COUNTY education bosses are still concerned about a shortage headteachers in Wiltshire schools.

There are still 11 unfilled posts across the county. Wiltshire County Council's chief education officer, Bob Wolfson, said the situation is worrying but some improvements have been made.

"We continue to attract a number of new heads to the county from other Local Education Authorities, and conversely, we continue not to help ourselves by appointing a significant number of Wiltshire heads to other headships in the county, thereby creating domino vacancies," he said.

Since September 2001, 45 headteacher posts have been advertised by Wiltshire schools. Although this number has been carried forward from the previous year, according to Ofsted figures it is still above the national average.

Of the 45, 12 vacancies arose as a result of death or ill health retirements, ten from promotions within the county, six from promotions to out of county posts, 12 from resignations for personal reasons and two were advertised for new schools. Of the 45 vacancies, 34 appointments were made, four of the posts are yet to be advertised or are awaiting interview, and seven have not been filled.

Mr Wolfson presented his report to Wiltshire County Council's education advisory panel on Friday.

He said a number of initiatives were still in place to improve the situation.

"We are encouraging senior managers to undertake the National Professional Qualification for headteachers. Regular termly briefings are held across the county to inform interested colleagues about the qualification and to encourage them to apply," he said. He said the situation is being alleviated through the practice of using acting headships.

The number of acting heads in Wiltshire schools has fluctuated from 12 in autumn 1998 to 21 in autumn 2000.

For the autumn term 2001, there were 20 acting heads in Wiltshire.