Governance professionals' pay and hours

Clerks, governance co-ordinators and governance leads play a key role in school and trust governance and should expect to be paid accordingly. Use the findings from our report on benchmarking pay and working patterns, to ensure you are paid fairly for the work that you do.

Last reviewed on 21 March 2023
See updates
School types: Maintained · School phases: All
Ref: 4772
Contents
  1. Governance professional roles vary
  2. Set the right working hours
  3. Expect a salary that matches the level of service

Governance professional roles vary

According to research carried out by the National Governance Association (NGA) in 2022 when defining a career pathway for governance professionals, the 3 levels that most governance professional roles fall under are:

  • Clerking level: a role which provides direct support to board meetings and associated tasks, plus advice and support on statutory procedure and practice
  • Governance co-ordinator level: a role which, as well as the duties of a clerk, involves additional responsibilities relating to the delivery of a governance support service, including line management of clerks
  • Lead governance professional level: a role which provides strategic leadership of services that support governance across schools with higher levels of complexity and direct accountability.

Note that the latest version of the Academy Trust Handbook has replaced the term 'clerk' with 'governance professional,' presumably to