Take-home pay for a newly qualified teacher

An early career teacher in England outside London on M1, £34,069 from 1 September 2026, takes home about £2,134 a month after the Teachers’ Pension, Income Tax, National Insurance and a Plan 2 student loan. On Plan 5 it is about £2,101, and with no loan about £2,169. In inner London, where M1 is £41,729, take-home pay is about £2,457 a month on Plan 2.

A caveat on timing. The government accepted the 2026 pay rates in July 2026, but the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document that makes them legally binding was still in draft in mid-October 2026. Maintained schools cannot pay the new rates until it is in force, and the rise is expected to be backdated to 1 September 2026. Academies set their own pay but usually follow it.

M1 take-home pay by area

These figures assume full-time work, a 1257L tax code, membership of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and the 2026 recommended pay levels.

Area	M1 salary	Pension rate	Monthly take-home (Plan 2)	Monthly take-home (Plan 5)	Monthly take-home (no loan)
England excluding London	£34,069	7.4%	£2,134.24	£2,101.35	£2,169.37
Inner London	£41,729	8.9%	£2,456.87	£2,423.98	£2,549.45

M1 is £35,602 in the London fringe and £39,196 in outer London. M1 to M6 are advisory points, so a school may start you higher than M1 if you have relevant experience.

Where the money goes

For a teacher outside London on M1 with a Plan 2 loan, the year breaks down like this:

Deduction	Annual	Monthly
Teachers’ Pension (7.4%)	£2,521.11	£210.09
Income Tax	£3,795.58	£316.30
National Insurance	£1,719.92	£143.33
Plan 2 student loan	£421.56	£35.13
Take-home pay	£25,610.83	£2,134.24

The pension contribution comes off before Income Tax, so it reduces your tax. National Insurance and the student loan are worked out on your full gross pay.

The Teachers’ Pension tiers

The Teachers’ Pension Scheme sets your contribution rate from your actual salary and ignores any full-time equivalent. From 1 April 2026 the tiers start at 7.4 per cent for pay up to £36,198.99 and rise to 8.9 per cent from £36,199.

Early in a career the tiers bite quickly. M2 outside London is £36,042, still in the 7.4 per cent tier. M3, £38,400, moves you into the 8.9 per cent tier, and the higher rate applies to the whole salary. In inner London, M1 is already in the 8.9 per cent tier. The employer pays 28.68 per cent on top until 31 March 2027, a large part of what a teaching package is worth. Teachers’ Pension Scheme explained has the full table.

Plan 2, Plan 5 and the postgraduate loan

New teachers are split between student loan plans, depending on when and where they started their first degree. Plan 2 repays 9 per cent above £29,385. Plan 5, for more recent English borrowers, repays 9 per cent above £25,000, which costs about £33 a month more on M1. Plan 1 (£26,900) and Plan 4 for Scottish students (£33,795) have their own thresholds.

A postgraduate master’s loan is repaid on top at 6 per cent of earnings above £21,000. On M1 outside London that is £784.14 a year, about £65 a month. Student loan Plan 5 covers the newer plan in detail.

Your first months of pay

Teachers in England are paid monthly, and the first payslips often look odd.

A student until the summer who has earned little since 6 April should have the unused personal allowance set against their first months of pay, so Income Tax may come in below the table until it evens out. That only works if your new school has a P45 or a correct starter checklist. Without one you may be put on an emergency code, and emergency tax codes explains how to fix it.

If the STPCD is not in force when you start, you are paid at the previous year’s rate and get the 2026 rise as back pay later. That arrears payment is taxed in the month it is paid.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The rates above are for England only. In Scotland, probationer teachers are paid £36,159 from 1 August 2026 and Scottish Income Tax applies. Wales has its own pay document and was consulting on a 3.5 per cent award for 2026/27. Northern Ireland has no M1: the main scale starts at M2, £32,916 on the 2025/26 rates, with the 2026/27 award not yet confirmed. Teacher pay scales in England 2026/27 has the full England table, and the take-home pay calculator works out other salaries.