Teacher Pay Calculator UK
Compare your teacher salary with UK teacher pay scales, London bands and wider UK salary percentiles. Enter your FTE salary to see your salary benchmark, monthly take-home pay, pension estimate and UK taxpayer rank.
Best use: teacher pay scale comparison, salary breakdown and UK percentile context in one page. Works for full-time and part-time contracts, with optional TLR/SEN allowances.
What do you want to check first?
Pick the result you want. Both routes use the same pay details, but Step 3 changes what the result leads with.
Add allowance▼
Your result will open as Step 3. You can edit your details from the result screen.
Teacher salaries in the UK: what the 2025/26 pay data shows
Last updated: May 2026The Department for Education's 2024/25 teacher pay data puts median full-time equivalent teacher pay at £49,084 across all regions outside London. The classroom teacher median for England was £48,892, while an Inner London teacher median was £58,806 and a median headteacher earned £83,464. For the current pay-scale context, a newly qualified teacher starting on the 2025/26 England main range earns £32,916, while an Inner London classroom teacher at the top of their scale reaches £62,496. Where your salary sits depends on your region, phase, contract fraction and any TLR or SEN allowances you receive.
Data timing note: This page keeps the 2025/26 framing because the pay scales are the current 2025/26 classroom teacher scales. The latest DfE salary medians used for context are 2024/25 figures and do not include the 2025/26 pay award.
This page combines two comparisons in one. The teacher salary benchmark places your FTE salary on the pay scale you select — England outside London, any London band, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The UK salary percentile then shows where your actual annual pay sits relative to the wider HMRC taxpayer income distribution. Both results update from the same inputs, so you only need to enter your details once.
How to use the teacher pay calculator
Enter your full-time equivalent salary, choose your contract fraction and select the pay scale that matches your contract. The calculator uses your FTE salary for the teacher salary benchmark and your actual annual pay for take-home pay and the wider UK salary percentile.
This keeps the two comparisons separate: teacher salary benchmark for your profession, and UK percentile for your wider income context.
Teacher salary benchmarks used in the calculator
These are the headline teacher salary figures used to benchmark pay scale position, London pay and senior-role context.
| Benchmark | Salary | Use in calculator |
|---|---|---|
| Qualified teacher minimum, England outside London | £32,916 | Early-career lower anchor |
| Experienced classroom teacher | £45,352 | Mid-to-upper classroom pay point |
| Median teacher FTE salary, England outside London | £49,084 | Outside-London regional benchmark |
| Median secondary teacher salary | £52,475 | Phase-specific midpoint |
| Median Inner London teacher salary | £58,806 | London benchmark |
| Median leadership teacher salary | £66,919 | Senior-role benchmark |
| Median headteacher salary | £83,464 | Headteacher benchmark |
Teacher pay scales by region
Choose the scale that matches your contract. These are the classroom teacher pay ranges used by the calculator for England, London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
| Area | Minimum | Maximum | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| England outside London | £32,916 | £51,048 | Main and upper pay range, 2025/26 |
| London fringe | £34,398 | £52,490 | Main and upper pay range, 2025/26 |
| Outer London | £37,870 | £56,154 | Main and upper pay range, 2025/26 |
| Inner London | £40,317 | £62,496 | Main and upper pay range, 2025/26 |
| Scotland | £36,159 | £54,453 | Probationer to main grade max, 2026 |
| Wales | £33,731 | £51,942 | Main and upper pay scale, 2025/26 |
| Northern Ireland | £32,916 | £50,876 | Main and upper pay scale, 2025/26 |
Teacher salary breakdown: gross pay, pension, tax and take-home
The calculator turns your gross teacher salary into an estimated monthly take-home figure. It includes Income Tax, National Insurance and an optional teacher pension contribution estimate, then shows a full breakdown below your result.
Use the allowance field for TLR, SEN or another regular annual payment. Enter the actual annual allowance paid. For part-time teachers, the page keeps FTE salary separate from actual annual pay so the salary benchmark and take-home estimate do not get mixed together.
Outer London teacher pay scale 2025/26
Outer London has a separate classroom teacher pay range from £37,870 to £56,154. Select Outer London in the calculator to compare your FTE salary against that band and see the wider UK percentile separately.
Scotland teacher salary scale
Select Scotland to compare your salary against the Scottish teacher scale used on this page, from £36,159 to £54,453. This avoids comparing Scottish teacher pay only against England or London pay bands.
