Teacher pay after tax in Scotland 2026/27 | Money Worked Out
Scottish teachers are paid on a single national scale agreed by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. The table uses the scale that took effect on 1 August 2026. A probationer on point zero earns £36,159 and takes home £2,285.81 a month after Scottish income tax, National Insurance and the pension.
| Point | Salary | Pension | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Grade Scale | ||||
| MG0 | £36,159 | £2,657.69 | £27,429.73 | £2,285.81 |
| MG1 | £43,383 | £3,852.41 | £31,614.95 | £2,634.58 |
| MG2 | £45,843 | £4,070.86 | £33,188.97 | £2,765.75 |
| MG3 | £48,504 | £4,307.16 | £34,781.18 | £2,898.43 |
| MG4 | £51,582 | £5,106.62 | £35,935.21 | £2,994.60 |
| MG5 | £54,453 | £5,390.85 | £37,378.12 | £3,114.84 |
| Leadership range | ||||
| DHT_HT_1 | £67,332 | £7,143.93 | £43,573.57 | £3,631.13 |
| DHT_HT_19 | £124,365 | £15,097.91 | £67,783 | £5,648.58 |
Pay scale: www.snct.org.uk/wiki/details, effective 1 August 2026
The Scottish main grade scale
The main grade scale has six points, numbered from zero to five. Point zero is the probationer year, and it pays £36,159. The step from there to point one is the largest on the scale: salary rises to £43,383, and take-home goes from £27,429.73 to £31,614.95 a year.
The scale is a collective agreement between employers, teacher unions and the Scottish Government. It has no separate range for unqualified teachers and no area scales like the London rates in England.
Point five, the top of the main grade, pays £54,453 and leaves £37,378.12 a year, or £3,114.84 a month.
Scottish tax and the pension across the points
Scottish income tax has more bands than the rest of the UK. The probationer salary already has some pay in the intermediate band at 21%. From point three, part of the taxable pay reaches the Scottish higher rate of 42%, so income tax there is £6,540.94.
The Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme uses tiers based on actual pay. The probationer salary sits just below the edge of the lowest tier, with a deduction of £2,657.69. Points one to three share the next tier, and points four and five move up one more, so the deduction at point four is £5,106.62. Each tier rate applies to the whole salary.
For depute headteachers and headteachers, the leadership scale runs from £67,332 on its first point to £124,365 on the last. At the top the advanced rate of 45% applies and part of the personal allowance is withdrawn, leaving £67,783.
Dates and other scales
The Scottish agreement changed pay in April 2026 and again in August 2026, while the tax year starts in April. The figures here apply the August rates to the whole 2026/27 tax year, so pay received from April to July was a little lower than shown. Teachers elsewhere in the UK are on different scales, shown on the England page and the Wales page. The teacher pay calculator covers part-time contracts.
Questions
What does a probationer teacher in Scotland take home?
On point zero of the scale from 1 August 2026, a probationer earns £36,159 and takes home £27,429.73 a year after Scottish income tax, National Insurance and the pension.
Do Scottish teachers pay higher rate tax?
From point three of the main grade scale, yes. Part of the taxable pay at points three, four and five falls in the Scottish higher rate band, even after the pension is taken off.
Is Scottish teacher pay set by law?
No. The Scottish scale is a collective agreement reached through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. England and Wales set teacher pay in statutory pay documents instead.