How teacher pay is calculated in England
Your payslip is the end result of a deduction chain most teachers never see written down in one place. You start with a gross salary set by your spine point. From that figure, payroll deducts your Teachers' Pension contribution, then calculates income tax on what's left, then adds National Insurance on top of your original gross, and — if you have a student loan — that comes off too. The order matters, because it affects how much tax you pay.
Your gross salary is set by spine point and region. An M3 teacher outside London earns £37,101 this year; an M3 teacher in Inner London earns £44,238. That gap exists because England has four regional pay bands, set each year by the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document.
Your Teachers' Pension comes off first. The TPS uses a net pay arrangement — your contribution is deducted from gross before income tax is calculated, which gives you automatic tax relief. How much you pay depends on a tiered system based on actual salary: in 2025–26 the bands run from 7.4% on salaries up to £36,199, up to 12% above £104,414. Most classroom teachers sit in the 7.4% or 8.9% bands.
Income tax is calculated on what's left after pension. Your personal allowance (£12,570, frozen since 2021) is tax-free; above that, 20% basic rate to £50,270, then 40% higher rate.
National Insurance is different — it's calculated on your full gross, before pension, so it doesn't benefit from the same tax relief: 8% between £12,570–£50,270, then 2% above.
Student loans come off last. Plan 2 (most teachers who graduated 2012–2023) repays 9% above £29,385. Plan 5 (ECTs from Aug 2023) has a lower £25,000 threshold. Career changers can hold both Plan 1 and Plan 2 at once — the calculator handles multiple plans together.
Teacher pay scales 2025–26
Confirmed gross salaries following the 4% pay award from September 2025 — the figures your school uses to set your pay.
| Pay point | Outside London | London Fringe | Outer London | Inner London |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | £32,916 | £34,398 | £37,870 | £40,317 |
| M2 | £34,823 | £36,373 | £39,851 | £42,234 |
| M3 | £37,101 | £38,627 | £41,935 | £44,238 |
| M4 | £39,556 | £41,075 | £44,128 | £46,339 |
| M5 | £42,057 | £43,545 | £46,800 | £48,952 |
| M6 | £45,352 | £46,839 | £50,474 | £52,300 |
| U1 | £47,472 | £48,913 | £52,219 | £57,632 |
| U2 | £49,232 | £50,668 | £54,151 | £60,464 |
| U3 | £51,048 | £52,490 | £56,154 | £62,496 |
These are gross figures. Your take-home will be lower once pension, tax, NI and any student loans are applied — use the calculator above for your exact net figure.
Why your result might differ from a colleague's — or another calculator's
Two teachers on the same spine point can take home noticeably different amounts. There are four common reasons.
Different pension status. A teacher on M4 outside London (£39,556) who stays in the TPS pays 8.9% — about £3,521 a year. Opting out keeps that in take-home pay: a £293/month difference between otherwise identical colleagues.
Different student loan plans. Plan 2 starts at £29,385; Plan 5 at £25,000. A career changer with both Plan 1 and Plan 2 repays on two thresholds simultaneously — some calculators don't handle this at all. Ours lets you select multiple plans together.
Different tax codes. Most teachers are on 1257L, but a second job, a benefit in kind, or an emergency code changes your take-home. Check your payslip and enter your actual code.
TLR included or excluded. A TLR2 worth £5,000 adds roughly £280–£300 net per month — if one calculator includes it by default and another doesn't, that explains most of the gap.
How the main UK teacher pay calculators compare
| Feature | This calculator | TES Excel | Twinkl | teacherpaycalculator.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pension handling | Auto-tiered by salary | Manual % | Manual % only | Manual % |
| Student loan plans | Plans 1,2,4,5,PG — simultaneous | Plan 2 only | Not included | Plan 2 only |
| TLR payments | TLR1/2/3 with valid ranges | Yes | Not included | Yes |
| Part-time input | Days, hours, or FTE% | FTE% only | Not included | FTE% only |
| Scotland | Scottish tax + SNCT scales | Not included | Not included | Not included |
| Wales | Welsh STPC(W)D scales | Not included | Not included | Not included |
| Format | Web, no download | Excel download | Web | Web |
The TES tool has genuine loyalty but is a spreadsheet download that doesn't work on mobile — a reviewer on TES's own page noted accuracy concerns with student loan thresholds. Twinkl is simple but excludes student loans and TLR by default, which is why one Reddit thread found a £443/month gap against a more complete calculator.
What spine point should you be on?
Progression is advisory, not compulsory — but in practice most schools move teachers up one point a year on a satisfactory review. An ECT starting M1 in September 2025 should reach M6 by September 2030.
Prior experience — industry, tutoring, or teaching abroad — can sometimes credit you a higher starting point. There's no national rule; it's negotiable before you sign, and the leverage disappears once you have.
