jobfacts

School secretary

School secretaries — SOC 2020 4213

School secretaries provide administrative support in schools by keeping and maintaining school records and performing a range of routine clerical tasks within the school.

Also calledAdministratorSchool office administratorAdministrative assistantOffice administratorClerk-typistSecretaryand 15 more titles
Typical full-time pay£26,5002025 Provisional
People in the job51,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month529↓ 7.6%on last year · 258th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time school secretaries earn between £23,100 and £29,500 a year.

What full-time school secretaries earn, 2025
£26,500 typical£22,100lowest 20%£29,50075%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£23,100–£29,500)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less than£22,100
25%£23,100
Median£26,500
75%£29,500
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £26,500
London!£30,600
Scotland!£27,300
Wales!£25,900
North West!£24,800
East Midlands!£24,100
South East!£23,800
East of England!£23,600
West Midlands!£22,000
North EastNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £26,500
London£30,600 (small sample)
Scotland£27,300 (small sample)
Wales£25,900 (small sample)
North West£24,800 (small sample)
East Midlands£24,100 (small sample)
South East£23,800 (small sample)
East of England£23,600 (small sample)
West Midlands£22,000 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £22,500
  • 2024 £25,300
  • 2025 Provisional£26,500
↑ 18% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 529 jobs for school secretaries are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (4 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026428
Jul 2026495
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026526
Apr 2026413
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026404
Jan 2026640
Dec 2025287
Nov 2025660
Oct 2025639
Sept 2025796
Aug 2025437
Jul 2025Not published
Jun 2025Not published
May 2025657
Apr 2025464
Mar 2025679
Feb 2025585
Jan 2025586
Dec 2024424
Nov 2024592
Oct 2024633
Sept 2024812
Aug 2024458
Jul 2024635
Jun 2024668
May 2024653
Apr 2024561
Mar 2024660
Feb 2024584
Jan 2024741
Dec 2023644
Nov 2023743
Oct 2023666
Sept 2023772
Aug 2023569
Jul 2023718
Jun 2023987
May 2023869
Apr 2023673
Mar 2023856
Feb 2023778
Jan 20231,038
Dec 2022806
Nov 20221,035
Oct 20221,225
Sept 20221,268
Aug 2022757
Jul 20221,062
Jun 2022959
May 2022965
Apr 2022747
Mar 2022994
Feb 2022838
Jan 20221,077
Dec 2021905
Nov 2021972
Oct 20211,002
Sept 20211,080
Aug 2021469
Jul 2021711
Jun 2021700
May 2021661
Apr 2021448
Mar 2021495
Feb 2021280
Jan 2021283
Dec 2020414
Nov 2020416
Oct 2020441
Sept 2020504
Aug 2020282
Jul 2020285
Jun 2020322
May 2020225
Apr 2020218
Mar 2020437
Feb 2020553
Jan 2020530
Dec 2019394
Nov 2019536
Oct 2019624
Sept 2019610
Aug 2019345
Jul 2019609
Jun 2019579
May 2019574
Apr 2019301
Mar 2019393
Feb 2019370
Jan 2019382
Dec 2018316
Nov 2018554
Oct 2018530
Sept 2018537
Aug 2018299
Jul 2018355
Jun 2018526
May 2018469
Apr 2018325
Mar 2018374
Feb 2018339
Jan 2018444
Dec 2017289
Nov 2017457
Oct 2017426
Sept 2017546
Aug 2017271
Jul 2017402
Jun 2017486
May 2017436
Apr 2017339
Mar 2017447
Feb 2017316
Jan 2017463
Is there a shortage of school secretaries?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthWell above usual
  • Pay against similar jobsAbove usual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertainty in visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
7.8%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London272
Birmingham36
Manchester27
Liverpool25
Bristol, City of24
Bradford22
Leeds20
Buckinghamshire17
North Yorkshire16
Nottingham16
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where school secretaries are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of school secretaries
8.1%!
13%!
24%!
28%!
25%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–248.1% (small sample)
25–3413% (small sample)
35–4424% (small sample)
45–5428% (small sample)
55–6425% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent35%
Higher education below degree!14%
A levels or equivalent29%
GCSEs or equivalent18%
Other qualifications!3.1%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent35%
Higher education below degree14% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent29%
GCSEs or equivalent18%
Other qualifications3.1% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: primary education (46%), general secondary education (31%), tertiary education (10%), pre-primary education (2.4%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
35%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You could complete a college course to get some of the skills needed for this job.

Courses include:

  • support work in schools
  • business administration
  • T level in Management and Administration
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T Level

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do an apprenticeship, such as:

  • Administration Assistant Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
  • Business Administrator Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
  • School Business Professional Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Other ways in

Work your way up

You could start as an admin assistant in a larger school or multi-academy trust and work your way into a secretarial post with more responsibility.

Apply directly

You could apply directly to become a school secretary. Employers would expect you to have a good standard of general education and experience of office work.

You should be able to use common office software including spreadsheets. Knowledge of accounts packages would also be helpful, although employers may provide training in some of these.

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

School secretaries may be employed term-time only. A working week can vary from a few hours up to full time.

Advertised pay rates are often listed as full-time equivalent (FTE) or pro rata. Actual pay will depend on the number of hours you work over a year.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for school secretary. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • sorts, files and otherwise deals with incoming and outgoing correspondence
  • types directly or transcribes letters, reports and other documents, and prints or photocopies documents as required
  • maintains administrative records relating to pupils and staff, and generates statistical and other reports
  • handles enquiries from parents and arranges meetings with members of staff
  • undertakes reception duties for visitors, handles face-to-face and telephone enquiries and passes on messages
  • orders equipment and stationery
  • arranges payment of invoices, handles cash

Skills

  • align content with form
  • apply grammar and spelling rules
  • communicate by telephone
  • communicate with customers
  • deliver correspondence
  • disseminate internal communications
  • disseminate messages to people
  • facilitate access to information
  • file documents
  • fill out forms
  • handle delivered packages
  • handle mail
  • maintain correspondence records
  • organise business documents

Knowledge

  • company policies
  • information confidentiality
  • accounting techniques

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Practical, hands-on work

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for secretarial and related occupations, a group of 7 jobs that includes school secretaries.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 16%about 105,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 2035243,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.