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TES Survey - Who’s earning what in education

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TES Survey - Who’s earning what in education

From the quango chief on more than pound;250k to the academy head earning pound;110k and the teaching assistant paid pound;10k, we reveal the full range of sector salaries

19th March 2010, 12:00am

Tes Editorial

Cuts may be looming for schools, along with a potential freeze on teachers’ pay. But the latest TES pay survey shows that senior figures in the education system are earning record salaries and bonuses.

The gap between the richest and the poorest working in the schools sector is wider than ever before. Some education quango leaders are now on salaries of more than pound;200,000 - 20 times the average pay of a teaching assistant.

This year’s figures also show that state school heads are catching up with the salaries of those running some of Britain’s most prestigious public schools. Since September, at least 42 headteacher jobs - mostly in academies - have been advertised at salaries above pound;100,000, some offering more than pound;150,000.

John Howson, recruitment analyst at Education Data Surveys (EDS), says: “Although still not competitive with salaries for company directors, senior salaries in schools have increased significantly over the past few years, widening the gap between the staff and those in leadership positions.

“Whether it is sensible for a school to spend up to pound;1 in every pound;20 of its budget on leadership is a key issue for governors. But, having let the genie out of the bottle, putting it back won’t be easy.”

The survey includes only those working for public sector organisations or charities, such as private schools, so some senior figures in private companies, specifically the exam boards, may earn even more than those on the list.

Top earners

The table is topped by four public sector roles each of which carries remuneration which outstrips the Prime Minister’s salary.

At the very top is Geoff Russell, chief executive of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the quango responsible for funding post-16 education.

He received over pound;250,000, including a pension contribution of more than pound;50,000.

However,the LSC closes on April 1, after splitting its roles between three new agencies. So Mr Russell will become chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency, a smaller organisation that may pay less.

Also changing jobs is Andrew Hall, in second place in our listings, who will be leaving his post as chief executive of the QCDA qualifications agency to become chair of exam board AQA in June. This may prove a canny move as the Conservatives have threatened to scrap the QCDA if they gain power.

In third place is former primary school headteacher and Ofsted chief inspector David Bell, who now earns up to pound;205,000 as permanent secretary at the Department for Children, Schools and Families. This is an increase of almost a quarter on his pay four years ago - and means he now receives four times the average pay of a primary head.

Mr Bell’s successor at Ofsted, Christine Gilbert, is in fourth place, but she would have been paid more than him if she had not turned down a performance-related bonus last year, an action taken by a small group of heads of public sector organisations.

Whether many of the other high-paying quangos - including school technology adviser Becta - will be on the list next year will depend on whether the Conservatives gain power, and how far they take their plans to cull them.

Local government

High earners are also found in local authorities among directors of children’s services - a role that tends to pay significantly more than the director of education post that existed in the past because of the increased responsibility.

We have included only a sample of these roles, but salaries vary between up to pound;190,000 for Rosalind Turner, director of children’s services for Kent, to pound;75,350 for Carol Chambers in Rutland, the smallest local authority, who earned only fractionally more than the average secondary head.

The increasingly high-pressure nature of the job became apparent after the public hounding of Sharon Shoesmith in Haringey over the Baby P case. This means local authorities are likely to have to offer even higher salaries to attract new candidates.

Headteachers

The table is not comprehensive on heads’ pay, and the majority of salaries listed date from the previous academic year. But it does contain figures for some of Britain’s best-known heads.

The highest-earning is Anthony Little of Eton, who earned up to pound;189,000 plus pension contributions and free use of a house in 200809.

This is not markedly more than the pay of the man likely to be the highest-earning state school head during that period. Sir Alan Davies, head of Copland School in Wembley, north-west London, received around pound;183,000, including an pound;80,000 bonus. But Sir Alan resigned after an investigation into the school’s bonus policy - it was alleged that senior staff received almost pound;1.6m in unlawful bonuses - so he is not included in the listings.

In contrast, the man likely to be the highest-earning state primary head, Greg Martin of Durand Primary in Lambeth, south London, benefited from a legitimate extra payment, backed by his governors, for helping oversee the running of a gym complex on his school site.

While a growing number of comprehensive heads - and a handful of those in primaries - are expected to earn more than pound;100,000, the average primary head was on pound;52,000 while a secondary head earned pound;73,000.

Academies and federations remained the biggest payers: one of the higher salaries will go to whoever becomes executive head of the federation planned for Henry Compton and Fulham Cross Girls’ schools in Hammersmith and Fulham, west London, a job advertised at pound;120,000 to pound;150,000 “or more for an exceptional candidate”. The standard starting pay for academy heads is now pound;110,000.

