One in 10 academy trusts award £150k pay packages

New figures show 325 trusts where at least one member of staff had a salary and pension package of more than £150,000 in 2018-19
22nd July 2020, 4:49pm

Share

One in 10 academy trusts award £150k pay packages

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/one-10-academy-trusts-award-ps150k-pay-packages
Teachers At Wycliffe College In Gloucestershire Are Taking Part In A Six-day Strike Over The Private School's Withdrawal From The Teachers' Pension Scheme

More than one in 10 academy trusts had a member of staff with a pay and pension package of £150,000 or more, according to a new Department for Education (DfE) report.

Figures show that there were 325 trusts across the country where a member of staff had a salary and employer pension contributions of £150,000 or more in 2018-19.

This represented 11.1 per cent of academy trusts in the sector, according to the report published today.


Exclusive: Eight single academy trusts still pay leaders more than the PM

Investigation:  A third of top-paying MATs awarded pay rises

Pay: Less than half of top-paying trusts agree pay cuts


The tables also show that almost half of all academy trusts had a member of staff with a pay package of between £100,000 and £150,000 in 2018-19.

It shows that there were 1,387 trusts that had at least one member of staff with a pay and pension package at this level.

This represented 47.5 per cent of the sector.

It is not possible to do a like for like comparison with the previous year as the 2018-19 figures include pension contributions while the 2017-18 figures did not.

In 2017-18 the DfE tables show that there were 146 trusts paying more than £150,000 - 4.8 per cent of the sector. And 988 trusts were paying a member of staff between £100,000 and £150,000 - 32.4 per cent of academy trusts in the sector.

The new figures are contained in the DfE’s Academy schools sector in England: consolidated annual report and accounts for 2018-19 published today.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has been clamping down on top-level academy trust pay by challenging the boards of academy trusts who pay a salary of more than £150,000 or who have multiple members of staff on six-figure salaries to justify their decisions.

In a foreword to today’s report Academies Minister Baroness Berridge said: “Regarding high pay, I will continue to challenge where it is neither proportionate nor directly linked to improving pupil outcomes.

“DfE has taken a number of steps to challenge high pay and to ensure that there is transparency in reporting.”

Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Keep reading for just £1 per month

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get:

  • Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
  • Exclusive subscriber-only stories
  • Award-winning email newsletters
Recent
Most read
Most shared