Schools in Sussex are struggling to recruit head teachers, analysis suggests.

One in four primary headships advertised in January 2013 were not filled within 60 days.

In Brighton Whitehawk Primary School, which is set to become an academy in September, is currently recruiting a new head teacher.

The hunt for a new head is being carried out by future sponsor City College Brighton and Hove.

Lynn Thackway, principal of the college, said: “Finding good head teachers is most definitely a challenge and we were fortunate in that we already had a superb candidate within our college team who we could put forward for the interim head teacher role, or we could have found ourselves really struggling to find someone really excellent in time for the new academic year at such short notice.

“We are also recruiting teachers at the moment for some vacant positions in the new academy and we are rather more blessed in Brighton and Hove than many other parts of the country with young and enthusiastic teachers because of the excellent local university PGCE courses and the popularity of this area as a place to live.”

And the problem is not restricted to primary schools, with Brighton Aldridge Community Academy also hiring an interim head teacher while it tries to find a suitable candidate.

The school told parents: “Our recent national advertising campaign for the post of principal attracted a good level of interest.

“After carrying out extensive interviews, however, the board of governors did not feel that we have found the very special candidate who would be able to lead the academy into its next phase of development, building upon the substantial successes to date.

“We will therefore continue our search for the right person to lead the academy into its next phase.”

The Education Data Surveys’ analysis, published in the Times Educational Supplement, shows that of the 261 English primary schools which advertised for a head teacher in Janu- ary 2013, 26% were forced to re-advertise within 60 days.

The Department for Education says it is aware that vacancies will rise as the baby-boomer generation retires.