A Teachers' Pension calculator adds two parts: 1/57th of each career average year's pay, revalued, plus any final salary years at 1/80th or 1/60th.

How much Teachers' Pension you get comes down to three things: how long you taught, what you were paid, and which part of the scheme each year belongs to. This page sets out the arithmetic the scheme uses, runs it for one made-up teacher so you can repeat it with your own numbers, and shows which of the scheme's tools work from your actual record. MoneyHelper gives free impartial information on pensions, while GOV.UK notes that Pension Wise does not cover final salary or career average pensions. A teacher who wants those numbers talked through can ask for a free call back: the form on this page passes the request to an FCA-authorised adviser.

It covers the England and Wales scheme. What members pay in is on Teachers' Pension contribution rates, and the shape of the scheme as a whole on how the Teachers' Pension Scheme works.

Final salary, career average or both: sorting your service

The Department for Education describes three sections: two final salary sections, with a normal pension age of 60 and 65 respectively, and a career average section. Both final salary sections closed to further accrual on 31 March 2022, and from 1 April 2022 every active member has been building pension in the career average section. Final salary pension already earned stays where it is: Teachers' Pensions says that where you have benefits in both, the final salary benefits are protected and remain in final salary. A long-serving teacher can therefore hold two blocks of pension, each priced by its own formula, which are added together at the end.

Which final salary formula applies turns on your start date. Service before 1 January 2007 carries a final salary normal pension age (NPA) of 60, provided you have not had a repayment of contributions, transferred the service out of the scheme, or had a break of more than five years ending after 31 December 2007. Anyone who entered pensionable service on or after 1 January 2007, or came back after such a break, has a final salary NPA of 65.

Teachers in Scotland belong to a different scheme. The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) runs the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme 2015, a career average scheme that took in the remaining members when the Scottish Teachers' Superannuation Scheme closed to future build-up on 1 April 2022. SPPA issues annual benefit statements through its member portal and offers a downloadable Excel calculator, which it says is not a guarantee. Its figures, not the fractions on this page, are the ones that apply there; more is on the Scotland and Wales page.

Career average years: 1/57th of pay, banked and revalued

Each year in the career average section adds 1/57th of that year's pensionable earnings to your pension, and the scheme's factsheet confirms this is "including any overtime". Teachers' Pensions describes each year's amount as banked, with the eventual pension made up of everything banked over the years.

What has been banked is then revalued every year. The Teachers' Pension Scheme Regulations 2014, in the version on legislation.gov.uk in force from 6 April 2025, set the yearly "index adjustment" for active members as the percentage increase or decrease in prices in the Treasury order for the previous financial year, plus 1.6%. The Treasury order figure can therefore be a fall as well as a rise. The career average factsheet (February 2024) adds that once a member leaves, deferred benefits are revalued by the Treasury Order alone, without the extra 1.6%.

Actual rates are in the Government Actuary's Department report on the 2024 valuation, published in 2026. It lists in-service revaluation of 3.3% from April 2025 and 5.4% from April 2026, against increases of 1.7% and 3.8% for pensions already in payment. How a pension rises once it is being paid is covered on Teachers' Pension annual increases.

Final salary years: length of service times average salary

For final salary service Teachers' Pensions multiplies your service by your average salary and divides by a fixed number. With an NPA of 60 the divisor is 80, and a lump sum of three times the pension is paid as well. With an NPA of 65 the divisor is 60. The general idea behind this kind of pension is explained in what a final salary pension is.

"Average salary" has its own definition. It is the better of the average of your best consecutive three years' revalued salaries in your last ten years of service, or your last recorded 12 months of pensionable service before retiring. A member with no pensionable service on or after 1 January 2007 uses the best 365 days in the last 1,095 days before leaving instead. If you are still in the career average section when you retire, the salaries earned there are used for the final salary block; a break of more than five years after 1 April 2015 means the salaries at the time of the break are used.

Two further rules can change the result. A big pay rise near the end is capped: if pensionable salary in the final three years rose by more than a fixed amount or 10%, the increase is restricted to whichever is higher, and the scheme publishes the current fixed amount on its updates page. And where there has been a break in service, a "hypothetical calculation" is carried out, which the scheme describes as an underpin whose nature depends on the member's circumstances.

The automatic lump sum comes only with final salary service that includes service before 1 January 2007. Teachers' Pensions says that if your final salary service is all after that date, or you have any career average service, there is no automatic lump sum, though you can give up pension for one (see the lump sum paragraph further down).

Sample figures for one teacher (our working, 20 October 2026)

Take an imaginary teacher with 20 years of final salary service on NPA 60 terms at an average salary of £40,000, followed by ten career average years on pensionable earnings of £30,000 each. The sums below are ours, using the scheme's fractions; they are not Teachers' Pensions figures and not a forecast. They leave out revaluation, tax and any adjustment for early payment.

