Past ExamsRwanda ICT preparation

Headteacher exam: what is tested and how to prepare

Updated 17 September 2026 · 3 min read

A headteacher test asks whether you can run a school, not whether you can teach a lesson. Expect questions on planning and improvement, supervising teachers, handling money and resources, discipline, working with parents and the district, and using data on learner performance. Most items describe a situation you would meet in a real school and ask what a head should do, in what order, and with whom.

How this guide was made

Written for this site with AI assistance, then checked automatically before publishing. The topic table, sample questions, worked examples and study plan are generated from this site’s question bank: each worked example is recalculated by separate code, and each sample answer says where it came from.

The guide deliberately states no salaries, grades, pass marks or exam dates. Those change, and they could not be checked here, so take them from the advert itself.

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What the questions cover

  • Leadership and planning: school vision, improvement planning, delegation and running meetings.
  • Curriculum and assessment: coverage, standards of marking, analysing results and acting on them.
  • Staff management: deployment, supervision, appraisal, professional development and handling poor performance.
  • Learner welfare and discipline: behaviour policy, attendance, protection of children and inclusion.
  • Resources: budgeting, procurement, school property and the grants a school receives.
  • Community and accountability: parents, governing committees, the sector and district, and inspection.

Where to spend your study time

The suggested emphasis reflects what this position works with day to day. It is a study guide, not a published exam blueprint.

AreaSuggested emphasisQuestions in the bankPractise
School leadership, curriculum and assessment 100%50Deputy Headteacher (DOS)

Questions about order and authority

Many items test whether you know what a head does personally and what a head delegates. A question about a teacher who missed lessons is usually not asking you to teach the class yourself; it is asking whether you establish the facts, act through the deputy responsible, support or correct the teacher, and record what happened. Answers that either ignore the structure or bypass it are the distractors.

Read each option and ask two questions: is this the head's decision, and is this the first step?

Money questions reward caution

Questions on budgets, procurement and school property test integrity as much as knowledge. The expected answers follow procedure: plan expenditure against the budget, follow the procurement rules for the amount involved, keep records, involve the committee that must approve, and never authorise what you cannot account for. An option that solves a problem quickly by bending a rule is wrong even when the need is genuine.

Improvement is evidence-based

When a question describes falling results, attendance problems or weak teaching, the expected answer gathers evidence first, then plans with the people involved, then follows up. Heads who act on impressions make changes that do not hold. Look for the option that identifies the cause before prescribing the remedy.

Protection and welfare questions have one right answer

Where a scenario touches the safety of a child, the expected response is immediate and procedural: act to protect the learner first, report through the channel the rules require, and keep the record. Do not investigate privately, and do not settle the matter inside the school to avoid embarrassment. Options that delay, that handle it quietly, or that put the school's reputation before the learner are wrong however sympathetically they are worded. This is one area where candidates reasoning from general leadership principles still choose badly, so learn what the rules actually require of a head.

Staffing questions turn on the timetable

A teacher absent for a term, a resignation in the middle of the year or a sudden transfer is, in test terms, a question about learners losing lessons. The expected answer covers the class immediately from within the school, informs the district, and follows the proper process for a replacement, in that order.

Prepare with situations, not definitions

Definitions are easy marks but few. Spend your preparation on scenarios: write down how you would handle a teacher shortage in the middle of term, a parent complaint about a punishment, a delayed grant, a leaking roof before the rains, or a drop in one subject's results. Check your answers against the principles of evidence, delegation, procedure and the learner's interest.

Try a few now

  1. Q41.D. According to you, what was the fundamental reasons of organizing the teacher training on the use of ICT in teaching and learning?

    1. To induct new teachers on the effective teaching and learning by means of ICT
    2. To remind teachers about the policy of ICT in education implementation
    3. To equip teachers with competences in ICT use in their teaching.
    4. To ensure effective use of ICT and quality learning.
    Show the answer

    D. To ensure effective use of ICT and quality learning.

    The fundamental reason is the end the training serves - effective ICT use leading to quality learning. A names the immediate output, and B and D describe narrower purposes.

    Real past-paper question; the source had no key, so the answer was reasoned from the question. Open this question

  2. Respect of opinion is the feature of...

    1. Instructional administration
    2. None of the above
    3. Democratic administration
    4. Authoritarian administration
    Show the answer

    C. Democratic administration

    Democratic administration is defined by consulting staff and respecting their views. Authoritarian administration does the opposite.

    Real past-paper question; the source had no key, so the answer was reasoned from the question. Open this question

  3. Which of the following statements is not correct?

    1. It is an imperative for a school to have a vision rather than a mission.
    2. A school vision is one of the most important components of the school improvement plans
    3. A clear vision statement acts as a unifying force, and has a positive impact on organizational effectiveness
    4. A school vision is the desired picture of the school in the future that drives all the school activities, attitudes and values
    Show the answer

    A. It is an imperative for a school to have a vision rather than a mission.

    Vision and mission answer different questions - where the school is going, and what it does day to day - and a school needs both. Presenting them as alternatives is the error.

    Real past-paper question; the source had no key, so the answer was reasoned from the question. Open this question

  4. If a teacher asks you in a meeting an example of what a professional teacher should do in terms of curriculum implementation, which answer would you give him/her from the suggested ones?

    1. A teacher should participate in professional and community networks and forums to broaden knowledge and improve practice.
    2. A teacher should plan what to teach annually, termly, monthly, weekly and daily
    3. All examples in A, B & C are correct
    4. A teacher should link teaching content knowledge and skills to everyday life experiences
    Show the answer

    C. All examples in A, B & C are correct

    Linking content to lived experience, planning across every cycle, and participating in professional networks are all part of competence-based curriculum implementation. None of the three excludes the others.

    Real past-paper question; the source had no key, so the answer was reasoned from the question. Open this question

Common questions

Is the test the same for primary and secondary schools?

The leadership material is largely the same. Curriculum and examination detail differ, so study the phase you are applying to.

How much of the test is about policy documents?

Less than candidates fear. Questions ask what a school should do, which follows from the purpose behind the policies rather than from quoting them.

Will there be questions on finance if my background is teaching?

Expect some. Learn the budget cycle, procurement thresholds and record-keeping requirements for schools, because heads are accountable for them from the first day.

More Headteacher guides

The same guide for related positions