United Kingdom
Break, lunch and same-day cover are usually owned by a head, SENCO or assistant head. These three studies put a number on that using STPCD 2025/26 leadership pay: a 15-staff primary, an 88-staff secondary, and a five-school MAT.
UK primary school
In a small UK primary the duty rota is often owned by the head or the SENCO, though a deputy or office manager may hold it. Break and lunch cover, sick cover, reprinting the sheet and sending it round take at least 5 hours a week. SchoolRota cuts that to about half an hour a week, then emails the PDF and syncs Outlook.
UK secondary school
A typical 11-16 secondary has a much larger support-staff pool and lesson cover on top of break, lunch and gate duty. Cover supervisors print lists. The person who can decide who may cover a lesson is usually an assistant head. SchoolRota turns about 8 hours a week of that work into a short daily review.
UK multi-academy trust
A five-school trust mixes two small primaries, a larger primary, a junior school and a secondary. Each site is at least at the 5-hours-a-week primary floor, then a central officer chases PDFs. One SchoolRota organisation on the XL plan replaces about 35 hours a week of scattered work.
At a glance
| Study | Staff on rota | Hours a month, by hand | Hours a month, with SchoolRota | Annual plan | Net saving a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK primary school | 15 | 22 | 2 | £790 | £13,646 |
| UK secondary school | 88 | 35 | 3 | £1,790 | £23,131 |
| UK multi-academy trust | 193 | 152 | 15.5 | £3,490 | £86,346 |
Worked example
Break and lunch cover, sick cover, then sending the sheet round, at least 5 hours a week in a small primary. SchoolRota publishes the day, emails the PDF and syncs Outlook.
Specialist time spent building the rota, covering absence, rebuilding sheets and sending them.
Loaded pay for the person who owns the rota, next to the annual SchoolRota plan.
These pages are models, not customer logos. Each one uses a conservative hours floor and STPCD 2025/26 leadership pay for England outside London, then subtracts the SchoolRota plan for that number of staff. The cash figure is only the loaded cost of hours no longer spent on the rota. It leaves out agency spend, fairer duty load, and the morning the usual owner is away.
The primary is a one-form entry with about 15 people on the duty rota: TAs, midday supervisors and a small office. The sheet often still sits with the head or the SENCO, because they know who can cover phonics and who is first-aid trained. The floor is 5 hours a week. Open that study if you want the split between the standing rota, sickness and sending the sheet.
The secondary is an 11-16 school with about 88 people on duty and cover. Lesson cover joins the duties, so the week is longer: about 8 hours, often owned by an assistant head even when a cover supervisor runs the list. The trust study is five mixed-phase schools. Each site is at least at the primary floor, the secondary is higher, and someone at the centre spends time chasing which PDF is current. Together that is about 35 hours a week.
Hours given back are the difference between the modelled week on a spreadsheet and the hours left once the day is published from a board. The subscription used is the annual GBP price for that headcount, which includes two months free against twelve monthly payments. A school that is already under the hours floor will save less. A school that rebuilds the sheet every morning will sit above it.
If you only want the duty product, start with the primary. If cover lessons are the pain, start with the secondary. If you are paying for five files and five owners, start with the trust. US schools are a separate set of models, on US administrator pay, linked from the main savings page.
Pay is STPCD 2025/26 leadership spine. Loaded pay includes TPS and employer NI, then is divided by 1,650 hours. A small primary starts at 5 hours a week (22 hours a month).
Plans are the GBP annual prices on the pricing page. See also the US studies. Last reviewed 17 August 2026.
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