Teacher pay in Wales 2026/27

Teachers in Wales are paid on a single eight-point core pay scale from 1 September 2026, running from £34,912 at C1 to £53,760 at C8. It replaces the old main and upper scales after a 3.5% award, which the Welsh Government confirmed on 14 October 2026. The scale covers teachers in maintained schools in Wales, employed by a local authority or a school governing body.

The core scale from September 2026

The 2026/27 document merges the old M2 to M6 points and the three upper points into one list of eight, named C1 to C8. Each value is the old point plus 3.5%.

Point	2025	From 1 September 2026
C1 (was M2)	£33,731	£34,912
C2 (M3)	£36,441	£37,717
C3 (M4)	£39,249	£40,623
C4 (M5)	£42,339	£43,821
C5 (M6)	£46,595	£48,226
C6 (U1)	£48,304	£49,995
C7 (U2)	£50,095	£51,849
C8 (U3)	£51,942	£53,760

Leading practitioners are paid from a separate range of £54,792 to £83,295. Unqualified teachers have their own six-point scale, which rose by 5% and starts at £23,820. The unqualified teacher pay guide covers the English version.

How progression works

Under the old structure a teacher on M6 had to complete a year there before moving to the upper scale. A single scale removes that step. Schools must award one point for each year of qualified employment, from C1 up to C8, unless the teacher has been told that capability procedures are under way for that year. Progression is assessed from 1 September.

A school may also award an extra point to a teacher whose performance was excellent, with particular regard to classroom teaching, but only if its pay policy says so. Anyone on points M2 to M6 or the upper points in 2025 is moved to the matching 2026 point, and a salary that does not match exactly goes to the next point up.

Newly appointed teachers are placed on a point set by the school’s pay policy. If you are moving between Welsh schools, pay portability sets a floor on the salary you are offered.

Wales compared with England

England still has separate main and upper ranges. The figures below are outside London and apply from 1 September 2026.

	Wales	England
Starting salary	£34,912	£34,069
Top of main scale	£48,226 (C5)	£46,940 (M6)
Top of the classroom scale	£53,760	£52,835
Unqualified scale	£23,820 to £37,669	£23,732 to £36,494

Both nations used 3.5%, but Wales starts from a higher base. Teacher pay scales in England has the English points in full, and London has its own higher ranges.

Leaders and allowances

Heads, deputies and assistant heads in Wales are on a separate leadership spine, which starts at £54,524 at its first point from September 2026. The way a school’s headteacher group is set is described in headteacher and deputy head pay in Wales. Teachers who move schools within Wales also have a right to be offered at least the scale point they have reached, covered in pay portability.

What was decided and when

The Independent Welsh Pay Review Body recommended 4.25% from September 2026. On 13 July the Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language said that was not affordable within existing budgets and announced a consultation on 3.5%, with 5% for unqualified teachers. On 14 October the minister confirmed the lower figure, saying the government did not want teachers to be disadvantaged relative to England. Colleges paid on parity terms also get 3.5%.

The 2026/27 document says it will have retrospective effect from 1 September 2026 once the order bringing it into force is made. If your first payslip at the new rate looks late, backdating is expected. The same document also makes other changes: school leaders should not be contacted during leave other than in exceptional circumstances, and teachers and leaders can use employer salary sacrifice schemes for vehicles.

Teachers in Wales join the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in the same way as in England; the Teachers’ Pension Scheme guide has the rates. Allowances such as TLRs have their own Welsh ranges, set out in the guide to teacher allowances in Wales.