How teacher pay compares with UK salary percentiles
The wider UK view compares individual income before tax, not household income. Use it as context, not as a replacement for your teacher salary benchmark.
| UK tier | Approx threshold | Where teachers typically land | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | £207,000+ | Above standard teacher pay | Top 1% UK |
| Top 5% | £93,600+ | Senior leadership, headteachers | Top 5% UK |
| Top 10% | £67,400+ | Leadership group, large-school heads | Top 10% UK |
| Top 20% | £49,900+ | Inner London median, upper main range | Top 20% UK |
| Top 25% | £45,000+ | Around the outside-London teacher median | Top 25% UK |
| Top 50% | £29,700+ | Most qualified classroom teachers | Top 50% UK |
For a standalone non-teacher comparison, use the UK salary percentile calculator.
Teacher take-home pay at key salary points
Rounded examples using 2026/27 take-home rules and an optional teacher pension estimate. Net hourly estimates divide estimated annual take-home pay by assumed directed time plus preparation/marking time.
| Gross salary | Approx monthly net | Pension band | Typical context |
|---|
How teacher pay data is calculated: sources and methodology
This is a quick teacher pay guide, not an official government calculator. It compares your FTE salary with the pay scale you choose, then compares your actual annual pay with HMRC UK income data.
Percentile note: The wider UK percentile is based on HMRC taxpayer-income percentile points. The teacher salary benchmark is not presented as a teacher percentile because the public teacher data is banded and not a precise UK-wide percentile distribution.
Leadership pay: leadership salaries vary by role and school size. The page uses published scale points and DfE medians where available.
| Source | How it is used | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Department for Education: School workforce in England | Teacher FTE salary medians by grade, phase and region. | DfE release |
| GOV.UK Get Into Teaching: teacher pay | Latest confirmed England qualified teacher, leading practitioner, headteacher and unqualified teacher pay ranges. | Teacher pay |
| EIS current salary scales | Scotland teacher salary scale points for 2025/26 and 2026. | Scotland scales |
| Welsh Government STPC(W)D | Wales main, upper, leading practitioner and unqualified teacher scales from September 2025. | Wales document |
| NASUWT Northern Ireland pay scales | Northern Ireland classroom teacher and leadership scale points from September 2025. | NI scales |
| HMRC percentile points for total income | Latest UK taxpayer-income comparison used for the secondary UK rank. | HMRC percentiles |
| GOV.UK Income Tax rates and HMRC employer thresholds | 2026/27 Personal Allowance, tax bands and employee National Insurance assumptions. | Income Tax |
| Teacher pension contribution bands | Optional member pension contribution estimate. | TPS contributions |
Teacher salary questions answered: pay scales, take-home and percentiles
What does the Teacher Pay Calculator UK show?▼
It shows your teacher salary benchmark, estimated monthly take-home pay, pension estimate, estimated net hourly pay and wider UK salary percentile.
What is the average teacher salary in England?▼
The DfE reported median full-time equivalent teacher pay of £49,084 across all regions outside London for 2024/25. The classroom teacher median for England was £48,892. By phase: primary £49,037, secondary £52,475, special schools £51,763. These are median FTE figures from the School Workforce census and teacher pension data.
How much do teachers take home after tax?▼
Take-home pay depends on gross salary, contract fraction, pension contributions and any extra deductions. The calculator estimates tax, National Insurance and pension to show an indicative monthly net figure.
Does this page include TLR or SEN payments?▼
Yes — open "Add allowance" and enter your actual annual TLR or SEN allowance paid. It is added to your actual salary before tax, pension and UK rank are calculated. The FTE salary benchmark comparison uses an FTE-scaled version of the allowance so part-time teachers are not overstated against the full-time benchmark ladder.
Should I use my FTE salary or my actual part-time salary?▼
Enter your full-time equivalent salary and set your contract fraction separately. The calculator derives your actual annual salary from those two inputs, uses it for take-home and UK rank, and uses the FTE figure for your position on the teacher pay ladder.
Why does my teacher salary benchmark differ from the UK salary percentile result?▼
Your teacher result compares your FTE salary with the pay scale you selected. The UK rank compares your actual annual salary against the full HMRC taxpayer distribution, which includes part-time, low-income and very high-income earners across all sectors.