges.
She’s excited to collaborate with peers who share a commitment to bold thinking and practical impact, and to help ensure the network remains inclusive, forward-thinking, and rooted in what works.