Almost 1,000 head teachers, deputies and assistant heads working in English state schools are earning £100,000 or more, government figures suggested yesterday.

Of these, a third receive more than £110,000, according to the figures published by the Department for Education.

This is around double the salary earned by the average state school head and almost three times the average for a classroom teacher.

The average salary for an academy leader, both primary and secondary, was higher than for those running maintained state schools.

The data comes as the coalition pushes ahead with reforms that will see teachers’ pay linked to performance in the classroom, with schools setting salaries, rather than following a national framework.

This move has been strongly opposed by a number of teaching unions, with industrial action taken by both the NASUWT and NUT teaching unions.