Bristol's schools chief Heather Tomlinson will leave her post early in the new year.

The Post understands that a final deal is being negotiated with Ms Tomlinson that will see her leave her £120,000-a-year job after four-and-a-half years.

Her departure will leave the city council looking for its fifth education boss in seven years.

The city council's strategic director of children, young people and skills has overseen a transformation in Bristol's secondary school provision and an improving trend in exam results.

But councillors across the political spectrum continue to worry that the pace of change is not fast enough.

There are also concerns about the strategy for improving standards in the city's primary schools.

Ms Tomlinson will return to work on January 5 but it is thought she will not be in her high-profile post by the time of the next full council meeting on January 13, when further discussions will be held over plans to shut three schools.

Meanwhile, the Department for Children, Schools and Families has told the council to resubmit its strategy for the city's 110 primary sector schools by the end of January.

Ms Tomlinson, who has more than 30 years' experience in education, became the council's fourth education director in three years when she was appointed in April 2004.

At the time of her appointment Peter Abraham, who was the councillor in charge of education, praised her innovative approach, drive and track record at Nottingham.

Ms Tomlinson took over after a turbulent period, which saw the city almost have control of its schools taken away by central government.

A sailing enthusiast, she set about steadying the ship and steering an ambitious course. Initially, the waters were stormy, with Bristol pupils achieving the worst GCSE results in England in 2005.

A year later, the Government's former chief inspector of schools Chris Woodhead called for Ms Tomlinson's resignation, saying parents could not have confidence in her.

But she continued to press on with a programme of new buildings, new ways of running schools and changes to make the curriculum more relevant.

Bristol is now on course to be the first local authority in the country to rebuild or replace all its secondary school buildings, exam results continue to go up, and an Ofsted report on the council's children's and young people's services earlier this month noted some sustained and encouraging improvements.

City council spokesman Julia Walton said: "Heather Tomlinson is currently the strategic director for children, young people and skills and continues to discharge her duties. She is back from leave on January 5."