Executive assistant salary in the UK
UK executive assistants earn about £28,000 as a starter and £60,000 when experienced, says the National Careers Service. Employing one costs more once National Insurance and pension are added.
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According to the National Careers Service, an executive assistant in the UK earns from about £28,000 a year as a starter to about £60,000 when experienced, on typical hours of 37 to 42 a week. On top of salary, an employer pays National Insurance, pension contributions and holiday, so the full cost of an executive assistant is higher than the salary on the advert. That gap is one reason some firms choose a virtual executive assistant. A virtual executive assistant, paid by the hour, is the lower-cost route when you need part of a week. Whether that route pays off is weighed in is a virtual executive assistant worth it?
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Average executive assistant salary
Official pay range
The National Careers Service executive assistant profile gives a UK range of £28,000 a year for a starter to £60,000 for an experienced executive assistant. Typical hours are 37 to 42 a week, with occasional evening work. The figures were checked on 19 October 2026. Some businesses meet the need with an admin virtual assistant instead of an EA hire.
ONS earnings data
The Office for National Statistics does not publish a figure for executive assistants alone. Its nearest occupation group is "Personal assistants and other secretaries". In the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 (provisional, released 22 October 2026), the median gross annual pay for that group was £36,929 for full-time jobs and £25,264 across all employee jobs, including part time.
| Source | What it measures | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| National Careers Service | Executive assistant, starter | £28,000 a year |
| National Careers Service | Executive assistant, experienced | £60,000 a year |
| ONS ASHE 2026 (provisional) | Personal assistants and other secretaries, full-time median | £36,929 a year |
| ONS ASHE 2026 (provisional) | Personal assistants and other secretaries, all jobs median | £25,264 a year |
The ONS group includes secretaries and assistants who do not work at executive level, so its full-time median sits in the lower half of the EA range and its all-jobs median below it. Read it as a floor, not as an EA figure. For how the two roles differ, see executive assistant vs administrative assistant.
Job board averages
Salary tools and job boards build their averages from adverts or user submissions. That makes them current and local, but they mix job titles, include adverts that never filled, and change as the sample changes. Use them to check your own area, and use the official figures for the national picture.
Executive assistant pay by experience level
Executive assistant pay runs from £28,000 for someone new to the role to £60,000 for an established EA, on the National Careers Service range.
Entry-level pay
The starter end of the National Careers Service range, £28,000, applies to someone new to an EA role, often moving up from a PA, secretarial or administrative job.
Experienced pay
The experienced end, £60,000, applies to established EAs, typically supporting a chief executive, a managing director or a board.
Highest and lowest pay
No official UK source publishes the highest or lowest pay for executive assistants, so this guide does not quote one. To see the spread in your own area, compare a handful of current adverts for roles that match your duties and hours, and check where they fall against the official range.
Pay for an executive assistant to a CEO or director
No official source splits EA pay by seniority, but the wider duties of an EA to a CEO or director move the role towards the experienced end of the pay range.
What the role covers
An EA to a chief executive manages the diary and inbox of the most senior person in the business, prepares board papers, handles the most confidential information and often coordinates the leadership team. The job description is wider, and the judgement required is greater. Our executive assistant job description template covers the duties in full.
Pay compared with a general EA
Official sources do not split EA pay by the seniority of the person supported. In practice the duties above are what moves a role towards the experienced end of the range, so price the job on the responsibilities you are asking for, not the title alone.
How executive assistants increase their pay
Skills and tools that raise pay
The skills that move an EA up the range are the ones that save the executive time: confident drafting, board-level minute-taking, project coordination, strong spreadsheet and presentation skills, and sector knowledge. Formal training and specialist EA courses help, and so does a record of handling confidential work.
Moving into wider roles
Experienced EAs often move into office management, operations, project coordination or a chief-of-staff role. Each of these builds on the same strengths: organisation, judgement and knowing how the business runs. Employers who value data skills can start with what is data cleansing? steps and examples.
Employer costs beyond salary
Beyond salary, an employer pays National Insurance of 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year (2026 to 2027), at least 3% pension under auto-enrolment and 5.6 weeks' paid holiday, plus recruitment, equipment and management time. When you budget for an EA, the salary is the starting point. The main additions an employer pays are set by GOV.UK:
Employer National Insurance
Employers pay Class 1 National Insurance at 15% on earnings above the secondary threshold of £5,000 a year, according to the GOV.UK rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027.
Example, for illustration only: on a salary of £28,000, the earnings above the £5,000 threshold are £23,000, and 15% of that is £3,450 a year in employer National Insurance. Check the tax year in force when you do your own sum.
Pension and holiday
Under auto-enrolment the minimum employer pension contribution is 3%, according to GOV.UK workplace pensions; your scheme may require more. Almost all workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, which is at least 28 days for a five-day week, according to GOV.UK holiday entitlement. You pay for those weeks with no work done, and you may need cover while your EA is away.
Other employment costs
Recruitment fees or advertising, the time spent interviewing, equipment, software licences, desk space, training and management time all add to the cost. Most are one-off or occasional, but they are real.
Virtual executive assistant cost comparison
For a full-time, in-person role, an in-house hire may be the right answer. For screen-based work, or a load that is less than a full week, a virtual executive assistant usually costs less because you pay by the hour and the provider carries the employer costs. For the full comparison, see what a virtual assistant costs in the UK. Ant Assist's admin rates start at £5 per hour for the first 6 months on the Entry tier. After that, admin Entry is £6.30 per hour full time (£1,008 a month for 160 hours) or £6.50 per hour part time (£520 a month for 80 hours). Put your own hours and an in-house salary into the calculator to see the comparison side by side.
Is being an executive assistant a good career?
The career path
Being an executive assistant is a good career for people who like organisation, variety and working close to decision-makers. It offers a clear route from administrative and PA work into EA roles, and from there into office management, operations or chief-of-staff work. The National Careers Service lists several routes in, including college and university courses, apprenticeships and working up from an administrative job.
Stress and progression
It can be demanding, because the EA absorbs the executive's pressure and deadlines. Whether it is stressful depends heavily on the executive and on clear boundaries around hours. It is a dead end only if the role stays purely administrative; EAs who take on projects and coordination build skills that transfer.
Hiring a virtual executive assistant instead
If you are pricing an EA because your diary, inbox and documents need someone, a virtual executive assistant from Ant Assist is the part-week alternative. Each EA is one dedicated person, never shared, working full time from our own managed office in Cairo, where they are recruited, managed and supervised; they are not freelancers and not AI. You choose from 20 hours a week up to a full 40-hour VA, on UK business hours, 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. If the fit is wrong, we replace the VA without restart cost. There is no employer National Insurance, pension or holiday pay for you to fund. If your diary, inbox and documents are the need, admin support from a dedicated VA may fit better than an EA.
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