School business manager

A school business manager runs everything in a school that is not teaching: the budget, HR and payroll, premises and health and safety, contracts, and the admin team. In a small primary it can be a hands-on role that includes reception cover and ordering. In a large secondary or trust it is a senior management post with a team underneath. Most are paid as support staff on the council pay spine at a grade set by the employer, with the most senior trust roles paid above the spine.

Finance

Money is the centre of the job. The business manager builds the annual budget with the head and governors, forecasts several years ahead, monitors spending each month, and reports to the finance committee. In maintained schools that means working within the local authority’s scheme for financing schools. In academies it means following the Academy Trust Handbook, which sets rules on financial management, related-party transactions and accounts.

You also handle grant income such as pupil premium, chase money owed to the school for lettings and trips, and look for savings. When budgets are tight, the business manager is usually the person modelling what staffing the school can afford.

HR and staffing

Business managers often look after recruitment administration, contracts, the single central record of safer recruitment checks, absence records, and the link with the payroll provider. In smaller schools they also deal with first stages of sickness absence and support the head on disciplinary or grievance cases. That calls for a working knowledge of the different terms for teachers and support staff, from the Burgundy Book to the NJC Green Book.

Premises and health and safety

Buildings usually fall to the business manager, who line-manages the site manager and cleaning staff or the cleaning contractor. The work includes maintenance planning, fire safety and risk assessments, contractor management, and capital bids for repairs. In an academy trust, estates may be handled centrally.

Admin, data and contracts

The office team, including the school administrator and receptionist roles, usually reports to the business manager. The job also covers procurement and contracts (catering, cleaning, IT, photocopiers), data protection compliance, insurance, and lettings of the hall or sports facilities.

Busy periods and pressure points

The year has a rhythm. Maintained schools set their budgets in spring, ahead of the financial year starting in April, while academies work to a September to August year with accounts and returns to the trust afterwards. Pay awards land at different times for teachers and support staff, often late and backdated, which means recalculating budgets and checking that payroll has applied them correctly. Summer is when building work and contractor visits are crammed in.

For many business managers the hardest part is being the person who says the money is not there. When rolls fall or costs rise faster than funding, you build the models that show whether posts can be kept, and you may support the head through restructures and redundancies. You work closely with the head and governors, so a lot depends on that relationship.

Qualifications

There is no single required qualification. Common routes include:

• school business professional apprenticeships at Level 4 and higher levels
• the Certificate or Diploma in School Business Management and similar sector qualifications
• accountancy qualifications such as AAT, or chartered accountancy for trust finance roles
• a degree in business, finance or HR

Many business managers start as a school administrator or finance officer and qualify while working. Others move in from private sector finance, HR or office management. As a member of school staff you will need an enhanced DBS check; in England and Wales the fee is £41.00 from 5 October 2026.

Pay grades

In maintained schools in England and Wales, business managers are usually on the NJC pay spine through the council’s grading scheme. The 2026/27 award added 3.3% to spine points 3 to 43 from 1 April 2026. The grade depends on the size of the school and the scope of the role, so the range is wide. As an illustration, using spine values calculated from the 2025 figures plus 3.3%:

Spine point	Full-time salary 2026/27
SCP 20	£33,673
SCP 25	£37,563
SCP 30	£42,123
SCP 35	£47,665
SCP 40	£53,051
SCP 43	£56,293

SCP 43 is the top of the national spine. Senior business leaders and chief operating or chief financial officers in multi-academy trusts are often paid on locally set scales above it. Academies can set their own pay for all posts. See the full NJC pay spine and our guide to multi-academy trusts.

Some business manager roles are term-time plus a few weeks. Many are all-year, because budgets, payroll and building projects do not stop in August. Check which before comparing salaries, since a term-time salary is a percentage of the full-time figure.

Business managers join the Local Government Pension Scheme. In 2026/27 members pay 6.5% on pay from £29,001 to £47,300 and 6.8% from £47,301 to £59,800, based on actual pay. The take-home pay calculator shows the net effect.

Finding a post

Vacancies are on council job sites, trust websites and the DfE Teaching Vacancies service, and you can browse them under school support jobs. Expect a finance or data task at interview, and possibly an in-tray exercise. Questions about how you would handle a deficit budget are common.