Private school headteacher salaries - pure greed?

People on here casually drop in that they are earning £200,000 or £300,000, what are they doing to earn that much? The headmaster of a school like Eton is running a big enterprise not just doing the odd bit of teaching. All sorts of people seem to get these (to me) extraordinary salaries including people running charities as well as some middle to high ranking business managers, even influencers on Facebook and TikTok manage to earn these sort of sums (who are really doing nothing as far as I'm concerned).

The rest of the world think private schools are a business—like a Hilton, or something

Tell me, in small words I can understand easily, why they’re not a business…

I have no skin in this game, but if private schools are businesses then surely they can pay their headteachers whatever they like?

Careful, OP. The bitter VAT payers are coming to get you.

The headline percentage rise sounds excessive but I think that the head of Eton being paid similar to other top schools is simple market economics. As long as the school produces the results, I can’t see that parents will care. They want a head who is as good as the ones at other top schools and in order to attract the best, they need to pay the best.

Yabu to think that this is individual greed. By your reasoning; anybody earning over median UK wage is greedy.

Are you a parent at the school OP? If not I can’t see why it’s any of your concern.

No one in my social circle voted to leave yet most send their children to private schools. Richmond upon thames Borough has one of the highest percent of children attending independent schools 25% but were in the top 20 places to vote remain at 69%. Look at the areas who voted to leave, not areas with a high percentage of children attending private schools.

AIBU to think that what private school headteachers are paid speaks to nothing more than pure greed in these individuals?

Yes, YABU. Assuming you're employed, have you ever turned down a salary increase?

“This was very well focus grouped before Starmer went for it. The overwhelming majority of the country is 100 per cent supportive of removing the VAT exemption.”

@LostittoBostik - they will only remain supportive if it does not impact their local state options adversely. If private schools end up hoovering up all the best state places, it will be outrage and the same turkeys voting for Christmas as we saw with Brexit.

I couldn't care less. People have a choice to go to Eton. There are loads of other schools. If they want to pay him that they can.

I'm more intrigued by the' 37 trusts named and shamed in new outlier trust pay crackdown" which was the Schools Week headline. The trusts were paying more than trusts of a similar size/type.

It didn't include the Harris trust ceo who gets 500k a year as presumably that's not an outlier due to the size of the trust.

This is taxpayers money. Are we getting value, school choice is often an illusion for state schools. They might be great value.

To be fair I was surprised to see the Hampton heads salary was that high, it's not exactly in the same league as Eton

The irony being it was think tanked because when we left the EU we could charge VAT on education.

The very people who wanted to leave are now not happy they are suffering the effects of leaving.

It was only meant to affect asylum seekers and the poor you see!

It looks like it's pretty much in line with the other schools now.

In this instance I was just letting other posters know that I am completely unpersuaded by the “they worked hard for it / skills are worth that much” arguments.

And I vote in line with my values. A day with Mr Bone sounds fun but I prefer democracy to class war! :-)

Maybe not at Eton or Winchester but I know quite a few Hampton parents who won't be continuing into the 6th form due to the VAT increase.

The problem in state schools now is obviously. The PTAs fund things like art supplies because the state fails to do so. Hence the schools become desperate for strong PTAs and a rich parent group which runs contrary to the ethos of state education. Then they all start conniving ways to get richer parents and higher achieving kids in. Harris is master at this.

Look in any other industry if someone is suddenly paid 40% more, the assumption is they are matching an offer from elsewhere?! So maybe the governors had no choice and another school tried to poach the head.

Exactly the same. I don’t have a problem with head-teachers, I have a problem with bloated salaries that pay somebody more than they could possibly need. I think that 4-5 times the average should surely be enough incentive for anyone in even the most skilled, specialist or responsible jobs.

Quite. I'm more worried about academy chains and the appalling state of state education. Layers of management siphoning off the money while schools can't get or pay for good subject teachers and can't afford any enrichment activities or basic resources, and some schools are actually crumbling around pupils ears.

I think train drivers are massively overpaid for what they do? Cannot do anything about it though. Why are you so concerned.

Just look at the salaries of certain Vice Chancellors of universities. That will really upset you....

They are the two sides of the same coin, and I refuse to accept it.

@Genevive24 how will your refusal to accept it manifest itself?
There’s a man called Ian Bone who used to march around the streets of Eton (claiming to be trespassing in the school’s private property but in fact
on public roads) holding banners and shouting ‘class war is the only war’.
Maybe you could join him next time he ventures out in one of his protests.

Can you link the original source please?

The highest paid academy school leader is Sir Dan Moynihan of the Harris Academy chain. He is paid £485,000 a year apparently. These is a state funded chain of academies. There are others on huge salaries also and lots of levels of leadership in these academies with large salaries attached. Many of these people are not teachers.
Given how much money is lacking in the state system, shouldn't the real question be why is so much of it being paid to non teaching chief executives and admin people? Who is monitoring these academies? Who do they answer to?

Why do you begrudge people high salaries? I don’t understand how strangers or those with no knowledge of what certain jobs involve constantly criticize “ridiculous” pay. Do you really think anyone appointed to this level started off earning that kind of salary? It takes years and years of experience and a lot of nerves to get there. The stress levels at this stage are through the roof, and it's laughable if anyone thinks otherwise.
If you knew what people in financial services earn, particularly decision-makers and "material risk takers," I think you’d have gone into meltdown.

Presumably a lot of Eton teachers also get free accommodation and food as the school is huge. Is that greedy too?