Block of serviceSumPension a year
20 final salary years, NPA 60£40,000 x 20 / 80£10,000, plus an automatic lump sum of 3 x £10,000 = £30,000
The same 20 years on NPA 65 terms, for comparison£40,000 x 20 / 60£13,333.33, with no automatic lump sum
One career average year£30,000 x 1/57£526.32 banked
Ten career average years£526.32 x 10£5,263.16
Total: NPA 60 block plus career average£10,000 + £5,263.16£15,263.16

The NPA 65 line gives more pension a year, but it is paid from a later age and without the automatic lump sum, and a teacher's start date decides which of the two applies. Revaluation would move the career average figure every year, up or down with the index, and the factsheet itself points out that a salary would not normally stay at the same rate throughout a teaching career. To try your own figures, swap in your salary and years; the scheme's statement does the same sum on your actual record. Where the answer needs setting against a State Pension, savings or a partner's income, the whole picture can be talked over by telephone with an FCA-authorised adviser, free, once the short form on this page has your details.

When it can be paid, and turning pension into a lump sum

The career average block has an NPA of your State Pension age or 65, whichever is later; the final salary block's NPA is 60 or 65 as set out above. Your State Pension age is explained in the State Pension guide, and every age rule in the scheme is on when you can take your Teachers' Pension.

Teachers' Pensions says benefits can be taken before NPA if you are aged 55 or over and leaving service, in which case they become Actuarially Adjusted Benefits, to reflect that they are paid before NPA. A member with both final salary and career average benefits has to take them all at the same time. The scheme sends members to the Government Actuary's Department guidance hub for the latest and historic factors; they depend on age and date, so this page gives none. Taking your Teachers' Pension early covers how the adjustment works.

The earliest age is moving. From 6 April 2028 the normal minimum pension age rises from 55 to 57. Teachers' Pensions says a member keeps 55 if they had scheme service before the announcement of 4 November 2021, while anyone who first joined the career average scheme after 3 November 2021 has 57, and it adds that some policy considerations remain to be worked through.

Where there is no automatic lump sum, you can choose to give up part of the pension for one. Every £1 a year of pension surrendered becomes £12 of lump sum, and the maximum lump sum is 25% of the total value of your benefits. The pension is reduced for your lifetime, the decision is made before you complete the application form, and the amount cannot be changed after that. On those terms, surrendering £1,000 a year buys £12,000 in cash; that is a sum, not a suggestion. Tax on the lump sum is covered on the Teachers' Pension lump sum page and in the general tax-free lump sum guide.

Your own figure, including the remedy choice

The scheme's own tools work from your service record, which no general calculator can see. Teachers' Pensions says members must register for a My Pension Online account to keep up to date with their pension, and that it holds the Benefit Statement, your employment history and calculators showing how your choices and retirement date affect the pension.

  • Benefit Statement: what your benefits are worth now, updated each month for active members. New members cannot see one for up to two years after entering pensionable employment.
  • Quick Pension Estimate: on the public calculators page, updated for the Transitional Protection changes, covering when you could retire and the lump sum you could receive.
  • Personalised calculator: uses your My Pension Online details for a more accurate estimate.
  • Flexibility calculator: shows ways to increase your pension and their potential costs. Faster accrual and added pension and AVCs have their own pages.

The calculators page warns that results are for illustrative purposes only. The scheme also asks members to check their service history regularly, because benefits are calculated from it and errors or missing service found during the application could delay payment; missing service does not necessarily mean contributions were missed. Gaps are covered on how breaks in service affect your Teachers' Pension, and the minimum service on how long you need to qualify.

The remedy can change the total for anyone with service in the remedy period. Teachers' Pensions traces it to the Court of Appeal judgment in the McCloud and Sargeant cases and says the changes, made on grounds of age discrimination, apply to all main public service schemes including this one. A Remediable Service Statement lets you choose whether remedy period service counts as final salary or career average; you do not need to make that choice until you apply for retirement, the Benefit Statement RSS shows both options in the meantime, and you do not need to pay to claim. Members who took out flexibilities (Faster Accrual, Buy Out or career average Additional Pension) or worked overtime or excess service in career average during the period face extra decisions, because those are not available in final salary. The McCloud remedy for Teachers' Pensions has the detail.

Teachers' Pension calculator: quick answers

What will my Teachers' Pension be each month?

Divide the yearly total by twelve. There is no standard amount, because it depends on your years, pay and blocks of service; the sample teacher's £15,263.16 a year works out at about £1,271.93 a month before tax and revaluation (our arithmetic).

What share of my salary does the pension replace?

The scheme works in fractions per year rather than a single percentage. Each career average year earns 1/57th of that year's pensionable earnings, and each final salary year earns 1/80th or 1/60th of average salary, depending on the section.

Is the best three years rule still used?

Only for final salary years, where average salary is the better of the best consecutive three revalued years in the last ten or the last 12 months. Career average years use each year's own earnings, so no best-years test applies to them.

How accurate is the online calculator?

The scheme describes its public calculator results as illustrative. Its personalised calculator, used while logged in to My Pension Online, draws on your own details for a more accurate estimate, and the Benefit Statement shows what your benefits are currently worth.

What are the Teachers' Pension flexibilities?

They are ways of adding to your pension; the scheme's remedy pages name Faster Accrual, Buy Out and career average Additional Pension. The flexibility calculator shows the options and their potential costs.

The scheme's statement and calculators are free and come first. Whether staying in is worth the contributions is a separate question, answered on is the Teachers' Pension good, and the wider target is on how much pension you need. To see how a Teachers' Pension sits beside your other retirement income, an FCA-authorised adviser will ring back without charge after a teacher sends the form on this page.

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