Teacher take-home pay
Four pay areas, nine scale points, TLRs, SEN allowances and a tiered pension that most teacher calculators ask you to type in yourself. The 2026/27 award was 3.5% from 1 September 2026.
That is £26,033 a year, after the Teachers' Pension tier, income tax and National Insurance.
- Gross
- £34,069
- Pension tier
- 7.4%
- Income tax
- £3,796
- Marginal rate
- 28.0%
| A year | A month | |
|---|---|---|
| Basic pay | £34,069.00 | £2,839.08 |
| Gross pay | £34,069.00 | £2,839.08 |
| Teachers' Pension at 7.4% | £-2,521.11 | £-210.09 |
| Income tax | £-3,795.58 | £-316.30 |
| National Insurance | £-1,719.44 | £-143.29 |
| Take-home pay | £26,032.88 | £2,169.41 |
Every scale point, in every pay area
| Point | Rest of England | London fringe | Outer London | Inner London |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | £2,169.41 | £2,253.82 | £2,412.54 | £2,549.49 |
| M2 | £2,278.05 | £2,328.79 | £2,523.37 | £2,656.76 |
| M3 | £2,369.50 | £2,454.87 | £2,640.00 | £2,768.89 |
| M4 | £2,506.88 | £2,591.88 | £2,762.73 | £2,886.43 |
| M5 | £2,646.81 | £2,730.12 | £2,912.22 | £3,000.89 |
| M6 | £2,831.23 | £2,914.44 | £3,092.87 | £3,203.25 |
| U1 | £2,917.10 | £2,998.50 | £3,198.34 | £3,449.75 |
| U2 | £3,017.83 | £3,104.61 | £3,311.34 | £3,576.03 |
| U3 | £3,127.56 | £3,214.76 | £3,383.84 | £3,666.64 |
What this does that the others do not
It applies the Teachers' Pension tier automatically from your actual salary, including any TLR and SEN allowance, rather than leaving the pension as a free-text percentage. The ranking pages for this search do not do that, and one of them quotes the rest of England scale as though it applied in London, which is wrong by several thousand pounds.
It pro-rates TLRs for part-time staff, which is what actually happens and which most calculators miss. And it covers all four pay areas rather than assuming you are outside London. This page has the pro rata version.
Start from the question
- Is crossing to the upper pay range worth it?The gross gain, the pension tier, and the net figure.
- The pension tiersSix tiers, and where a TLR tips you into the next one.
The statutory School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document for 2026 has not been published yet - it is expected around November 2026, after the parliamentary review period. The scales here come from the National Education Union and NASUWT, which publish identical figures derived from the accepted 3.5% award. They are very unlikely to move, but individual points could differ by a pound or two in rounding.
Teachers' pay runs from 1 September while the tax year runs from 6 April, so a 2026/27 tax year straddles two pay scales: the September 2025 rates from April to August 2026, and the September 2026 rates from September 2026 to March 2027. Figures on this page assume a full year on the current scale, which is what you will actually be paid from September onwards.
The scale this sits on
| Point | Salary | Pension tier | Take-home a year | A month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | £34,069 | 7.4% | £26,033 | £2,169.41 |
| M2 | £36,042 | 7.4% | £27,337 | £2,278.05 |
| M3 | £38,400 | 8.9% | £28,434 | £2,369.50 |
| M4 | £40,941 | 8.9% | £30,083 | £2,506.88 |
| M5 | £43,529 | 8.9% | £31,762 | £2,646.81 |
| M6 | £46,940 | 8.9% | £33,975 | £2,831.23 |
| U1 | £49,134 | 9.9% | £35,005 | £2,917.10 |
| U2 | £50,956 | 9.9% | £36,214 | £3,017.83 |
| U3 | £52,835 | 9.9% | £37,531 | £3,127.56 |
Every figure there is computed from the published 2026/27 scale and the Teachers' Pension tiers confirmed for 1 April 2026, using the same engine that runs the calculator on this page. The inner London scale is several thousand pounds higher at every point, which is why quoting one scale as though it were universal is a serious error rather than a rounding one.
Elsewhere in this section, the pension page sets out the six tiers and where a TLR tips you into the next one, the threshold page works out whether crossing to the upper pay range is worth the application, and the teacher calculator runs your own pay area, point and allowances.
Questions people actually ask
How much does a teacher take home?
On M1 outside London, £34,069 is £2,169.41 a month after the pension, tax and National Insurance. On M6, £46,940 is £2,831.23 a month. In inner London both are considerably higher.
What is the teacher pay rise for 2026/27?
3.5% from 1 September 2026, as the first year of a two-year deal with 3.0% following from September 2027. The STRB recommendations were accepted in full.
How is the Teachers' Pension contribution worked out?
Six tiers from 7.4% to 12.0%, based on your actual pensionable salary including TLRs and allowances. It is a net pay arrangement, so it reduces taxable pay but not the pay your National Insurance or student loan is based on.
Figures on this page are for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027) and were last checked on 29 August 2026. Every rate we use is listed on the sources page.