Scotland’s new chief inspector of education could earn over £45,000 more than originally intended, Tes Scotland can reveal.
After a lack of interest in the post and two failed recruitment drives, the Scottish government has increased the salary attached to the role by tens of thousands of pounds.
The job was advertised for the first time in 2024, and again in early 2025, when the salary for the position was between £115,000 and £117,329 per year. However, both recruitment drives failed to result in appointment.
Now, a third recruitment campaign for the post has been launched - with a closing date of Wednesday 12 November - and the salary attached to the role is £111,916 to £162,500 - meaning that the upper end of the scale has increased by £45,171.
Responding to the new salary, the EIS teaching union said all public sector employees should be paid “appropriately and fairly for the work that they do”.
Questions raised about value of inspection
However, a spokesperson added that there were “significant questions to be asked over the value of the inspection body itself,” adding that it used “an outdated accountability model born in the Victorian era, to evaluate the strength of today’s education provision”.
The EIS spokesperson said: “Given the significant amount of public money spent on an inspection system that imposes a massive bureaucratic burden on schools and teachers, it is appropriate to question the value that this offers both to young people’s educational outcomes and to the public purse.”
Responding to enquiries from Tes Scotland, the Scottish government said “a high-profile and known leader” was required for the role of chief inspector.
The government spokesperson added: “The criteria for the position reflect the importance of the transformational leadership for His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education.”
After the two failed recruitment drives, there were rumblings among senior figures in Scottish education that the salary was too low. They pointed out that some education directors earned considerably more than the role was originally advertised at, while a headteacher in Scotland at the top of the pay scale can earn £115,539.
Education reform
The Scottish government is seeking to appoint a chief inspector of education as part of its education reform programme, which has been marred by delays, but it passed an important milestone in June when the legislation to create the post was passed.
Ultimately, the goal is to split the inspection and curriculum support functions of Education Scotland and to create a new qualifications body that is more in tune with the profession - although there is much scepticism about the difference the reforms will actually make.
Nevertheless, a new chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority was appointed in June, with that body set to become Qualifications Scotland in December.
However, when the role of chief inspector was previously advertised, the post of chief executive of Education Scotland was also advertised at the same time.
Education Scotland chief executive role
Tes Scotland asked the Scottish government why the Education Scotland chief executive role was not being readvertised, and whether the salary attached to that job would also be increased.
A spokesperson said the chief executive vacancy at Education Scotland would “be readvertised in due course with revised criteria and an appropriate salary scale that is specific to the role”. No further details were forthcoming.
The EIS said it still had “significant concern over the ongoing lack of cohesion in the process of education reform”. Real reform, it said, could “offer real value to schools” but it added that it was “concerned that the process is cluttered, bureaucracy-heavy and lacking clarity of purpose”.
Leadership would be “key to driving this process forward”, the spokesperson concluded.
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