Tony Alexander, principal of Exmouth Community College, is one of the top five highest paid public sector employees in the education sector, a journalism study has found.

THE PRINCIPAL of Exmouth Community College is one of the top five highest paid public sector employees in the education sector in the whole country.

A study revealing the salaries of public sector staff, places Tony Alexander as the fourth highest employee with a remuneration of �165,266.

The research, conducted for BBC Panorama in collaboration with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, found there were more than 38,000 public employees earning above �100,000 and 1,000 people on in excess of �200,000.

More than 9,000 public sector staff were shown to be earning a higher wage than the prime minister.

The salary details come as the government warns that public spending needs to be drastically curbed.

Mr Alexander has been principal at Exmouth Community College, one of the largest schools in Europe, since 2002.

Elizabeth Lee, chair of governors, defended the amount which was paid to the principal.

She said: “It is warranted. The salary is closely scrutinized and Mr Alexander has targets to justify it.

“We want the best for pupils, staff and the people in Exmouth and we have the best in Mr Alexander.

“Since he has taken over, we have gone from a school which was deemed to be a ‘cause for concern’ by Ofsted to a college which has received a number of glowing inspection reports.”