School heads - Comparative information

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School heads - Comparative information

Last update: 09 July 2026

This section presents comparative data for school heads with minimum qualification by education level (ISCED) on:

Minimum and maximum annual gross statutory salaries.
Trends in time of minimum and maximum annual gross statutory salaries.
Ranking by reference year.
Minimum qualification and additional requirements to become school head.
Allowances.

Additional details are available in country-specific notes for each sub-topic and in the national section.

Minimum and maximum annual gross statutory salaries, by school size and education level (ISCED)

The annual statutory salary is the gross annual remuneration paid to fully qualified school heads, based on statutorily defined salary ranges in the reference year. It includes regular additional payments (e.g., 13th month, holiday pay, where applicable) that all school heads receive, and employee contributions to social security and pension contributions but excludes the employer's contributions.

School heads handle administrative, management and leadership tasks and may also teach. In some countries, the school heads' management responsibilities are considered a statutory duty and hence the statutory salary includes a management allowance.

Data present gross annual statutory salaries of school heads with minimum qualification in public institutions at pre-primary (ISCED 02), primary (ISCED 1), lower secondary (ISCED 24) and upper secondary (ISCED 34) education levels.

In some countries the school heads are paid the same salary regardless of the school size. In other countries the school size has impact on the school heads’ salary and more than one salary range applies. The chart depicts minimum and maximum salaries of school heads with minimum qualification in the smallest and the biggest schools (where differentiation based on the school size is applied).

To adjust for price level differences between countries for the purpose of international comparison, salaries are converted from national currencies into artificial common currency - the purchasing power standard (PPS) - by using Eurostat's purchasing power parities indicator (PPP). The corresponding nominal salaries' amounts in national currencies are indicated for reference as country popups in the map. More information on the PPS is available in the Quality framework and the Glossary.

Details on actual salaries and decision-making authority are available in the open data.

Percentage change of minimum and maximum annual gross statutory salaries between different school years, by school size and education level (ISCED)

The salaries are usually adjusted to the cost of living. Changes in the policy defining the statutory salaries (i.e. including the management allowance in the statutory salary, other additional payments, considering fixed and variable parts, etc.) may introduce salaries' upgrades. Data present changes in the gross annual statutory salaries of fully qualified school heads with minimum qualification between any two selected reference school years.

For comparability of data across countries, the salaries are converted in constant prices (adjusted to inflation), calculated by using the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP). More information on the index is available in the Quality framework and the Glossary.

The diagram depicts percentage changes in the gross annual minimum and maximum statutory salaries of fully qualified school heads with minimum qualification between any two selected reference school years, per school size (where applicable) and by education level (ISCED).

Countries where methodology changes have impact on the comparability of data are marked with "b" (break in time series). Details on the countries concerned are available in the "Notes".

Countries with no data are not displayed.

Ranking across countries based on annual gross statutory salaries (in PPS) per school size and education level (ISCED)

The statutory salaries increase on yearly basis in most of the countries. The increases may be due to adjustments to the cost of living or changes in the policy defining the statutory salaries.

Additional details on the PPS are available in the Quality framework and the Glossary.

The positioning across countries by reference year is based on annual gross statutory salaries (in PPS) of fully qualified school heads with minimum qualification. Data presented includes minimum and maximum salary amounts for salaries of school heads at the smallest and the biggest schools.

Additional details on the changes having impact on the statutory salaries in the reference year are provided in the notes and in the national section. 

Countries with no data are not displayed.

Minimum qualification and additional requirements to become school head, per education level (ISCED)

The minimum qualification level of school head is the ISCED level of attainment required in the reference year. Other prerequisites such as number of years of professional experience in education, and/or certified managerial/leadership competences, and/or completion of a specific training for school heads may also apply.

The map shows the minimum qualification requirements and their applicability per education level (ISCED). The table diagram, shows groups of countries by the minimum qualification requirement combined with any additional requirements (experience in education and managerial/leadership competence) as applicable per country.

Allowances that school heads can receive by category and education level (ISCED)

Allowances and other additional payments (bonuses, financial benefits) make an important part of school heads’ total remuneration. The information presented includes data on allowances granted to school heads at all or some education levels and based on the following category groups:

Other tasks and responsibilities of teachers.

Qualifications, training and performance.

Working conditions.

Other criteria.

The allowances could be established as:

Percentage of statutory base salary paid to school heads.

Regular additional payments.

Incidental/occasional additional payments.

Position in base salary (step increment or other progression).

The map shows the allowances per category group. Clustered view per single allowance indicating the number of countries where it is available is depicted in the horizontal bar diagram.

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