Inner London teacher take-home 2026/27 | Money Worked Out
Inner London has the highest teacher pay scale in England. The figures here use the inner London scale in force from 1 September 2025, as the 2026/27 scale had not been published when this page was checked. An inner London teacher on M1 earns £40,317 and takes home £2,473.26 a month after deductions.
| Point | Salary | Pension | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main pay range | ||||
| M1 | £40,317 | £3,588.21 | £29,679.07 | £2,473.26 |
| M2 | £42,234 | £3,758.83 | £30,922.82 | £2,576.90 |
| M3 | £44,238 | £3,937.18 | £32,223.02 | £2,685.25 |
| M4 | £46,339 | £4,124.17 | £33,586.14 | £2,798.85 |
| M5 | £48,952 | £4,846.25 | £34,889.84 | £2,907.49 |
| M6 | £52,300 | £5,177.70 | £37,157.04 | £3,096.42 |
| Upper pay range | ||||
| U1 | £57,632 | £5,705.57 | £40,564.22 | £3,380.35 |
| U2 | £60,464 | £6,348.72 | £41,820.89 | £3,485.07 |
| U3 | £62,496 | £6,562.08 | £42,871.43 | £3,572.62 |
| Unqualified range | ||||
| UQ1 | £28,343 | £2,097.38 | £22,250.46 | £1,854.21 |
| UQ6 | £40,994 | £3,648.47 | £30,118.30 | £2,509.86 |
| Leadership range | ||||
| L_max | £153,490 | £18,418.80 | £83,005.76 | £6,917.15 |
| L_min | £61,554 | £6,463.17 | £42,384.42 | £3,532.04 |
Pay scale: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687a6260312ee8a5f0806bb5/School_teachers__pay_and_conditions_document_2025_and_guidance_on_school_teachers__pay_and_conditions.pdf, effective 1 September 2025
Where inner London pay applies
For teacher pay the inner London area covers the City of London and eighteen boroughs: Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth and Westminster. The remaining London boroughs use the outer London scale.
Inner London main pay range
The inner London main range runs from £40,317 to £52,300. M1 already falls in the second Teachers' Pension tier, with a deduction of £3,588.21, and M1 to M4 all stay in that tier. M5 moves up one more tier, which lifts the deduction to £4,846.25 and holds back the gain in take-home at that step.
M6 is the top of the inner London main range. Its salary is above £50,270, but after the pension comes off before tax, all of its taxable pay stays in the basic rate band. Take-home at M6 is £37,157.04 a year, against £29,679.07 at M1.
Higher rate tax on the inner London upper range
Every point on the inner London upper pay range, from £57,632 to £62,496, has some pay taxed at the higher rate of 40%. Inner London is the only England area where U1 pays higher rate tax. Income tax at U1 is £8,198.97.
U2 also moves into a higher pension tier than U1, so the deduction rises to £6,348.72. Between the higher rate and the pension step, U2 keeps less than half of its pay rise as take-home. Take-home is £40,564.22 at U1, £41,820.89 at U2 and £42,871.43 at U3.
The leadership range starts at £61,554 and rises to £153,490, where take-home is £83,005.76. Unqualified teachers in inner London earn £28,343 to £40,994. The teacher pay calculator works out part-time pay, and the sources page links the pay document.
Questions
What does a new teacher in inner London take home?
On M1 of the inner London scale in force from 1 September 2025, a full-time teacher earns £40,317 and takes home £29,679.07 a year, or £2,473.26 a month.
Do inner London teachers pay higher rate tax?
On the upper pay range, yes. From U1 upward part of the taxable pay falls in the higher rate band, even after the Teachers' Pension is taken off before tax.
Is the inner London scale the 2026/27 scale?
No. The 2026/27 England pay document had not been published when this page was checked. The table uses the inner London scale that has applied since 1 September 2025.