Contents

 

Define the Role & Requirements

Before you can put a budget together, it’s essential to understand exactly what you need. A caretaker’s duties can vary hugely depending on your setting. Ask yourself:

  • Full time or part time? Consider the size of the site, number of buildings, and daily tasks.
  • Permanent or temporary? A long-term, stable hire or short-term cover for absences or projects?
  • What skills are needed? Some candidates bring skills like plumbing, electrical work or painting, potentially saving you from calling in external contractors.
  • Single or multi-site support? If your caretaker needs to cover more than one school, you’ll need to factor in travel time, expenses and logistics.
  • Out of hours availability? Will they be locking up, covering evening events, or available for call-outs?
  • Seniority? Do you need a caretaker to pick up individual tasks, or a site manager responsible for the whole team?

 

Getting this clear early on will help shape your entire budget and save costs elsewhere when budgeting for school caretaker recruitment.

Estimate Salary Costs

Salaries vary depending on region, experience, and working pattern. As a rough guide:

  • Permanent caretakers: Typically range from £16,000 and £25,000 per year in most areas, with London and specialist roles commanding more.
  • Temporary roles: Expect to pay around £180–£200 per day, or £25–£35 per hour depending on duties and location.


Each contract type also comes with its own pros and cons, so it’s worth considering what works best for your school or trust:

  • Term-time only contracts can help reduce annual costs, but you will need to think about who will carry out minor maintenance and oversee works being undertaken during the holidays.
  • Full-year contracts offer continuity and stability, which is especially valuable for long-term planning, though they do come with a higher overall cost.
  • Short-term contracts (e.g. six weeks) can be more expensive per hour, but they offer flexibility and less commitment – ideal if you're covering a gap or trialling a new starter before hiring permanently.

 

In addition to salary or day rates, you’ll need to budget for on-costs such as:

  • National Insurance contributions
  • Pension
  • Holiday pay
  • Sick pay


These can add 25–30% to the total cost of employing someone directly.

However, if you work with a staffing service like TIB Services, these on-costs are already built into the rates we provide, so you won’t need to calculate them separately and can offer you better value.

Knowing how much it costs to hire a school caretaker, including all salary on-costs, is essential to effective budgeting.

A TIB Services caretaker fixes a whiteboard, demonstrating the skills you need to factor into your budget when hiring school caretakers


Account for Recruitment Costs 

Even if you’re hiring directly, there are always hidden costs. Budget for:

  • Advertising – Local press, school newsletters, job boards
  • Agencies or staffing services – These may charge a one-off placement fee or an ongoing daily rate
  • Internal time and effort – Staff time spent shortlisting, interviewing, following up references, KCSIE compliance checks and onboarding


When recruiting directly or through non-specialist agencies, it’s important to factor in the hidden costs. If a hire turns out to be a poor fit, the time, effort and expense of repeated recruitment cycles can quickly add up. This risk can be greatly reduced by using a specialist school site staffing service like TIB Services, where candidates are carefully vetted to KCSIE standards, trained and matched to your setting.

 For help keeping caretaker recruitment costs under control, see our article on cost-effective caretaker recruitment.

A member of the TIB team works at a computer


Include Training and Equipment

Once you’ve hired your caretaker, there are additional costs to consider:

  • Induction – Time spent showing them around the site, reviewing policies, and meeting staff
  • Mandatory training – You already know that safeguarding, health & safety, and compliance training are non-negotiable in schools. But it’s worth factoring in not just the cost of training, but the staff time needed to deliver it.  (All TIB’s caretakers receive this training before they arrive on site - learn more here.)
  • Uniform and equipment – Think boots, gloves, branded clothing, tools, PPE, and a budget to maintain or replace them. TIB caretakers arrive on site in branded uniform and high-vis PPE – one less thing for you to worry about.
  • Access essentials – ID badges, IT logins, school email address, door keys or fobs.


These are not large expenses individually, but they do add up and are easy to overlook without a clear plan when budgeting for school caretaker hiring.

 

A close up of a toolbox. It's important to factor in equipment costs when budgeting for school caretakers.

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Underbudgeting for recruitment – Cutting corners here often leads to hiring the wrong person for the job and higher costs later.
  • Hiring the wrong person – A poor fit can mean going back to square one within weeks, in terms of time, effort and cost.
  • Forgetting compliance and onboarding costs – You’ll already know the legal requirements around safeguarding and training. But don’t forget to budget for the money, time, and effort it takes to meet them when bringing new staff on board.


Proactive and realistic budgeting are key to stability and long-term value.

 

A TIB Services caretaker and school leader work together, showing the value of carefully budgeting for school caretakers

 

Conclusion

Budgeting well for your school caretaker hire doesn’t just help you manage costs. It leads to finding the right fit for your school and better outcomes for your site, staff and pupils. When you understand the true costs and plan ahead, you can make confident, informed choices that benefit your whole school community.

Want to budget with confidence and find the right fit first time?

Get a Personalised Quote for Caretaker Support