Parliament

Professor Howson of EDS says the size of academy heads’ pay is particularly surprising when compared with a high-profile figure in Parliament, such as Michael Gove, Conservative education spokesman, who receives the standard pound;64,766 pay of an MP. “Whatever one thinks of politicians, it seems wrong that the head of any academy can expect to earn twice the salary of the shadow secretary of state for schools,” Professor Howson says.

Yet while Mr Gove may only receive an MP’s salary, he more than doubled his income last year through his journalism and his appearances on Newsnight Review. However, Conservative leader David Cameron announced last year that all members of the shadow cabinet would give up their outside interests before the start of 2010.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls was the top-earning elected figure in the table, on pound;143,946. But this was less than some headteachers, and significantly less than several directors of children’s services.

Unions

The top-earning education union leader continues to be Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, who received a salary of pound;105,198 plus pound;22,551 pension contributions.

Meanwhile the biggest pay increase over the past four years in this category went to Mick Brookes, National Association of Head Teachers general secretary, whose salary has risen from pound;90,000 to pound;102,967.

But all the pay increases for union leaders during that period - approximately pound;8,000 for leaders of the classroom unions - paled in comparison to the rises given to quango heads such as Graham Holley, chief executive of the Training and Development Agency for Schools, whose pay rose by about pound;23,000.

National differences

The table suggests some differences between pay for senior posts in England, Wales and Scotland. While the maximum salary of pound;102,734 being offered for the headteacher post at Bassaleg Comprehensive in Newport may not seem enormous compared with similar posts in England, it is one of the most generous for Wales.

Meanwhile, the head of Scotland’s largest secondary, Tom McDonald of Holyrood Secondary in Glasgow, was paid pound;78,000, which is little more than the average headteacher pay for England and Wales. All the average teacher pay figures listed are for England and Wales because the Scottish government was unable to provide comparable ones.

Payment for quango heads largely reflected the size of the nation in which they operate. So the remuneration for being chief schools inspector was pound;196,000 for England, and pound;110,000 each for Scotland and Wales. Similarly, the chief executive of the General Teaching Council for England earned up to pound;140,000 while his counterparts in Scotland and Wales received pound;98,913 and pound;85,000, respectively.

Classroom teachers

National pay agreements mean that teachers’ pay in state schools is broadly predictable, with those in areas such as London, or who receive teaching and learning responsibility points, earning more than the standard scales.

This may change if more academies use their powers to break away from the national pay agreement, but currently relatively few do and those that have done so have increased teachers’ pay only slightly.

However, the latest national figures show a clear link remains between gender and earnings.

So while the - relatively few - male primary teachers earn, on average, no more than their female counterparts in secondary schools, men earn an average of pound;1,300 more.

This gap tends to become more pronounced in more senior posts, with male special school heads earning, on average, pound;5,900 more than their female counterparts.

Studies by the General Teaching Council for England have indicated that women are about four times as likely as men to say that factors in their private lives, especially children, have limited their careers.

Professor Becky Francis, director of the centre for educational research in equalities, policy and pedagogy at Roehampton University, says the figures showed how powerfully gender affected teachers’ careers.

“That may be about social choices, but it’s also about social expectations,” she says. “It’s quite ironic that there are constant calls for more male teachers when they are the ones who are likely to earn much more in their careers.”

How much will teacher pay increase next year? A national salary hike of 2.3 per cent is due in September, but the chancellor has capped increases at 1 per cent for the following two years - while the Tories have threatened a public sector pay freeze.

Lowest paid

Some significant roles in the education system carry no salary at all.

Gillian Low receives nothing for being president of the Girls’ Schools Association, although she is paid for being head of Lady Eleanor Holles School in Middlesex.

But the ones who have the lowest salaries remain support staff, including caretakers, catering staff and teaching assistants (TAs).

Salary survey data collected by the union Unison suggests that the average caretaker earns pound;15,641, while the average TA is paid pound;10,402.

The TA pay figure is skewed by the fact that only about a quarter work full-time.

However, the majority have been in the job for more than five years and many of them are in debt, a fifth owing more than pound;10,000, roughly equivalent to their average annual wage.

Additional research by Irena Barker, Kerra Maddern, William Stewart, David Marley, Richard Vaughan, Liz Buie and Darren Evans. Figures are latest available, but publication dates vary so some may relate to different academic years