Main responsibilities
- Prepare and monitor the budget and multi-year forecasts; report to governors or trustees.
- Run financial controls, purchasing and procurement in line with the local authority scheme for financing schools or the Academy trust handbook.
- Manage payroll, HR administration, contracts and staff recruitment checks, often including the single central record.
- Oversee premises, health and safety, and contractors, often line-managing the site team.
- Manage data returns, GDPR and information governance tasks delegated by the school.
- Lead support staff teams (office, site, catering).
- Support the SFVS return (maintained schools) or trust returns (academies).
Statutory duties and official sources
The school or trust holds these duties; an SBM usually carries them out under delegation. England.
- Maintained schools must submit the schools financial value standard (SFVS) checklist to their local authority each year, and a three-year budget forecast on a date the authority sets between 1 May and 30 June. Source: DfE, SFVS checklist guidance.
- Academy trusts must follow the Academy trust handbook as a condition of their funding agreement, including appointing a CFO, submitting a budget forecast return, and auditing and publishing accounts. Source: Academy trust handbook 2026, effective 1 October 2026, paragraphs 1.44–1.46, 2.15–2.17 and 4.2–4.4.
- Academy trusts must prepare management accounts every month, with an income and expenditure account showing variations from budget, a cash flow forecast and a balance sheet, and share them with the chair of trustees monthly; the board must make sure timely action is taken on variances. A trust proposing a revenue deficit budget it cannot cover from unspent funds must tell DfE within 14 calendar days of the meeting. Source: Academy trust handbook 2026, paragraphs 2.17–2.20.
- Schools must maintain a single central record of pre-appointment checks. Source: KCSIE 2026, paragraphs 347–353.
- The employer is accountable for health and safety; schools must appoint a competent person and have a health and safety policy. Source: DfE, Health and safety: responsibilities and duties for schools.
- Asbestos dutyholders must manage asbestos in school buildings. Source: Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, regulation 4; DfE, Managing asbestos in your school or college.
- Schools must complete the school census each term and the school workforce census each autumn. Source: Complete the school census; School workforce census.
- Schools must publish salary information on their website for staff paid over £100,000 (maintained schools; SFVS guidance). Source: SFVS checklist guidance.
Professional standards. The ISBL professional standards are a sector standard, not a legal requirement, and no qualification is required by law; CIPFA and ISBL qualifications are common. DfE funds ISBL training workshops and level 4 and level 7 bursaries for school business professionals (School business professionals: training and development).
Key dates in the school year (2026 to 2027, England)
- 1 October 2026: autumn census day; return by 28 October 2026 (census dates).
- 1 October 2026: Academy trust handbook 2026 takes effect.
- 20 October 2026: applications for DfE level 7 bursaries for school business professionals close (training and development).
- 2 November 2026: last date for FSM rechecks and new FSM claims to count for the autumn 2026 census (Complete the school census, change note 16 September 2026).
- 31 December 2026: academy audited accounts to DfE; 31 January 2027: accounts published on the website and MAT funds-distribution statement; 31 May 2027: accounts filed at Companies House (Academy trust handbook, paragraphs 4.4 and 5.32).
- 21 January 2027: spring census; 20 May 2027: summer census.
- 1 May–30 June 2027: maintained school three-year budget forecast to the local authority, on its set date.
Common challenges and good practice
- Scope creep. SBMs often absorb premises, HR, data protection and IT. Map which statutory duties sit with the role and which with the headteacher or board.
- Seniority. Many trusts and schools place the SBM on the senior leadership team; this is a local decision, with no statutory requirement either way.
- Academy versus maintained. Financial rules, deadlines and approvals differ. Check which framework applies before relying on a template.
- Procurement. The Academy trust handbook 2026 adds procurement requirements for energy and management information systems (paragraphs 2.29–2.30): trusts must use DfE's Energy for Schools service or an approved deal when contracts renew, unless an alternative of equivalent value is sourced, and award MIS contracts under DfE's MIS framework once it launches (planned for September 2027).
- Variance reporting. A monthly variance line is only useful if it says why the figure moved, whether it will recur and what decision it needs. Bring recurring variances to the headteacher and finance committee early rather than at year end; in a trust, the board must act on them (handbook paragraph 2.20).
Common questions
- What is the difference between a bursar and a school business manager? Usually the same job under different titles; "bursar" is more common in independent and older settings.
