bursarsdesk.co.uk
Salary : calculator

School bursar salary calculator

Combine school type, pupil count, region and tenure to produce a salary band rooted in the ISBA salary survey, ONS ASHE and the NJC Green Book. The output is full sentences, ready for a governor pay paper.

Calculator

School bursar salary calculator

Working paper output

For a prep school (independent) of 300 pupils in the South East region, with 5 years in role, an indicative salary band runs from £42,500 at the low end, around £54,000 at the median, to £73,000 at the upper quartile.

The London uplift applied here equates to approximately £8,500 on the base national median for this school type.

Sources: ISBA salary survey, ONS ASHE, NJC Green Book and the Academy Trust Handbook. See /reference/sources.

How the calculator works

The base band is taken from the most recently published ISBA salary survey or, for state-maintained roles, from the NJC Green Book and the ONS ASHE figures for similar occupational groups. The pupil-count adjustment reflects the well-documented relationship between school size and bursar pay. The London uplift reflects the published Inner London weighting; the tenure adjustment is conservative.[1][2]

What the calculator is not

The calculator returns an indicative range, not an offer. It does not include benefits-in-kind, on-site accommodation value, fees remission, performance pay, or bonus arrangements. Most independent schools quote base salary excluding the package; most academies quote total reward.

Sources for this page

[1]
ISBA salary survey publishes the independent-sector bursar bands used by the calculator.
ISBA : salary survey
retrieved 2026-06-22
[2]
ONS ASHE provides the official UK earnings distribution used to cross-reference the bands.
ONS : ASHE
retrieved 2026-06-22
AuthorOliver Wakefield-Smith, Founder, Digital Signet
Verified for academic year 2025/26
Last reviewed 22 June 2026