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Bursars, also known as school business managers, are senior financial and administrative managers in schools. They make sure that the school’s budget and resources are used in the most efficient way.

Financial management and accounting is a major part of the job, for example:

Other duties may include:

In some jobs, bursars may also be involved in marketing or bidding for funding.

Hours and Environment

As a school bursar you will usually work 37 hours a week, Monday to Friday. You may sometimes need to work extra hours, for example if attending governors’ meetings or school events in the evening or at weekend.

You must take your holidays at times to suit the school.

Skills and Interests

To be a bursar you will need:

Entry

To become a school bursar you will need a strong background in finance, management or a similar field. Many bursars are qualified accountants.

You may have an advantage with a HND, degree or professional qualification in accountancy, business management, public administration or human resources. Previous management experience in education or the armed forces can also be useful.

You could also be promoted to school business manager after gaining experience as a school administrator (see the School Secretary profile). If you want to progress from a school administration job, you may find it useful to take qualifications in accounting, management or administration. You could ask your school to put you forward for the Certificate of School Business Management (see Training section below for more details).

Training

You are usually expected to already have management and financial skills when you start work as a school business manager. You could develop your skills by taking the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) Bursar Development Programme, which is made up of two qualifications:

Each qualification takes six to 12 months, and you will study through a mixture of distance learning and short courses.The CSBM and DSBM also lead to Institute of Administrative Management qualifications and membership. See the NCSL’s Bursar Development Programme website for more information (details in Further Information section below).

As an experienced bursar with the CSBM or DSBM, you could join the National Bursars’ Association (NBA) one-year Senior Bursar Development Programme. The NBA also offers a range of short courses to its members. See their website for more details.

You could also choose to work towards NVQ/SVQ Levels 4 and 5 in Management, other professional senior management qualifications, or a postgraduate qualification in educational business management.

Opportunities

As a bursar in a state school, you will either be employed the local education authority or the school governors. In an independent school, you will be employed by the governors or the educational trust that runs the school.

Jobs may be advertised in the local and national press, on www.LGjobs.com, local authority websites and job bulletins, and on the NBA and Bursar Jobs websites (see Further Information below for details).

You could progress in your career by moving to a larger school with a bigger budget. You could also move into financial or education management with a local authority.

Annual Income

Figures are intended as a guideline only. Bursars in state schools are usually paid on local government scales, while in independent schools they may earn more.

Some schools, particularly in the independent sector, offer other benefits such as accommodation, a company car or private health insurance.

Further information

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