Academy leaders to face pay cap

Announcing these changes, Education Secretary Bridget Philipson said:

“Our brilliant school and college teachers go above and beyond every day, and I’m determined that dedication is not just recognised, but rewarded.

“It’s also right that classroom teachers are not seeing executive pay rise faster than their own – or set at excessive levels in the first place – so tighter controls will mean unjustifiable exec salaries become a thing of the past, helping level the playing field for school staff and drive every pound towards classrooms.”

The change comes as part of the government’s Maximising value for pupils programme, which is intended to support schools to get the best value from their budgets.

Jonathan Holden, National Head of Employment and Education at Forbes Solicitors, commented:

“Pay limits will need a framework of statutory powers, Treasury controls, independent review bodies and clarity on transparency rules.

“Similar processes and controls exist in other parts of the public sector and are crucial for governing principles on what constitutes ‘fair’ and ‘proportionate’ pay. Education pay policies will need rewriting, so that Academy Trust leaders and teachers are absolutely clear on pay bands, and so that the Department for Education can determine what is ‘value for money’.

“The UK government's 2026 Schools White Paper vowed to crack down on ‘unjustifiable and excessive pay’. To achieve this, there must be a robust benchmarking of what defines ‘justifiable’ and ‘’unjustifiable’ to create a centralised pay structure that fairly remunerates and rewards those working in education.” 

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