Dulwich College headmaster steps down after outburst at staff party

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The headmaster of one of Britain’s leading schools stepped down from his role ahead of schedule after an incident in which he “lost [his] temper” with a colleague led to an independent investigation, according to correspondence seen by the Financial Times.

In a letter to teaching staff and parents of pupils, Joseph Spence, headmaster of the up to £55,000-a-year private school Dulwich College, said he was standing down from his role before the school year starts next month after an incident at a summer staff party.

“As some of you may have heard, I lost my temper with a member of staff at the Staff Party of 4 July — the only time in my career that anything like this happened,” wrote Spence, adding that he had apologised to the colleague involved.

“That incident has caused me to reflect on the toll which leading a complex multinational institution like Dulwich has taken on me, particularly given the significant challenges we have all faced in recent years,” he added.

A separate letter from the school’s chair of governors said the incident “led to a thorough investigation by an independent investigator appointed by the Governors and appropriate action has been taken to the Governors’ satisfaction”.

Spence, who has served as headmaster of Dulwich College since 2009, was planning to retire at the end of the academic year in August 2025, but will now step back into “an ambassadorial and advisory capacity”, the letter from Adrian Carr, the chair of governors, said. Spence’s replacement — Robert Milne, current headmaster of rival London private school Emanuel School — had already been chosen to start in September next year. An interim headmaster has been appointed until Milne takes up his post.

Dulwich College is among Britain’s most elite private schools — which counts Oscar-winning actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and parliamentarian Nigel Farage among its former pupils. Last year it generated £36mn in net school fees and it has lent its name to a sprawling network of international schools, largely in Asia, owned by global schools provider Education in Motion.

During Spence’s tenure, Dulwich College was among a group of London fee-paying schools that faced allegations of sexual assault by former and current pupils and allowing a “rape culture” to take hold, which emerged as part of an online campaign, known as Everyone’s Invited.

More recently, private schools have come under pressure from the newly installed Labour government, which initially threatened to remove their charitable status before rowing back on the idea. From next year, however, private schools will lose their exemption from the value added tax, under Labour plans to fund 6,500 new state school teaching roles.

“I had always wanted to get to the point where I had seen us through those challenges and would be able to pass on the torch,” said Spence in the letter. He said his advisory role would focus “on the ambition of raising funds for bursaries and on carrying out ambassadorial duties as required”.

A representative for Dulwich College and Spence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.