Do you think headteachers are overpaid. After all, some can now earn in excess of £150,000. Indeed, in September 2027, the top of the scale for the highest paid headteacher will be £163,629, plus any additional uplift as a bonus, or health insurance, or any other non-cash benefits. On top of the salary there is the contributable pension benefit, and employer driven flexitime for leave. However, the latter might be more of disincentive rather than a benefit. (see Holiday advice – no use for teachers | John Howson )
Well, a basic salary of £163,629 for leading a large school in inner London is a lot of money. But what about at the other end of the scale. A new headteacher responsible for the smallest school could start on as little as £62,438 in September 2027. In reality, the starting salary is more likely to be slightly more than that basic figure.
How does the salary for a headteacher of a small school compare with the salary of teachers not on the Leadership Scale? In September 2027, it will be possible for a teacher to earn £54,421 outside the London area without any additional allowances. This is a difference of £8,017 or less than 20% to the salary of a headteacher of a small school.
For the extra salary, the headteacher sacrifices the limitations on their workload under pay and conditions rules, and in most cases takes on both a teaching and leadership role, usually without the support of a deputy headteacher. That doesn’t look like a very big differential to me.
How has headteacher pay changed over time?
In my 25th Annual survey of senior staff appointments in schools across England and Wales, published by the TES in January 2010, I noted the first advert with a salary of £60,000 was in the mid-1990s. In today’s money that would be £124,000. By 2008, some 60 schools were offering a starting salary of £100,000 or more. Such a salary for September 2008 would equate to a salary of almost £168,000 today. Inflation calculator | Bank of England
In 2008, the STRB recommended a starting salary for a headteacher of the smallest schools of £40,494. Today that would be worth just over £68,000 or approaching ten er cent more than their current expected starting salary in September 2027, by which time inflation will have further increased the disparity. (STRB 17th Report Part 1, page 134).
To answer the original question: are state school headteachers overpaid? It depends upon two factors, where you take the starting date, and whether there has been any grade inflation between the two measuring points.
On the face of it, secondary headteachers, have fared better than their colleagues in the smallest primary schools, especially if any extra duties and responsibilities acquired over time have been shared with the leadership team. The headteachers of the smallest schools probably don’t have a leadership team to whom they can pass on any extra work, so they may not have been fully recompensed for additional work.
When I come to review the turnover of headteachers during 2025/26, I will be paying especial attention to the salaries on offer.
John Howson 