Dr Dan Nicholls in

Dr Dan Nicholls

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Chief Executive Officer at The White Horse Federation
📍 Bristol, England, United Kingdom

Dr. Dan Nicholls is the CEO of The White Horse Federation, a multi-academy trust of 30 schools. An educationalist for over 20 years with a PhD from the University of Exeter, he has a significant track record of success and rapid promotions to executive roles, previously serving as Deputy CEO for the Cabot Learning Federation.

He is passionate about educational equity, frequently speaking on leadership and organizing networks to address the intersection of special educational needs and disadvantage. He focuses on building collaborative structures and shared curricula to drive improvement across school systems.

He has successfully led multiple schools to achieve Good Ofsted judgments from challenging starting points.

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Experience
26 Years
Current Role
Chief Executive Officer
Job Level
Leadership
Location
Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Personality Overview

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Communication Style
Decision Approach
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Priorities

Topics Dr cares about

Educational Leadership
Has a history of rapid promotions to executive roles, including CEO and Deputy CEO, focusing on setting direction and driving improvement across large school trusts.
Disadvantage & Inclusion
Organizes and leads the "SW Disadvantage Network," focusing on the intersectionality between Special Educational Needs (SEND) and social disadvantage in schools.
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Career

Work history

9-2024
Chief Executive Officer
The White Horse Federation
9-2018 - 8-2024
Deputy CEO
Cabot Learning Federation
2015 - 2018
Executive Principal
Cabot Learning Federation
2012 - 2015
Principal
Bristol Brunel Academy
2009 - 2012
Deputy Headteacher
Devizes School, Wiltshire
In the press

Media appearances

The White Horse Federation appoints education heavyweight as new CEO. Featured in The White Horse Federation
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Education
9-1996 - 8-1999
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
University of Exeter
2017 - 2018
CEO Execeutive Educators
Ambition Institute
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

Dominance, influence, steadiness, and calculativeness scores with guidance on how this person prefers to communicate and decide.

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