A bursar has many responsibilities
but, above all, he/she manages a department which, in essence,
allows a school to carry out its primary function of educating
children. This a demanding role and to be successful, a bursar will
require skills in tact and diplomacy, together with considerable
patience and tolerance.
The overwhelming majority of bursars are on a second or third
career and governors will be looking for existing financial and
management skills that are easily transferable to the independent
education sector.
Bursars come from a very wide variety of backgrounds including
the military (about one third of bursars have served in the Armed
Forces), accountancy (also about one third) as well as banking,
financial services, manufacturing, hotel management and engineering
amongst others.
Bursars possess a wide range of qualifications and the relevance
of these will depend upon the requirements of the governors. No
bursar will survive without a reasonable level of financial
experience and acumen but a formal accountancy qualification is not
essential. The general experience required for a bursar is as
follows:
- business or administrative experience adequate for
management of the day-to-day affairs of the office;
- ability to produce budgetary estimates, reports, cash flow and
financial and statistical summaries;
- knowledge of the principles and methods of book-keeping and
their adaptation to various purposes, including the preparation of
final accounts;
- experience of procedures at meetings - notices, agenda,
minutes, conduct of meetings and secretarial practice;
- knowledge of the law and practice relating to Income Tax, PAYE,
benefits in kind and VAT;
- a working knowledge of the law with regard to parental
contracts, leasing of school properties and landlord
responsibilities, employment legislation, commercial law covering
such matters as contracts, copyright and data protection;
- an understanding of investment procedures;
- knowledge of methods of purchasing including buying through
consortia;
- an understanding of building materials and of the details of
construction of buildings and the causes of, and remedies for,
defects in buildings;
- knowledge of rates, town and country planning, planning
permission procedures for alterations and new buildings;
- ability to draw up specifications for general repairs, minor
alterations and decorations and, if the work is done by direct
labour, to make estimates of cost and ability to draw simple plans
and sketches; and
- knowledge of principles and practice in relation to: electrical
and gas installations, metering and supply; central heating and hot
water supply; protection of personnel and buildings from fire;
domestic sanitation and sanitary fittings; energy management and
conservation.
Nobody can be expert in all these topics and one of the secrets
of success is knowing when to ask for advice and where to obtain
that advice. Notwithstanding competition between schools, bursars
are very supportive of their colleagues and friendly advice is not
hard to find.