Supply teacher pay: daily rates in England and Wales

A supply teacher employed directly by a school or council on a day-to-day basis is paid one 195th of the annual salary for each day, so a teacher on £40,941 earns about £209.95 for a day. The rule is in the teachers’ pay documents for England and Wales, which treat a full working year as 195 days and pay part days pro rata. Agency supply is different, because the agency sets the rate.

The daily rate at each point

The figures below are the annual salary divided by 195, rounded to the penny, before tax, National Insurance and pension. They use the pay points from 1 September 2026. England is shown outside London.

England	Annual	Daily	Wales	Annual	Daily
M1	£34,069	£174.71	C1	£34,912	£179.04
M2	£36,042	£184.83	C2	£37,717	£193.42
M3	£38,400	£196.92	C3	£40,623	£208.32
M4	£40,941	£209.95	C4	£43,821	£224.72
M5	£43,529	£223.23	C5	£48,226	£247.31
M6	£46,940	£240.72	C6	£49,995	£256.38
U1	£49,134	£251.97	C7	£51,849	£265.89
U2	£50,956	£261.31	C8	£53,760	£275.69
U3	£52,835	£270.95

A half day is half the daily figure. The English points are explained in teacher pay scales in England, and London and the fringe use higher ranges. The Welsh points come from the new core scale described in teacher pay in Wales. Which point you are paid on is for the employer to decide.

The 12-month cap

Both pay documents contain the same limit. A teacher on short-notice employment who works for the same authority throughout a 12-month period starting in August or September must not be paid more over that period than they would have received as a regular teacher. In practice the cap matters for long runs of supply with one authority.

Agency rates and what comes off them

An agency usually pays a daily rate that it negotiates itself, and the school pays the agency a higher charge. Rates vary by area, experience and how urgently a school needs cover. Ask the agency three things before accepting a booking: the daily rate, whether holiday pay is included, and whether the rate changes after you have worked 12 weeks in the same role.

After 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer, agency workers are entitled to the same basic pay and working conditions as a comparable employee. GOV.UK sets out that rule, and the agency workers’ rights guide goes through it. If an umbrella company handles your payroll, its fees and employer’s National Insurance come out of the pay, so compare the amount that reaches your bank account.

Comparing an offer with the table

Use the table as a yardstick when an agency quotes a rate. Five days at M3 in England is £984.60 under the direct-employment rule, and five days at C3 in Wales is £1,041.60. The agency is not bound by the 195-day rule, so a rate below the figure for your point is not a breach of it, but the gap shows how much of the school’s charge goes elsewhere. Ask what the school pays for you, if the agency will tell you, and whether the 12-week rule would change your pay.

London and the fringe areas have their own higher ranges, which are set out in teacher pay in London, so the daily figures there are higher than the English column above.

Turning a daily rate into take-home pay

Say you work 60 days in a term at £209.95. That is £12,597 gross. Tax and National Insurance depend on your total income and tax code. The take-home pay calculator shows the effect of an annual figure, and the supply teaching profile explains pensions, induction and the trade-offs with permanent work.