What is the Teachers’ Pension Scheme?
The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is a ‘defined benefits’ pension scheme for teachers between the ages of 16 and 75. A defined benefits pension offers you a guaranteed income in retirement, as opposed to a defined contribution scheme, where your income is based on the performance of your pension fund with no guarantees.
You pay into the scheme through a monthly contribution taken from your salary and topped up by your employer.
In return for the money you put in, you’ll receive an index-linked, government-backed annual pension for your retirement (index-linked means it’s protected from increases in the cost of living). As long as you’re in eligible employment, you can take your pension with you throughout your teaching career, wherever the job may take you.
For teachers in Scotland, you’ll most likely be part of the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme 2015, or the Scottish Teachers Superannuation Scheme (STSS). These work in a very similar way to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme for teachers across England and Wales.
How does it work?
You’ll have automatically been enrolled into the Teachers’ Pension Scheme when you started your classroom career and will remain in the scheme throughout your employment as a teacher, unless you opt out.
There have been various versions of the scheme over the years, but in 2015, the latest career average scheme was introduced. Most existing members were moved to this scheme, and it’s the one that new members will go into today.
The McCloud Judgement
In 2015 most of the public sector schemes including the TPS were reformed and a 2015 CARE scheme was introduced. Members were automatically moved to the new scheme on 1st April 2015 unless they had full or tapered transitional protection. These protections meant that older members, who were closest to retirement wouldn’t move scheme or would move later, between April 2015 and March 2022.
In December 2018, the Court of Appeal ruled that these protections discriminated against younger members of the Judicial and Firefighters schemes. In July 2019, the Government accepted that the ruling applied to all the reformed public sector schemes. Changes have been made to remove this discrimination.
Who does this affect?
These changes will affect your membership if:
- You were a member on 31st March 2012 and on or after 1st April 2015.
- You left the Scheme after 31st March 2012 but returned within 5 years.
This includes members who have received benefits since 2015.
On the 1 April 2022 the first steps to introduce the McCloud changes were introduced, these changes meant that:
- All affected members were returned to their legacy scheme, either the pre or post 07 section, for the remedy period.
- All affected members still contributing to the scheme were moved to the reformed scheme; the 2015 scheme on 1st April 2022.
When members take benefits, they will be asked which pension scheme they wish to receive benefits from for the period between 1st April 2015 and 31st March 2022 (known as the remedy period). If you had retired before the scheme had implemented the remedy, you will have received a letter from Teachers’ Pensions asking you to make your choice retrospectively.
For now, there's nothing you need to do, but if you’d like support on the McCloud Judgement and its impact, you may want to speak to Wesleyan Financial Services.
How much do I contribute to my teachers’ pension?
You’ll pay a percentage of your gross salary into your pension every month. Your employer will also contribute to your pension.
Here’s how much you’ll pay in, whether you’re a full-time or part-time member. Please note these ranges and rates are subject to change in the future.
Contribution rates for the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (England and Wales)
| Annual Salary Rate for the Eligible Employment from 1 April 2024 | Member contribution rate | Employer's contribution |
|---|---|---|
| £0 to £34,289.99 | 7.4% | 28.68% |
| £34,290 to £46,158.99 | 8.6% | 28.68% |
| £46,159 to £54,729.99 | 9.6% | 28.68% |
| £54,730 to £72,534.99 | 10.2% | 28.68% |
| £72,535 to £98,908.99 | 11.3% | 28.68% |
| £98,909 and above | 11.7% | 28.68% |
Contribution rates for the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme (STSS) and Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme 2015 (STPS 2015)
| Actual pensionable pay for the eligible employment from 1 April 2024 | Member contribution rate | Employer's contribution |
|---|---|---|
| £0 to £34,286 | 7.35% | 26% |
| £34,287 to £46,155 | 8.88% | 26% |
| £46,156 to £54,728 | 9.90% | 26% |
| £54,729 to £67,975 | 10.61% | 26% |
| £67,976 to £92,693 | 11.73% | 26% |
| £92,694 and above | 12.14% | 26% |
How much pension do teachers get?
To get an estimate of what your final pension value could be, you can use the official calculator by Teachers Pensions.
If you’d like to know how your pension value is calculated depending on the scheme you’re in, you can read more below.
How is the Teachers’ Pension calculated?
Career average scheme
If you joined the TPS on or after 1st April 2012 (or joined before this date and were still contributing on 1st April 2022), you will be part of the career average scheme. Your Normal Pension Age (NPA) will be the State Pension Age or 65, whichever is higher.
