Teacher pay after tax in England 2026/27 | Money Worked Out
The scale on this page is the England teacher pay scale in force from 1 September 2025, because the 2026/27 scale had not been published when the page was checked. Outside London and the fringe, a new teacher on M1 earns £32,916 and takes home £2,106.03 a month after tax, National Insurance and the Teachers' Pension.
| Point | Salary | Pension | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main pay range | ||||
| M1 | £32,916 | £2,435.78 | £25,272.30 | £2,106.03 |
| M2 | £34,823 | £2,576.90 | £26,532.44 | £2,211.04 |
| M3 | £37,101 | £3,301.99 | £27,592.53 | £2,299.38 |
| M4 | £39,556 | £3,520.48 | £29,185.34 | £2,432.11 |
| M5 | £42,057 | £3,743.07 | £30,807.98 | £2,567.33 |
| M6 | £45,352 | £4,036.33 | £32,945.78 | £2,745.48 |
| Upper pay range | ||||
| U1 | £47,472 | £4,225.01 | £34,321.23 | £2,860.10 |
| U2 | £49,232 | £4,873.97 | £35,069.26 | £2,922.44 |
| U3 | £51,048 | £5,053.75 | £36,279.64 | £3,023.30 |
| Unqualified range | ||||
| UQ1 | £22,601 | £1,672.47 | £18,456.14 | £1,538.01 |
| UQ6 | £35,259 | £2,609.17 | £26,820.54 | £2,235.05 |
| Leadership range | ||||
| L_max | £143,796 | £17,255.52 | £78,507.74 | £6,542.31 |
| L_min | £51,773 | £5,125.53 | £36,787.72 | £3,065.64 |
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
The main pay range
The main pay range runs from M1 to M6. The School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document fixes only the minimum, £32,916, and the maximum, £45,352. The points in between, M2 to M5, are advisory points published by the Department for Education, and schools set their own pay policy within the range.
Across the range, yearly take-home rises from £25,272.30 at M1 to £32,945.78 at M6. The Teachers' Pension contribution rate steps up once along the way. M1 and M2 fall in the lowest tier, and from M3 onward the salary is in the next tier, so the deduction rises from £2,576.90 at M2 to £3,301.99 at M3.
Every main range point is taxed at the basic rate only. Income tax at M6 is £5,747.33 and National Insurance is £2,622.56.
The upper pay range and leadership
Teachers can apply to be paid on the upper pay range, U1 to U3, which pays £47,472 to £51,048. U2 is again an advisory point. From U2 the pension moves up a further tier, with a deduction of £4,873.97, which is why U2 adds less take-home than the salary step alone would suggest.
U3 is above £50,270, so a small slice of it pays National Insurance at 2%. Its income tax is still all at the basic rate, because the pension comes off before tax. Take-home at U3 is £36,279.64 a year, or £3,023.30 a month.
The leadership group range for heads and deputies runs from £51,773 to £143,796. At the maximum, take-home is £78,507.74: the whole personal allowance is lost and some pay reaches the additional rate of 45%.
Unqualified teachers and the pay year
The unqualified teacher range runs from £22,601 to £35,259, and only its two ends appear in the table. At the minimum, take-home is £1,538.01 a month.
Teacher pay changes each September while the tax year starts in April, so these figures apply one scale to a whole 2026/27 tax year. Once an award for September 2026 is in force, pay from that month will differ from the table. Schools in London and the area around it use higher scales, on the fringe page and the inner London page. The teacher pay calculator handles part-time work.
Questions
Why does this page show an older England scale?
The 2026/27 teacher pay scale for England had not been published as a statutory document when this page was checked, so the table uses the scale in force from 1 September 2025.
What does an M1 teacher take home a month?
A full-time teacher on M1 outside London and the fringe takes home £2,106.03 a month on this scale, after income tax, National Insurance and the Teachers' Pension.
Do classroom teachers outside London pay higher rate tax?
Not on this scale. Even at U3 the Teachers' Pension brings taxable pay back inside the basic rate band. Salaries towards the top of the leadership range do reach the higher rate.
Are M2 to M5 fixed amounts?
No. Only the minimum and maximum of each range are fixed by law. M2 to M5 and U2 are advisory points from the Department for Education, and a school can pay differently.