CEO salary benchmarking for schools and trusts: Three questions every board should ask

Could your board confidently explain how it set your CEO’s salary? 

What evidence can you supply if someone challenges executive remuneration? 

Are you confident that you're making executive pay decisions with the right information form your School or Trust? 

Setting executive pay is a big responsibility. You need to attract and retain talented leaders, make the best use of your budget, and be able to explain the decisions you’ve made.

And with new executive pay requirements introduced under the Academy Trust Handbook 2026, demonstrating a responsible use of funding becomes essential.

But when every trust has different challenges, priorities, and leadership structures, it’s not always easy knowing whether your executive salaries are where they need to be.

That’s where CEO salary benchmarking comes in.

Whether you’re recruiting a new CEO, reviewing existing pay, or planning for future growth, a pay benchmarking review gives trustees valuable evidence to support fair, informed, and defensible decisions.

We’ll walk you through the three main areas for benchmarking pay, along with key questions every board of trustees should consider.

Read on for 

1. Role comparison tips

2. Evidence-based decision-making

3. Aligning executive pay with education budgets

4. How EPM can support you

1. Are you comparing roles with similar responsibilities? 

When every Academy Trust faces its own set of unique challenges, job titles alone reveal little about the demands of a leadership role.

Take two CEOs, both leading trusts with the same number of schools. On the surface, the job roles look similar. However, pupil numbers, geographical spread, financial circumstances, school improvement priorities and the structure of their existing leadership teams all affect the scope of responsibility. Suddenly, the comparison isn’t quite so straightforward.

Effective CEO salary benchmarking looks beyond the headline salary. It considers the whole context in which the leader works.

The Department for Education (DfE) guidance for setting executive salaries highlights several important factors for trustees to consider when reviewing executive-level pay:

• Individual role responsibilities
• Trust size
• Complexity of the position
• Geographical location
• Relevant labour market conditions

The question for your board: Are we comparing genuinely similar roles, or simply matching job titles?

Finding the right comparisons takes time and a good working knowledge of the education sector. Independent benchmarking can help you identify relevant salary data and understand how differences between organisations should inform your decisions.

2. Could you explain and evidence your executive pay decisions 

The question for your board: If our latest executive pay decisions were challenged, would our evidence stand up to scrutiny?

It’s worth asking, particularly following the introduction of new executive pay controls under the Academy Trust Handbook 2026.

From 1 October 2026, academy trusts must obtain DfE approval:

• Before advertising a new appointment where proposed executive salaries are above £174,000 (or the pro rata equivalent for part-time staff)
• Where performance-related pay bonuses exceed £25,000
• Before increasing executive pay faster than teachers’ pay within the Trust.
• Why particular salary comparisons were selected
• How the responsibilities and complexity of the role were assessed
• What evidence supports the proposed remuneration package.

With greater external scrutiny, trustees must ensure executive pay decisions are proportionate, transparent and supported by a fully documented, evidence-based process. Ultimately, your Trust board should be able to explain:

• Why particular salary comparisons were selected

• How the responsibilities and complexity of the role were assessed

• What evidence supports the proposed remuneration package.

Conducting a benchmarking review not only brings a fresh perspective to support your board's decision, but also provides an additional layer of research and objective analysis that can serve as strong evidence if an external body requires it.

3. Are leadership salaries aligned with your longer-term strategy? 

If a key leader resigned tomorrow, would you know what salary to offer to their replacement?

It’s not always something trusts have an immediate answer to.

As trusts grow, responsibilities change, and leadership teams evolve, salary packages agreed several years ago may no longer reflect the demands of the role today.

An annual pay review isn’t just a chance to review executive pay and check whether salaries are competitive; it’s also an opportunity to look ahead.

Benchmarking can help your board explore whether remuneration will support recruitment, retention and succession while remaining affordable.

When reviewing executive salaries, consider:

• An assessment of performance
• Your organisational priorities
• Your current internal pay relationships
• Your longer-term financial plans

The question for your board: Does our approach to CEO pay support future workforce succession plans? Or cover us if we need to recruit?

Planning gives trustees more time to assess the options, consider relevant market evidence and make confident decisions before recruitment or pay reviews become urgent.

Give your board a clearer basis for it's next decision with an external review

Conducting a thorough review of executive pay will give your trustees strong evidence to make confident decisions. However, finding the right salary comparisons, assessing responsibilities and gathering supporting evidence all take time. And when your central team is already juggling competing priorities, carrying out a thorough executive pay review can be another significant task.

Working exclusively in the education sector, our consultants support schools and trusts nationwide with fully impartial salary benchmarking and remuneration reviews.

We look beyond headline salaries, considering the responsibilities of your leadership roles, your organisational structure, and relevant sector comparisons to ensure evaluations are clear, consistent, and carefully analysed.

Conclusion

With an independent assessment of how your pay aligns with comparable education organisations, you’ll have clear evidence on side, giving you the confidence to make informed decisions surrounding pay that meet the unique needs of your Academy Trust.