Independent schools are navigating a rapidly changing financial landscape. With rising costs, evolving regulatory frameworks, and increasing demands from parents and pupils alike, the pressure to remain financially sustainable while maintaining educational excellence is intensifying. As every bursar and head will attest, the largest single cost in almost every school are the teachers – typically accounting for 45% to 65% of net fee income. So, when it comes to managing budgets effectively, focusing on teaching costs is both a logical and necessary first step.
At a recent joint webinar with Grant Thornton, we explored why teaching costs vary so significantly between schools and what practical steps can be taken to manage them better – without compromising educational quality or institutional values.
Understanding why teaching costs vary
Benchmarking data from day and boarding schools of similar size (around 1,000 pupils with fewer than 20% boarders) reveals wide discrepancies in teaching expenditure. The drivers behind this variation offer schools critical insight into where efficiencies can be made.
- Salary scales and staff experience
Some schools operate with salary scales that are notably more generous than their peers. While rewarding staff through competitive pay is admirable, these scales can become unsustainable – especially when a majority of the teaching staff sits at the upper end. Changing a salary structure is never easy and often comes with short-term costs, but forward-looking schools are considering options such as capping future increments, revising pay bands for new hires, and introducing progression hurdles tied to clear performance and/or commitment criteria.
- Responsibility allowances and lesson remission
Responsibility allowances and associated lesson remission represent another area of significant cost. In many cases, the cost of lesson remission can double the expense of the allowance itself. For example, four periods of remission a week could cost upwards of £12,000 annually when the lesson value is around £3,000 each for an academic year. In parallel, schools vary widely in how much contact time they expect from teachers – ranging from 65% to 80% in the independent sector, compared to around 90% in maintained schools. Schools with more non-contact time may wish to reconsider whether duties like pastoral care or co-curricular oversight could be delivered more cost-effectively by non-teaching staff.
- Curriculum design and class Sizes
A broad curriculum with numerous optional subjects, especially at GCSE and A level, often leads to small class sizes and inefficient use of teaching resource. It’s not uncommon for schools to split classes – say, one group of 20 into two groups of 11 – due to space constraints or a desire to offer choice. However, the cost of running two sets rarely offsets the marginal gain in enrolment or satisfaction. Rationalising subject offerings, reviewing minimum viable class sizes, and managing expectations around breadth of provision are all strategies that merit serious consideration.
- Under-utilisation of staff
Curriculum flexibility can come at the cost of teacher under-utilisation, particularly in smaller schools. Staff teaching well below their expected allocation of lessons contributes to inefficiencies that are hard to spot without robust monitoring. Annual changes in subject uptake further complicate planning. Here, agile timetabling and careful curriculum mapping are essential tools to maintain balance and avoid redundancies or last-minute hires.
Data-driven decision making: The role of KPIs
To navigate these challenges, leading schools are turning to data to support better decision-making. A focused set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) over time can highlight inefficiencies and signal where action is needed. Some of the most useful metrics include:
- Staff salary scales benchmarked against the maintained sector
- Full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching staff
- Distribution of staff across scale points
- Cost per lesson (total teaching cost divided by number of lessons taught per timetable cycle)
- Allowances – including cost of lesson remission – as a percentage of total salary spend
- Teaching load utilisation (expected vs. actual contact time)
- Percentage of timetable given over to remission
- Teaching time allocated per subject per week
- Average set size by year group
By embedding these KPIs into regular planning cycles and leadership conversations, schools can build a cost-aware culture that aligns educational priorities with better financial sustainability.
What comes next?
This is not just about spreadsheets and schedules. It’s about ensuring that schools are equipped to thrive – academically, financially, and strategically – in a competitive and demanding environment. Managing teaching costs effectively means more than trimming staff or cutting subjects; it requires a whole-school approach that values data, flexibility, and clarity of purpose.
Recruiting and retaining excellent staff is a challenge and increasingly it is necessary to offer a package which accommodates the needs of the staff member. This may result in more part-time staff or teachers whose contribution is only in the classroom with a commensurate reduction in salary. This adds additional challenges to the school leadership.
At RSAcademics, we’re working closely with school leaders to embed these practices and develop tailored strategies for cost control that work in the unique context of each school. If you’d like to explore how your school could benefit from a fresh perspective on teaching costs and efficiency, we invite you to book a free consultation with one of our team.