School office administrator jobs

A school office administrator keeps the front of the school running: answering phones and emails, recording attendance, updating pupil records, handling payments and letters to parents, and supporting the head and teachers with paperwork. Most posts need good GCSEs, office experience and confidence with databases, not a degree. They are usually term-time only and paid on the NJC pay spine, so the annual salary you receive is lower than the full-time figure in the advert.

The daily work

Every school office is different, and in a small primary one administrator may do everything. A large secondary splits the work into roles such as receptionist, attendance officer, data manager, exams officer and finance assistant. A general school administrator typically handles:

• the phone, the school email inbox and messages for staff
• the morning attendance check, chasing absent pupils and logging reasons
• updating the management information system when pupils join, leave or change address
• letters, newsletters and texts to parents
• dinner money, trips and other payments, often through an online system
• ordering stationery and supplies
• admissions paperwork and in-year transfers
• first aid records and medicine logs, sometimes as a trained first aider

Reception and the front desk

In many schools the administrator also sits at reception, signing visitors in and out, taking late arrivals, and dealing with parents at the window. That means checking identity, issuing visitor badges and following the school’s safeguarding procedures for who can collect which child. Our profile of the school receptionist looks at that side of the job in more detail.

Attendance

Attendance takes up more office time than it used to. DfE guidance on working together to improve school attendance expects schools to monitor attendance closely, follow up absence the same day, and work with families and the local authority when patterns emerge. The administrator often makes the first-day call, records codes in the register correctly, and pulls reports for the attendance lead. Larger schools have a dedicated attendance officer.

Data

School administrators enter and maintain a large amount of personal data about pupils and families. Accuracy matters for census returns to the DfE, for safeguarding, and for funding. Data protection law and the school’s policies govern how you handle it. Some administrators specialise and become school data managers.

Term-time contracts and pay

Most school office posts are term-time only, sometimes with a small number of extra days. Maintained schools in England and Wales normally pay on the NJC pay spine through the council’s grades, and many academies do too. The 2026/27 award added 3.3% from 1 April 2026, and SCP 3 at £25,614 is now the lowest point.

Office administrator grades typically start near the bottom of the spine, with office managers and specialist roles higher. Adverts often show the full-time, full-year figure, with the actual pay underneath. The NJC advisory model works out the percentage for term-time staff. On its worked example, 39 weeks with a 36-day leave entitlement gives 86.778% of the full-time salary, before any reduction for hours under 37.

Say a post is on SCP 6 (£26,847 full-time) and you work 30 hours a week, term-time only. That works out at roughly £26,847 × 86.778% × 30 ÷ 37, or about £18,890 a year, paid in 12 equal instalments. The spine values are calculated from the 2025 figures plus 3.3%, and councils use their own percentages, so check your offer. Our guide to term-time-only pay goes into the detail, and the take-home pay calculator shows the net figure.

You also join the Local Government Pension Scheme, paying 5.5% on pay up to £18,400 and 5.8% from £18,401 to £29,000 in 2026/27.

Skills schools look for

Adverts usually ask for GCSE English and maths, experience in an office or customer-facing role, accurate keyboard and spreadsheet skills, and the ability to stay calm when the phone, the door and a poorly child all need attention at once. You will know a lot about families, so discretion matters. Experience with a school MIS is a plus but not essential. You will need an enhanced DBS check, which costs £41.00 in England and Wales from 5 October 2026 and is normally paid by the school.

Getting in and moving up

Applications go on a school or council form with a supporting statement, and interviews sometimes include a short in-tray or data entry task. Office work is a common way into schools for people moving from private sector admin; see getting a school job with no experience. From administrator, people move to office manager, data manager, finance officer or school business manager. Vacancies are listed under school support jobs.