Philip Britton, Head of Foundation at Bolton School, has been announced as the 2025-26 Chair of the HMC. The HMC is a professional association of heads of the world’s leading independent schools. Philip will step down from his role as Chair of the Communications Committee and join the HMC Board as Chair Elect in September 2024.
Looking ahead to his appointment, Philip said: ‘I am delighted to be nominated as Chair of HMC for the 2025-26 academic year.
‘I look forward to working with the Board and Council, as well as all the colleagues who work for HMC, on all that they do for us to support our work as members in schools. One of the great strengths of HMC is the variety of schools in membership, each with a distinctive history and purpose, but collectively just focused on doing our best to give our pupils a great start in life.
‘I am conscious the next few years will bring challenges to HMC in representing us all in some very significant national discussions as well as the very important role we will all have collectively in supporting one another in what may be difficult times in leading our schools. I am very happy to be able to do what I can to help that endeavour, as we share our wisdom and also share the empathy we can have for one another. We must always take what we do very seriously, but we must never take ourselves too seriously, and the camaraderie of the HMC is our great strength.’
Philip Britton was educated at Blaydon Comprehensive School, took a first in physics at Oxford and did teacher training at Cambridge, winning the Charles Fox prize. He worked as physics teacher, Head of Physics and Deputy Head at Leeds Grammar School. Philip has been very much involved in the Institute of Physics over the years and in 2010 was awarded an MBE for services to physics. He has been a governor at Stockport Grammar School and is currently one at the Grammar School at Leeds. He took on the new overarching role as Bolton School Head of Foundation in 2021, having been Head of the Boys’ Division at Bolton since 2008.
As a large and successful school, Bolton School has often played a part in national leadership of the Heads’ Associations. In 1985 Dr Spurr was President of the Girls’ School Association and in 2019 Miss Hincks followed in her footsteps. Mr Baggley, the Head of Boys’ Division at the time, was Chair of the HMC in 1978.