As part of the career average arrangement, your pension benefits will be based on the amount you earn across your teaching career. Each year, 1/57th of your salary will be put into a pot which is then indexed annually by Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1.6%. The CPI provides a measure for rising living costs to make sure your pension isn’t losing any real-life value.
When you reach retirement, the value of each year’s pension pot will be added together to calculate the annual pension you’ll receive.
Let’s say your earnings for 1st April 2019 to 31st March 2020 were £25,000, meaning your pension for that year is £25,000 x 1/57th = £438.60. Once indexation is added (at 4% for example), you’ll have an extra £17.54, meaning you’ll have £456.14 at the start of next year.
If your salary increases to £30,000 in the following year, you’ll earn a pension of £30,000 x 1/57th = £526.32. Your total pension pot for those two years will be £982.46. Indexation will then be added to this new total.
Final salary scheme
The final salary arrangement is calculated against your NPA. If you joined the Teachers’ Pension Scheme before 1st January 2007, your NPA is 60. If you became a member on or after 1st January 2007, your NPA is 65.
As a pre-2007 member, your benefits are made up of an annual pension and a lump sum. You can calculate your pension by multiplying your years of service by your average salary, then dividing by 80. You’ll also receive a lump sum equal to three times your pension. You can also convert part of your pension into a lump sum if you wish.
As a post-2007 member, you’ll receive a pension calculated by multiplying your years of service by your average salary, then dividing by 60. You don’t automatically get a lump sum; however, you can convert part of your pension into a lump sum. This will in turn, impact your annual pension.
If you’ve had a break in service, the Teachers’ Pension Board will make a hypothetical calculation. You can learn more about this here.
Let’s say you’ve been a member of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme since 2000, have been employed for 20 years, and your average salary at retirement will be £35,000.
As you’re part of the final salary arrangement, you’d calculate your pension by multiplying your years of service (20) by your average salary (35,000), then dividing by 80. Therefore, you’d receive £8,750 per annum.
Collecting your pension
As well as an annual income for the rest of your life, you’ll receive a pot of money for your family should you pass away before retirement or within 5 years of retirement, and an ill-health retirement benefit that allows you to access your pension benefits before your Normal Pension Age (NPA) without the usual reduction applied to an early retirement pension.
As part of the career average scheme, you’ll also be entitled to convert part of your pension into a lump sum. You'll also get access to a wider range of scheme flexibilities allowing you to purchase a faster accrual rate in chosen years or to buy out any early retirement reduction over the age of 65.
If you were part of the previous scheme (final salary), the benefits you accrued prior to your transition will be protected and remain in your final salary arrangement. If you have benefits in both final and career average schemes, you’ll receive the benefits that you’ve built up in both arrangements.
Frequently asked questions
You can access your pension when you reach your Normal Pension Age, or earlier if you choose to take an early retirement.
New members in the career average scheme have an NPA of either 65 or your state pension age, depending on which is at the later date.
Older members who are in the career average scheme but have already built up benefits in the final salary scheme, have more than one pension age.
Your final salary benefits depend on when you joined pensionable service:
- Started before 1 January 2007? Your final salary NPA is 60, if you haven’t transferred out, had a break of five years or more, or had a repayment of contributions.
- Started after 1 January 2007? Your final salary NPA is 65.
- Your career average benefits NPA is either 65 or your state pension age, depending on which is at the later date.
Yes, there are two ways to do this. Firstly, you can buy additional pension in multiples of £250 each year. You can pay a one-off lump sum, or you can have the money deducted from your salary.
There are limits to how long you can buy additional pension for. The maximum payment period is twenty years, and it must be completed before your normal pension age.
Secondly, you can pay higher contributions to increase your pension for a chosen scheme year (1st April – 31st March). This is known as faster accrual. If you want to increase your pension contributions, you must let your employer know no later than January of the year you want to start paying more. Your increased pension contributions will last for one year. After that, your contributions will go back to normal or you can re-apply.
Yes, you can take some of your pension and still work by taking a phased retirement. This allows you to take up to 75% of your pension while still contributing to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
There are caveats around this however, so we recommend you read the full explanation on how this works in our guide to the TPS and phased retirement.
You can transfer any pension credit in the first year of being in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. The previous pension scheme must meet HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) requirements.
You can transfer your pension credit by logging into your account on the Teachers’ Pension website and filling in the form.