Sussex private schools where staff are paid six-figure salaries

The Sunday Times Private School Pay List, released this month, revealed that Brighton College head Richard Cairns received a staggering £285,000 in the 2018-2019 accounting period.

This made him the joint fifth highest-paid member of staff at private schools across the country.

Brighton College headteacher Richard Cairns

The Sunday Times Private School Pay List also found that 11 other people working at Brighton College were paid more than £100,000 per year in the most recent available accounting period.

This was more than double the number recorded at the school two years previously.

Brighton College was named as The Sunday Times' UK school of the decade in its independent schools guide last year.

The editor of the guide said: "Over the course of the past ten years, Brighton has become the leading co-educational independent school in the country.

"Under the excellent headship of Richard Cairns for the past 14 years, the school is progressive in outlook and the children are taught kindness and respect for one another."

In a statement on the Brighton College website, Mr Cairns responded: "I am delighted. But the real credit for this award must go to our wonderfully inspirational teachers and energetic and positive pupils."

Brighton College (Image: BC)

The school became the first independent school to be founded in Sussex when it opened in 1845.

Many of the gothic buildings from the school's early days remain as well-used fixtures on its Eastern Road campus.

The school became co-educational in 1973, with girls starting there in September of that year.

The Brighton College website states: "Throughout our history we have always been confident questioning what has been considered 'the norm'. This spirit continues today, as we embrace individuality in a respectful community, and remain committed to the transformative powers of education.

"Through a culture of kindness we encourage pupils to be first-rate versions of themselves."

Alongside Brighton College, Westminster, St Mary's Ascot, Harrow, Highgate and St Paul's were also reported to have a member of staff who had earned more than £280,000 in a year.

The largest sum was paid to a staff member working at St Paul's School in London, who received £335,000 during the accounting period between 2019-2020.

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Another Sussex school included on the Sunday Times Private School Pay List was Hurstpierpoint College, which the data showed to have three staff on six-figure salaries. The highest paid earned £255,000 in the 2019-2020 accounting period.

Overall, the research found that 470 private staff at 200 schools across the country were paid more than £100,000 a year, according to their latest accounts.

This marked a 24.2 per cent increase on the results of the research from two years before.

Public sector workers, including teachers at state schools, are currently set to be hit by a pay freeze.

Following Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak's latest budget announcement, he told BBC Breakfast: "I have had to make some tough choices and what I couldn't do is justify an across-the-board rise in public sector pay.

"When we came into this crisis there was already a disparity between public and private sector pay, with a premium in the public sector. That disparity has widened during this crisis.

"What we've seen in the private sector is that wages have fallen over the last six months by about one per cent. In the public sector wages have gone up by four per cent.

"People in the private sector are losing their jobs, their hours are being cut, they're being furloughed - that hasn't happened in the public sector.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak

"Given that, I think we need to take a more targeted approach to what we do. So, what we've done is say that those working in the NHS - because we're in the midst of a health crisis and they're on the front line of dealing with that - they will be given a pay rise next year subject to the recommendations of the pay review body.

"For everyone else, pay rises will be paused. But we do want to make sure we try and help those who are on lower incomes.

"So, if you are in the public sector and you are on less than £24,000, which is the UK median basic salary, then you will get a £250 (at least) pay increase next year.

"If you take all of that together, that means that a majority of people working in the public sector will see their pay increase next year.

"I'm determined to try and protect jobs, and this will help me protect jobs in the public sector, and I think it's a reasonable and proportionate approach given the context."