The Teachers' Pension annual increase was 3.8% from 6 April 2026 for pensions in payment; serving teachers' pensions were revalued by 5.4%.

If you already draw a Teachers' Pension, it is reviewed every spring and, when prices have risen, goes up. If you are still teaching, or left with a pension you have not yet drawn, the pension you have built up is revalued each April by a different rate, set out below. For tax, State Pension timing and savings alongside your uprated pension, an FCA-authorised adviser offers a no-cost phone conversation, booked using the form on this page.

How much is the Teachers' Pension annual increase in April 2026?

It is 3.8%. HM Treasury's covering note for 2026, published on GOV.UK on 26 February 2026, says public service pensions already in payment for a year "will be increased by 3.8% from 6 April 2026 in line with the September-to-September increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI)". The Teachers' Pension Scheme is one of those public service schemes, and Teachers' Pensions, which has run the scheme in England and Wales, has called the rise the Pensions Increase.

The legal footing is the Treasury's Pensions Increase (Review) Order 2026. Article 3 says that for a pension which began before 7 April 2025 the pension authority "may increase" the annual rate by 3.8 per cent, for periods on or after 6 April 2026. A pension that started later gets a smaller, part-year amount, covered below.

The Government Actuary's Department prints the recent run of rises in its 1 July 2026 valuation report for the scheme in England and Wales. The first column is the rise to pensions in payment; the second is the rate used to revalue the pensions of people still teaching, explained further down.

Year commencingPension in paymentIn-service revaluation
April 20201.7%3.3%
April 20210.5%2.1%
April 20223.1%4.7%
April 202310.1%11.7%
April 20246.7%8.3%
April 20251.7%3.3%
April 20263.8%5.4%

The figure is a percentage of the pension you were already drawing, not a flat sum. The contribution tiers move with the same rate, which the Teachers' Pension contribution rates page sets out.

Still teaching: why the April 2026 revaluation was 5.4%

The career average section does not wait until retirement to add inflation. Teachers' Pensions' factsheet on how a career average pension builds up says: "Members who are active in the Scheme will have their benefits revalued annually using a rate published by HMT (Treasury Order) plus 1.6%." Each year's slice of pension, built at 1/57th of pensionable earnings, is raised by that rate every April until you leave or retire.

That is why the Government Actuary's table above shows 5.4% for in-service revaluation in April 2026 against 3.8% for a pension in payment: the 3.8% change in prices that the Public Service Pensions Revaluation Order 2026 fixed for the year to March 2026, plus the 1.6% addition. The same 1.6-point gap runs through every year in the table.

The factsheet, dated February 2024, works through an example that assumes revaluation of 3.8% a year, made up of a Treasury Order of 2.2% and the 1.6% in-service addition (an assumed figure, not the 3.8% pension increase for 2026), and adds that "indexation is likely to change year on year (and we cannot forecast these changes)". Use it to see how a banked amount compounds, not as a forecast. The McCloud remedy, which can affect a pension's build-up, is covered on the Teachers' Pension McCloud remedy page. For a view of what the whole pension might pay, see the Teachers' Pension calculator page.

Left teaching? Deferred pensions get the Treasury Order rate

If you left teaching with pension benefits you have not yet claimed, those benefits are still revalued, but under a different rule. The same factsheet goes on: "For members with deferred benefits the revaluation rate is Treasury Order only." The Treasury Order rate is the CPI-based figure, so a deferred member's pension keeps pace with prices and gets nothing extra on top.

The extra 1.6% credited to people still in service, described above, is therefore not part of a deferred member's rate. Someone with both a deferred pension and a pension in payment, or with service in another public scheme, can end up with more than one rule at work. Which rule covers each part of your record can be gone through by the adviser who phones back after you send the form.

Retired during the year: the part-year rise

Article 3 of the Pensions Increase (Review) Order applies to a pension only where a qualifying condition is met, or where it is a derivative, substituted or injury pension; SPPA's version of those conditions for Scottish teachers is set out further down. Someone whose pension began before 7 April 2025 and has run for a full year gets the whole 3.8%. Retire during the year and the first rise is smaller. The GOV.UK note says a pension "in payment for less than a year will be increased by a proportionate amount depending on the number of months it has been in payment", and the Order multiplies 3.8 per cent by a fraction worked from the number of complete months between the start date and 6 April 2026.

The multiplier tables that come with the GOV.UK note are for scheme administrators: they combine each year's rise with earlier years so that a pension is uprated by the right cumulative amount. A member does not need them; the scheme works out the amount actually paid.

How much of the extra amount you keep after tax turns on your other income, which an adviser can go through on a call.

CPI, the September reading and next April's rise

Both rates rest on inflation, measured by the Consumer Prices Index. The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) puts it plainly in its teachers' guide: public sector pensions rise with CPI each April under the Pensions (Increase) Act 1971, and "Increases depend on the CPI rate in the 12 months up to the previous September."

For 2026 that meant CPI to September 2025. The Revaluation Order behind the in-service rate rests on the same September 2025 CPI reading. The Teachers' Pension rise is therefore a price-linked uprating.

Next April's rise works the same way: it follows CPI in the year to the September before it and takes effect once the Treasury makes its order, as it did for 2026 in a covering note published on 26 February 2026.

Teachers in Scotland

Scottish teachers have a separate scheme, run by SPPA, but it follows the same CPI pattern: the agency's own page gives 3.8% from 6 April 2026 for teachers' pensions. For Scottish teachers, SPPA adds that "Pensions increase will only be paid to members who have reached age 55, or if under 55, retired on the grounds of ill health, are a widow/widower or in receipt of a dependants allowance." It also says a Guaranteed Minimum Pension component within a pension may mean the full increase is not received. An FCA-authorised adviser, reached from the form on this page, can show how such conditions apply to your record.

Pay rises, payment dates and other schemes

Do other public service pensions get the same 3.8%?

Yes, for pensions in payment. HM Treasury's 2026 note covers public service pensions generally, so NHS pensions and firefighters' pensions in payment rose by the same 3.8% from 6 April 2026.

Is the Teachers' Pension linked to pay rises?

Not once it is in payment. The yearly rise follows prices. Pay matters while you are working, because the career average pension is built from your pensionable earnings each year, and the extra 1.6% applies only to people still in service.

Is there a calculator for the 2027 increase?

Not yet, because the 2027 rate is unknown. The multiplier tables published with the 2026 GOV.UK note are made for scheme administrators, so a member's own amount comes from the scheme.

When does the new rate start to appear in my payments?

The rise takes effect from 6 April 2026. In Scotland, SPPA says that depending on your pension payment date you may only receive a part increase in your April payment, with the full increase in your monthly pension applied from your May payment date. In England and Wales, check the Teachers' Pensions website for current contact details before getting in touch: it said in late October 2026 that, during the transfer to a new administrator, some services were unavailable until 2 November 2026.

Pension Wise, the free government-backed guidance service, is a route for any defined contribution savings you hold as well; see the Pension Wise page.

The form on this page exists for sums like these: over one call, an FCA-authorised adviser can cover tax, State Pension and savings next to the uprating.

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