Changing schools is where experienced teachers often get stung: schools can legally place you anywhere on the scale when you join, including back at M1. Negotiate your starting point before accepting an offer.
If you think you're on the wrong point, use the pay point checker built into the calculator above — enter your years of experience and region to see the expected advisory point.
TLR payments — what they actually add to your monthly pay
TLR1 (substantial leadership): £10,174–£17,216. TLR2 (leading a subject/year group): £3,527–£8,611. TLR3 (time-limited project): £702–£3,478.
Your TLR goes through the same tax and pension calculations as the rest of your pay — a TLR2 worth £6,000 doesn't add £6,000 to take-home; it adds roughly £3,400–£3,900 net per year. SEN allowances range £2,787–£5,497 and work the same way.
Should you stay in the Teachers' Pension Scheme?
Opting out genuinely increases monthly take-home — but the TPS is a defined benefit scheme, government-backed, revalued each year at CPI+1.6%, the highest active revaluation of any major public scheme. Over a 30-year career that compounds to roughly a 60% real-terms uplift.
Your employer also contributes 28.68% of salary — around £10,600/year for an M3 teacher — money you never see on your payslip but that disappears entirely if you opt out. Use the calculator's pension toggle to see the exact monthly difference before deciding.
Supply teachers — your pay works differently
Supply pay doesn't follow the monthly spine-point system: you're paid a daily rate, pension is often agency-handled rather than TPS, and take-home depends on days worked. Our supply teacher pay calculator asks the one question no other tool does — what does your agency charge the school? — and shows exactly how much of the day rate reaches you.
What makes this calculator more accurate
Most tools apply a flat pension rate or ask you to enter your own percentage. This one works out your TPS tier automatically from gross salary and shows the rate applied. Student loan stacking is handled correctly — Plan 1 and Plan 2 applied separately against their own thresholds, and Plan 5 included.
Nothing you enter is stored — every calculation runs in your browser. See our privacy policy for details, or read exactly how we calculate each deduction.
Frequently asked questions
What is the take-home pay for an M1 teacher in 2025–26?
An M1 teacher outside London earns £32,916 gross. After TPS pension at 7.4% (£2,436), income tax (≈£3,769) and NI (≈£1,627), take-home is around £2,007/month on tax code 1257L with no student loan. With Plan 2 it drops to ≈£1,929/month; with Plan 5, ≈£1,913/month. Use the calculator above for your exact figure.
How much does an M6 teacher take home?
An M6 teacher outside London on £45,352 gross takes home approximately £2,700/month after TPS at 8.9%, income tax and NI, assuming no student loan. In Inner London (£52,300 gross) it's around £3,040/month. If you've opted out of the pension, both figures are roughly £250–£290 higher.
Do you have pay scales for previous years?
The calculator defaults to 2025/26. For earlier years, the NEU archives all historical pay scales at neu.org.uk. For back-pay, the redundancy calculator uses your actual salary at the time — enter the gross from your payslip for that year.
Does the pension deduction reduce my income tax?
Yes. The TPS net pay arrangement deducts your contribution before tax is calculated. On £37,101 with 7.4% pension (£2,746), taxable income is £34,355 rather than £37,101 — saving around £549/year at the 20% marginal rate. NI is still calculated on the full gross, so pension doesn't reduce your NI.
Why did my take-home change in April even though I didn't move pay points?
Pay scales move in September (STRB award); HMRC rates change in April. In April 2026 the TPS contribution bands were uplifted 3.8% in line with CPI — so even with unchanged gross pay, a different contribution band can shift your net take-home.
How does part-time teacher pay work?
Your full-time gross is set by spine point first, then multiplied by your FTE fraction. A 0.6 FTE teacher on M4 outside London (full-time £39,556) has an actual gross of £23,734, and all deductions — including the TPS tier — are based on that actual figure. Use our part-time calculator for any fraction.
What does a TLR payment add to my monthly take-home?
Less than the headline suggests, since TLR is fully taxed, NI'd and pensioned. A TLR2 worth £6,000/year adds £500/month gross but typically £280–£320 net. A TLR1 worth £12,000 adds ≈£570–£600 net, depending on pension band.
Am I being paid the right amount?
National scales are advisory and schools have discretion, though most follow them closely. If the pay point checker flags a mismatch between your expected and actual point, raise it with HR or your union rep — the checker uses NEU advisory points, which most reps will reference.
Are these figures the same for Scotland and Wales?
No. Scotland uses SNCT scales and Scottish Income Tax (a five-band system). Wales uses the Welsh STPCD, which currently mirrors England closely but is set separately. Use our Scotland calculator or Wales calculator for accurate figures.
My result is different from the TES calculator — which is correct?
The TES tool is an Excel download last reviewed March 2026; one reviewer on TES's own page flagged errors and suggested an online alternative. The most common causes of differences between any two tools are pension handling, student loan plan selection and tax code assumptions — see the comparison table above.