Chart: pay rises seen by England’s five most well-remunerated academy chief executives
Image: iStock
Data going back five to 10 years shows the scale of rises, and may underline why the government has been reported finally to be intervening.
With news that the government may be about to introduce a pay cap for academy trust leaders of £174,000 per year, I thought I would include a chart setting out context as to why this might have been needed.
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By Warwick Mansell for EDUCATION UNCOVERED
Published: 1 July 2026
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The rapid expansion of the academy system - the effective privatisation of the school system in England (esp. in secondary education) has been driven by the principles of Neo-liberalism and late stage capitalism that we have seen in other privatised sections of the national infrastructure (mail, transport, water, energy) that is the diminution in services and the expansion of the pay gap between workers and managers especially the highest level. A self-perpetuating cycle of greed.
Across the UK profits are rising, but investment is diminishing - the a social cost of misdirected capital, or greed. Education management under the 2010 Academy’s Act is not immune from from the opportunity's made available to those who aspire to wealth.