Teacher Take Home

UK state-school teacher take-home pay calculator — STPCD 2025/26

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Your pay

Inner London / Outer London / Fringe each use entirely separate pay tables — not a percentage uplift like other professions.
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Full-time = 1.0. Part-time teachers are paid pro-rata: 3 days/week ≈ 0.6 FTE. Full-time directed time is 1,265 hrs across 195 days.
Affects income tax bands only (Scottish residents). Pay scales here are STPCD (England) — Scottish teachers use SNCT scales (not yet covered).

Allowances

Pension & student loan

Career-average CARE scheme. Your contribution rate is tiered: 7.4% / 8.9% / 9.9% / 10.5% / 11.6% / 12.0% based on your pensionable pay band. Deducted before income tax.

Take-home pay

Gross Annual
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Net Annual
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Net Monthly
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Effective Tax Rate: —
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Bookmark this page to save your scenario

All your inputs (region, pay range, pay point, FTE, allowances, pension, student loan) are stored in this page's URL — bookmarking saves the exact scenario so you can return to it any time.

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Estimate indicative mortgage borrowing
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Range: 4.0× to 4.5× annual gross income — the typical loan-to-income range UK lenders use following the 2014 Mortgage Market Review rules. Some lenders cap at 4.0×, others stretch to 4.5× for higher earners or with smaller deposits. Indicative only. Lenders also assess credit, deposit, existing debts, dependants, and stress-test affordability at higher interest rates.

💑 Buying with a partner? Open the joint household calculator →
Add your partner's take-home pay (from any UK take-home calculator in the network) to see your combined gross + net + joint mortgage borrowing capacity (4.0× to 4.5× combined gross).

FAQ

Which teachers does this calculator cover?
State-school teachers in England paid on the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) — Main Pay Range (M1–M6), Upper Pay Range (U1–U3), Leadership Pay Spine (L1–L43, banded by school group for substantive headteachers), and the Unqualified Teacher pay range. Both maintained schools and academies that follow STPCD. Independent schools, sixth-form colleges, and academies on bespoke pay arrangements aren't directly modelled — for those, use yourtakehome.co.uk with your salary entered directly. Scotland (SNCT), Wales and Northern Ireland use separate frameworks and aren't yet covered.
How does Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) contribution work?
TPS is a career-average revalued earnings (CARE) public-sector scheme. Employee contributions are tiered by pensionable pay. For 2025/26:
  • Up to £34,872 — 7.4%
  • £34,873–£46,943 — 8.9%
  • £46,944–£55,660 — 9.9%
  • £55,661–£73,768 — 10.5%
  • £73,769–£100,590 — 11.6%
  • Over £100,591 — 12.0%
The contribution is deducted from gross before income tax is calculated. Tiers 2-6 increased by 0.3 percentage points from April 2025; the lowest tier (~34% of TPS members) was unchanged.
What are TLR1, TLR2 and TLR3 payments?
Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) payments are extra annual sums for teachers taking on responsibilities beyond standard classroom teaching — running a department, leading a year group, coordinating a subject area.
  • TLR1: £10,174–£17,216 — largest responsibilities (heads of large departments, key leadership roles)
  • TLR2: £3,527–£8,611 — mid-tier responsibilities (heads of smaller departments, year group leads)
  • TLR3: £702–£3,478 — fixed-term, project-specific (one-off initiatives, time-limited responsibilities)
The school sets the exact value within the published range. TLRs are pensionable and paid pro-rata for part-time teachers.
How does part-time pay work for teachers?
STPCD doesn't use a weekly-hours model. Full-time directed time is 1,265 hours per academic year, spread over 195 days (190 teaching days + 5 INSET days). Part-time teachers are paid pro-rata based on their FTE (full-time equivalent). A teacher working 3 days a week is 0.6 FTE and earns 60% of the full-time pay for their pay range and point. Pensionable allowances (TLR, SEN) also scale by FTE. The calculator's "FTE" input controls all of this.
Which region applies to my school?
  • Inner London: the 12 inner boroughs (Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Westminster) plus the City of London.
  • Outer London: the remaining 19 London boroughs.
  • Fringe: defined parts of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey — areas in commutable distance to London.
  • Rest of England: everywhere else.
The four regions use entirely separate pay tables at every spine point — not a percentage uplift like the NHS HCAS or the police London Allowance.
Does this work for academy or independent school teachers?
Academies are legally allowed to deviate from STPCD but most follow it. If your academy follows STPCD, this calculator works exactly. If your academy or sixth-form college has bespoke pay arrangements, or you teach in an independent school, use the general-purpose yourtakehome.co.uk calculator and enter your salary directly.
Headteacher pay — how do school groups work?
Substantive headteachers are paid within a group-banded range on the Leadership Pay Spine. The group (1–8) reflects school size and weight of responsibility — measured by an Individual School Range (ISR) calculation each school does. Each group corresponds to a span of L-points:
  • Group 1 (smallest): L6–L18
  • Group 2: L8–L21
  • Group 3: L11–L24
  • Group 4: L14–L27
  • Group 5: L18–L31
  • Group 6: L21–L35
  • Group 7: L24–L39
  • Group 8 (largest): L28–L43
Deputy and assistant heads are also paid on the Leadership Spine but their range is set by the school individually within Leadership pay rules. Select "No group restriction" if you're a deputy/assistant head, or pick your group if you're a substantive headteacher.
When are these pay scales valid?
The scales used here are the STPCD 2025 award, effective 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026. The 2026/27 award is typically announced by the STRB in summer 2026 and takes effect 1 September 2026. This calculator will be updated when those rates are confirmed.
Are my numbers stored?
No. Everything runs in your browser — region, pay point, FTE, allowances, pension tier, student loan plan are processed locally. No salary or input data is sent to a server. Refresh and the figures are gone. Bookmarking the page (via the prompt under the breakdown) preserves your scenario via the URL on your device only.

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STRB awards, TPS contribution updates, tax/NI rate changes — we'll email when something material changes.

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