This Policy Note sets out the state of higher education leadership today. It reviews the backgrounds, careers and performance of university vice-chancellors. Drawing on a new dataset of 153 vice-chancellors from across the UK and at different types of institutions, it explores their tenure, their previous roles and institutions, as well as considering trends in gender balance and performance in the role. This report also makes recommendations for those involved in the recruitment of vice-chancellors. The authors find that there has been significant turnover in leadership roles, with nearly half of current vice-chancellors having been appointed since 2022 and vice-chancellors changing jobs more quickly than FTSE100 CEOs. The vast majority -- 115 of 153 -- were already in a senior leadership position at a higher education institution before their current role, most commonly deputy vice-chancellor. A third of Russell Group vice-chancellors held a vice-chancellor job elsewhere first, the highest of any mission group. Looking at vice-chancellors' previous institutions, around one-quarter of vice-chancellors, 38 of 153, were recruited internally. More vice-chancellors come from the University of Birmingham (5) than any other institution. There is very little movement of vice-chancellors between mission groups. Across the whole sector, around one-third of vice-chancellors are women. Almost all current female vice-chancellors were recruited in the last five years. In terms of performance, those from outside the sector and who have previously held the vice-chancellor role see the biggest improvement in rankings, whereas those who were previously a deputy vice-chancellor see a negligible or even negative change. Those from the Russell Group and from institutions based overseas perform the poorest in league tables compared with those from outside the sector and those in representative groups like MillionPlus and University Alliance. The authors emphasise that this initial analysis is exploratory and further, in-depth research on vice-chancellor performance is needed. Based on these results, the authors recommend that those involved in recruiting vice-chancellors should: (1) be clear about the role and requirements of the vice-chancellor; (2) appoint a balanced and skilled Selection Committee; (3) provide extensive training for the Selection Committee in conducting interviews and interpreting answers; (4) set clear decision criteria in advance to avoid deadlock; and (5) prioritise the candidate experience.