jobfacts

Head teachers and principals

SOC 2020 2321

Head teachers and principals plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the running of schools, colleges and other educational establishments.

Also calledHeadteacherHeadDeputy headteacherHead masterHead mistressand 36 more titles
Typical full-time pay£72,2002025 Provisional
People in the job46,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month901↓ 4.9%on last year · 203rd of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time head teachers and principals earn between £59,300 and £83,600 a year.

What full-time head teachers and principals earn, 2025
£72,200 typical£46,900lowest 10%£59,30025%£86,800top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£59,300–£83,600)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£46,900
Lowest 20% earn less than£56,200
25%£59,300
Median£72,200
75%£83,600
Top 20% earn more than£86,800
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £72,200
Yorkshire and The Humber!£84,500
Wales!£79,000
East Midlands!£78,200
North West!£73,600
South East£70,400
North East!£70,200
Scotland£68,200
East of England!£67,400
South West!£65,800
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
LondonNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £72,200
Yorkshire and The Humber£84,500 (small sample)
Wales£79,000 (small sample)
East Midlands£78,200 (small sample)
North West£73,600 (small sample)
South East£70,400
North East£70,200 (small sample)
Scotland£68,200
East of England£67,400 (small sample)
South West£65,800 (small sample)
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
LondonNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £65,700
  • 2024 £71,000
  • 2025 Provisional£72,200
↑ 9.9% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 901 jobs for head teachers and principals are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026678
Jul 2026652
Jun 2026Not published
May 20261,097
Apr 20261,095
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20261,086
Jan 20261,089
Dec 2025523
Nov 2025879
Oct 2025900
Sept 20251,007
Aug 2025625
Jul 2025742
Jun 2025936
May 20251,288
Apr 20251,112
Mar 20251,295
Feb 20251,290
Jan 20251,141
Dec 2024636
Nov 2024776
Oct 2024875
Sept 2024981
Aug 2024536
Jul 2024736
Jun 2024914
May 20241,234
Apr 20241,232
Mar 20241,195
Feb 20241,214
Jan 20241,243
Dec 2023951
Nov 2023903
Oct 2023761
Sept 2023709
Aug 2023616
Jul 2023697
Jun 20231,041
May 20231,295
Apr 20231,077
Mar 20231,672
Feb 20231,566
Jan 20231,491
Dec 20221,105
Nov 20221,305
Oct 20221,113
Sept 20221,319
Aug 2022779
Jul 20221,027
Jun 20221,063
May 20221,409
Apr 20221,200
Mar 20221,615
Feb 20221,301
Jan 20221,377
Dec 2021888
Nov 2021991
Oct 20211,014
Sept 2021949
Aug 2021723
Jul 2021931
Jun 2021939
May 20211,254
Apr 20211,032
Mar 20211,156
Feb 2021963
Jan 2021941
Dec 2020790
Nov 2020901
Oct 2020919
Sept 2020946
Aug 2020668
Jul 2020620
Jun 2020767
May 2020866
Apr 2020834
Mar 20201,160
Feb 20201,364
Jan 20201,264
Dec 2019815
Nov 2019983
Oct 20191,002
Sept 2019925
Aug 2019807
Jul 20191,028
Jun 20191,459
May 20191,475
Apr 2019876
Mar 20191,123
Feb 2019938
Jan 2019995
Dec 2018663
Nov 2018978
Oct 2018991
Sept 2018954
Aug 2018824
Jul 2018742
Jun 20181,080
May 20181,208
Apr 20181,098
Mar 20181,383
Feb 20181,218
Jan 20181,451
Dec 2017712
Nov 2017892
Oct 2017860
Sept 2017868
Aug 2017657
Jul 2017652
Jun 20171,060
May 20171,245
Apr 20171,181
Mar 20171,417
Feb 20171,302
Jan 20171,367
Is there a shortage of head teachers and principals?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was critical.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsWell above usual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
24%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for other educational professionals, which includes head teachers and principals. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London457
Birmingham74
Manchester57
Wiltshire36
Bristol, City of28
Liverpool25
Nottingham23
Buckinghamshire22
Leeds21
Dudley20
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where head teachers and principals are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of head teachers and principals
n/p
29%!
47%
18%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
25–34Not published
35–4429% (small sample)
45–5447%
55–6418% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent99%
Higher education below degree–
Not published
Show as table
Degree or equivalent99%
Higher education below degreeNot published

Main employers: primary education (60%), general secondary education (19%), tertiary education (7.9%), pre-primary education (2.8%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
99%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

Routes in

You can get into this job by working towards this role.

Work your way up

You can become a headteacher after working as a teacher in a school.

You'll also need several years' experience as a senior manager or deputy head. You can take professional development training to help with this. For example, by completing the National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership and the National Professional Qualification for Headship.

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks

Registration and professional bodies

Registration
  • you'll usually need qualified teacher status (QTS) to teach in a state school in England
Further information

You can discover more about senior teaching careers from Ambition Institute and Get Into Teaching.

You can also search for jobs through the Teaching Vacancies service.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for headteacher. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • sets the school's values, provides leadership to staff and helps create an encouraging environment for learning
  • considers staffing, financial, material and other short- and long-term needs
  • leads or contributes to decision making processes regarding curricula, budgetary, disciplinary and other matters
  • monitors schools performance and sets goals for student's academic achievements
  • liaises with parents and pupils
  • assists with recruitment, public relations and marketing activities
  • coordinates and maintains quality assurance procedures

Skills

  • communicate with youth
  • cooperate with education professionals
  • develop organisational policies
  • handle financial transactions
  • maintain records of financial transactions
  • manage budgets
  • manage enrolment
  • manage school budget
  • manage staff
  • provide education management support
  • provide information on education financing
  • supervise educational staff
  • trace financial transactions
  • write work-related reports

Knowledge

  • accounting
  • accounting techniques
  • budgetary principles
  • curriculum objectives
  • curriculum standards
  • education administration
  • education law
  • electronic communication

Suits people who like

  • Helping and caring for people
  • Leading and persuading

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for teaching and other educational professionals, a group of 13 jobs that includes head teachers and principals.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 15%about 268,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.3 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.