School budget: expenditure on staffing

Get advice on what percentage of your budget should be spent on staffing, and which staffing costs you should include in your calculations.

Last reviewed on 22 February 2022
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 13244
Contents
  1. Work out staffing costs as a percentage of your total budget
  2. How to calculate your staffing costs
  3. No one size fits all approach - especially with leadership teams
  4. Use benchmarking and then focus on your staffing budget

Work out staffing costs as a percentage of your total budget

There’s no statutory guidance on the percentage of your budget that should be spent on salaries or other staff costs.

Mainstream schools - aim for 70% expenditure on staff The ‘standard’ benchmark for expenditure on staffing is 75%. However, it’s sensible to build a margin into the percentage to avoid overspending. For this reason, aim to spend no more than 70% of your budget on staffing costs. This figure will naturally fluctuate depending on your setting - and on priorities set by

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