Associate Career Pathway

What is the career pathway for ASSOCIATE practitioners?

As an Associate practitioner, you are likely to:

  • be a practising School or Trust Business Manager, local business support in a trust, team leader within a central team, trust business support or specialist manager (e.g. Finance Manager, HR Manager)

  • work with an operational emphasis, with some increased role complexity

  • start to contribute to thinking about the approach to tasks and begin to analyse information that informs decision-making

  • be working with other colleagues including senior leaders to deliver the strategic plans and ensure the embedding and understanding of these plans within your team

  • be qualified to (or working towards) level 4 or above.


If you are not already a member of ISBL and feel that this is the right fit for you, then you can apply for Associate membership of ISBL, click here for more information.

As an Associate practitioner, there are many opportunities for you as a member of ISBL - you may want to further develop your knowledge and experience through taking advantage of networking or mentoring opportunities or else undertaking accredited training or qualifications to gain formal accreditation. A number of benefits and opportunities are set out below:

The people we support

Related Qualifications at Level 5/6

  • CMI Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership

    Achieve professional recognition by proving your theoretical and practical skills and abilities with this CMI accredited qualification. By completing all units, you will gain extensive understanding about how to become an effective and skilled manager, taking you towards Chartered Manager status. A level 5 CMI qualification can help demonstrate your knowledge, skills and management ability to current and future employers, making you stand out from the crowd.

  • CMI Level 5 Certificate in Project Management

    This qualification equips learners with the skills and knowledge to effectively manage projects, meet objectives and improve efficiencies. This course is ideal for practising or aspiring middle managers and leaders to adapt to these increasing expectations. A level 5 CMI qualification can help demonstrate your knowledge, skills and project management ability to current and future employers, making you stand out from the crowd.

  • CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management for SBPs

    This qualification is an ideal way to help broaden the knowledge and extend the HR and people management skills of school business professionals. The programme enables learners to maintain and develop the effectiveness and efficiency of the HR function in which they work, as well as underpin and develop their knowledge of key aspects of the role, allowing them to add value to the school or trust.