Teacher Pay Calculator \u2014 England 2025/26 Pay Scales

The School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) is the legal framework that sets pay and working conditions for teachers in maintained schools in England. It is published annually by the Department for Education following recommendations from the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB). The figures in this calculator come from the STPCD 2025, which took effect on 1 September 2025 and remains the current legally-binding pay framework. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each set their own separate teacher pay scales outside the STPCD \u2014 this tool covers England only.

There are five pay scales in the STPCD, each covering a different category of teacher. The Main Pay Range is where most classroom teachers begin their careers, typically progressing through it over several years. The Upper Pay Range is for experienced teachers who have passed a threshold assessment demonstrating sustained high performance. Leading Practitioners are outstanding teachers who spend at least half their time modelling and improving teaching across the school. The Unqualified Teacher scale covers staff teaching without qualified teacher status (QTS), such as instructors or trainees on some routes. Finally, the Leadership Group scale covers headteachers, deputy heads, and assistant heads, and has the widest range of any scale.

Each of these scales is further divided by location. The STPCD splits England into four pay zones: Rest of England (the default baseline), Fringe (areas on the edge of London, such as parts of Surrey, Kent, and Essex), Outer London, and Inner London. This London weighting system exists because the cost of living in and around the capital is substantially higher than the rest of the country. The difference is meaningful \u2014 a teacher on the top of the Main Pay Range in Inner London earns over \u00a36,900 more than the same teacher in the Rest of England. This is a similar structure to how NHS staff are banded under Agenda for Change, where London and fringe areas receive additional pay uplifts \u2014 you can compare directly on our NHS Pay Calculator.

A critical change happened in 2014 that still confuses teachers today. Before the reform, the STPCD prescribed a fixed incremental scale: M1, M2, M3, and so on, each with a specific national salary. If you were on M2, you knew exactly what you earned anywhere in the country. The 2014 reform abolished that. Today, the STPCD sets only the minimum and maximum of each range nationally. Individual schools and academy trusts decide where within that range their pay points sit and what criteria govern progression. This means the old notion of “I'm on M3” no longer maps to a single number \u2014 an M3 at one school may earn something different from an M3 at another. If you want to know your exact salary, you need your school's own pay policy, not just the national tables.

Looking ahead, a 2026/27 pay award has been accepted by government but is not yet legally in force. The award provides a +3.5% uplift on most pay ranges and +5% on the unqualified-teacher minimum, to be backdated to 1 September 2026. However, the Teachers' Pay Order \u2014 the statutory instrument that gives the STPCD legal effect \u2014 must pass through Parliament first. This is expected around early November 2026. Until then, the 2025/26 figures remain the enforceable rates. You can toggle the projection in the calculator above to see what the proposed ranges would look like, but those numbers should be treated as indicative, not definitive. Once the order is made, check gov.uk for the confirmed figures.

One thing that has not changed is teachers' entitlement to holiday pay. Teachers in England receive a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid statutory leave per year, the same legal minimum that applies to any employee \u2014 though in practice most teachers get considerably more, typically around 13 weeks including school holidays. The 5.6-week statutory minimum is the same figure used in our Holiday Entitlement Calculator, which can help you work out your exact entitlement if your working pattern is unusual.

Finally, it is worth noting that academy trusts and free schools are technically not bound by the STPCD. They can set their own pay scales, pay points, and progression criteria. In practice, most academies follow the STPCD closely or use it as a baseline, but some \u2014 particularly those in high-demand subjects or challenging areas \u2014 may offer higher pay or retention bonuses. If you work in an academy, the figures here are a useful reference point, but your actual pay will be set by your trust's own pay policy.