Teachers' Pension Scheme explained

The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is a defined benefit pension for teachers in England and Wales. Each year you work, you build up a slice of guaranteed pension based on that year’s pay. The slice grows with inflation while you stay in teaching, and the total is paid for life from your normal pension age. From 1 April 2026 you pay between 7.4 per cent and 12 per cent of your pay, depending on your salary, and your employer pays 28.68 per cent.

Who the scheme covers

Teachers in maintained schools, academies, free schools and sixth form colleges in England and Wales are enrolled automatically when they start. Further education colleges and some independent schools also take part. If your post qualifies, you do not need to apply: the employer adds you and the deductions start with your first salary payment.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate teachers’ pension schemes with their own rules and rates, so nothing on this page about contribution tiers applies there.

Support staff in schools, such as teaching assistants, office staff and site staff, are not in the TPS. They join the Local Government Pension Scheme, which works differently and costs members less.

How the career average pension builds up

Teachers build up pension today on a career average basis. Every scheme year you earn pension equal to a fixed fraction of your pensionable pay for that year. That fraction (the accrual rate) is set in the scheme regulations and published by Teachers’ Pensions, the scheme administrator.

Each year’s slice is revalued every April while you are still an active member. The increase is linked to inflation, with an extra amount on top while you remain in service. Once you leave, your deferred pension still rises in line with prices, without the extra.

Every year counts on its own pay, so a pay rise late in your career makes a smaller difference than it would in an old final salary scheme. A year spent on M1 at £34,069 adds less pension than a year on U3 at £52,835, and both stay in your total. See teacher pay scales in England for where those figures come from.

Your normal pension age in the career average scheme follows your State Pension age. You can take the pension earlier, with a reduction, or later, with an increase.

Teachers who were in service before the career average scheme began may also have pension in the older final salary arrangements, which have their own pension ages. The McCloud remedy changed how some of that service is treated.

Contribution tiers for 2026/27

Your rate depends on your actual pensionable pay. If you work part-time, the tier is worked out on what you are really paid, so a part-time teacher often pays a lower rate than a full-time colleague on the same pay point.

Annual salary rate	Member contribution
Up to £36,198.99	7.4%
£36,199 to £48,727.99	8.9%
£48,728 to £57,776.99	9.9%
£57,777 to £76,572.99	10.5%
£76,573 to £104,413.99	11.6%
£104,414 and above	12%

The rate for your tier applies to all of your pensionable pay. Income tax splits pay across bands, and this does not.

Say you are a full-time teacher on M1 outside London, earning £34,069. You pay 7.4 per cent, which is £2,521.11 a year or about £210 a month. On M6 at £46,940 you move into the 8.9 per cent tier and pay £4,177.66 a year. On U3 at £52,835 the rate is 9.9 per cent, or £5,230.67.

TPS contributions come off your pay before Income Tax is worked out (a net pay arrangement), so you get tax relief automatically. For a basic rate taxpayer on M1, the £2,521.11 contribution reduces take-home pay by roughly £2,017. National Insurance is still charged on the full salary. The pension tax relief guide explains this, and the take-home pay calculator shows the effect on your monthly pay.

What your employer pays

Schools and colleges pay 28.68 per cent of your pensionable pay into the scheme until 31 March 2027. For a teacher on £34,069 that is £9,770.99 a year, almost four times what the teacher pays.

The 2024 valuation of the scheme sets a new employer rate from 1 April 2027. It has been reported as a lower figure, but the exact rate was not confirmed when this page was updated. A change in the employer rate does not change the pension you build up.

The TPS is unfunded, so there is no investment pot. Contributions go to the Treasury and pensions are paid from public money, with the scheme rules guaranteeing the amount.

Cover if you die or become too ill to work

Membership also brings protection that a basic workplace pension does not. If you die in service, the scheme pays a lump sum and pensions to an eligible partner and children. If illness forces you to stop teaching, you can apply for ill-health retirement, which pays your pension early without the usual reduction and, for the most serious cases, with an enhancement. The ill-health retirement guide covers how the tiers work.

Opting out means losing all of this. Some teachers consider it when money is tight, and the guide to opting out sets out what goes with it.

When you leave teaching or retire

If you leave before retirement, the pension you have built up stays in the scheme as a deferred pension and is paid from your normal pension age. Members with only a short period of service may be able to take a refund of their own contributions instead, under rules the scheme sets.

If you move to another public sector job, such as a council or NHS post, you may be able to transfer your TPS pension within the public sector transfer arrangements. The pension transfer guide covers the limits.

Checking your record

Teachers’ Pensions holds your service and salary history, which your employer sends in every month. Your online account on the Teachers’ Pensions website shows it, along with an annual benefit statement and an estimate of your pension.

Check the service dates and salaries once a year. Gaps are common after a move between schools or a change of payroll provider, and they are easier to fix while the employer still has the records. If something is wrong, raise it with your school’s payroll or HR first, because the employer is the one that has to correct the data it submitted.