More than 40 teachers at Eton College earn £100,000 or more per year, it has been revealed.

The salaries dwarf the pay of state school teachers in England, which ranges from around £25,714 to £41,604 outside of London, excluding extra payments - for example, for teaching and learning responsibilities.

At Eton College, 47 employees earn £100,000 per year or more, a figure that includes five non-teaching staff.

And there has been a sharp rise in the number of private school teachers and leaders earning six-figure salaries over the past two years, findings suggest.

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According to an investigation by The Sunday Times, the number of individuals at elite independent schools paid £100,000 or more has increased by 25 per cent in just two years.

At Harrow School, 16 people earned £100,000 or more, while 12 did at Brighton College - more than double the number who earned this amount at the East Sussex school two years beforehand.

At Highgate School in London, the highest earner had a salary of £315,000. The school told Tes that six members of staff earned over £100,000, five of them teachers.

The Sunday Times research found that 470 people working at 200 private schools were paid more than £100,000, according to their latest accounts - a 24.2 per cent increase from 376 two years ago.

The study also found that 45 people working at private schools were paid more than £200,000 a year.

At St Paul’s School in West London, one individual earned between £330,000 and £339,000 from September 2019 to August 2020. 

Kate Green, the shadow secretary of state for education, told The Sunday Times: “While teachers across the state sector have seen their pay frozen, private schools, effectively subsidised by their charitable status, have increased senior leaders’ salaries by thousands [of pounds].”

Some academy chain leaders also earn high salaries. At the top end, Sir Daniel Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation, earns over £500,000 per year, and other academy chief executives earn between £200,000 and £300,000 a year.

Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council, said: “The salaries of senior staff at both independent schools and multi-academy trusts are a matter for the governors to determine. The reason we have independent schools is because there is a demand from a significant number of parents for them and it is healthy to have an alternative to the state system.”