Enacting subject leadership as practice: Primary science and curriculum marginalisation in English primary schools

Subject leadership in primary schools is increasingly recognised as important for curriculum quality, yet little is known about how subject leadership is enacted as practice in marginalised curriculum areas such as science within high-accountability systems. This study explores how primary science subject leaders in English schools understand and enact their leadership role within a high-stakes accountability context. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with science subject leaders across school contexts, the study adopts a leadership-as-practice and sensemaking theoretical lens to examine leadership as situated, relational, and shaped by organisational and policy conditions. Findings indicate that science leadership is enacted primarily through influence rather than formal authority, with leaders engaging in advocacy, relationship-building and ongoing negotiation to secure time, status and legitimacy for science within a crowded curriculum. Participants’ leadership practices were shaped by accountability pressures and the prioritisation of English and Mathematics, requiring leaders to respond creatively to inspection signals while sustaining teacher confidence and curriculum coherence. The study contributes to educational leadership research by conceptualising primary subject leadership as a form of provisional, legitimacy-seeking leadership practice enacted under conditions of accountability and curriculum marginalisation. Implications are discussed for subject leadership development, school leadership structures and policy approaches to curriculum leadership.