The Teachers' Pension Scheme Explained
A plain guide for teachers, lecturers and support staff in maintained schools, academies, sixth forms and further education. What you pay in, what you get out, and the one rule that decides whether you can combine it with anything else.
The short answer
- The Teachers' Pension Scheme (England and Wales) is career average (care), defined benefit.
- You build 1/57th of pensionable pay each year.
- Normal pension age is the later of your State Pension age and 65.
- It is unfunded, so you cannot transfer it to a personal pension.
Teachers' Pension at a glance
| Scheme type | Defined benefit, career average |
| Build-up rate | 1/57th of pensionable pay each year |
| Your contribution | Tiered by earnings |
| Worth transferring out? | Almost never |
| Main trap | Old pots from before you joined, easily lost |
Can you combine it?
Because this is an unfunded public service scheme, you cannot move it into a personal pension or any other defined contribution plan. MoneyHelper puts it plainly: in an unfunded public sector scheme you can only transfer to another defined benefit scheme. So the question “should I combine this with my other pots” has already been answered for you by law.
If safeguarded benefits are worth more than £30,000, you are required by law to take regulated advice before you can transfer them to a scheme that offers flexible benefits. That is a legal requirement, not a suggestion, and the scheme you are leaving must see evidence of it.
This is the question most people arrive with, so it is answered first rather than buried. Your old pots from other jobs are a different matter, and that is covered below.
How the pension builds up
The Teachers' Pension Scheme (England and Wales) is career average (care), defined benefit. Each year you build 1/57th of pensionable pay each year. Faster accrual can be elected at 1/45th, 1/50th or 1/55th, at a higher contribution rate.
Career average means each year is banked separately and then revalued. Your final salary does not set the whole pension, which is what changed from the older schemes.
Normal pension age is the later of your State Pension age and 65. Taking benefits before then reduces them permanently, because the scheme expects to pay you for longer.
What it costs you
Contributions are tiered by salary band. The salary bands rose by 3.8% from 1 April 2026 in line with inflation, so check your own band before assuming a rate.
Contributions attract income tax relief, so the cost to your take-home pay is less than the headline percentage suggests. Your employer pays in alongside you.
Faster accrual, and the employer cost change coming in 2027
Most teachers build pension at 1/57th a year and never look at the alternative. You can elect faster accrual at 1/45th, 1/50th or 1/55th. You pay a higher contribution rate for it, and the election runs a year at a time.
That option is worth understanding early in a career rather than late. Each year you do not elect is a year you cannot go back and buy at that rate.
On the employer side, the contribution rate is 28.68% including the 0.08% administration levy. Following the 2024 valuation it should fall to 17.68% from 1 April 2027.
That change affects school budgets rather than your pension. It matters if you work in a small independent school weighing whether to stay in the scheme.
What a year of teaching adds to your pension
A teacher on £45,000 builds £45,000 divided by 57 in a single year, which is about £789 of annual pension.
Elect faster accrual at 1/45th and the same salary builds about £1,000 instead. You pay more each month for it, and the election lasts one scheme year at a time.
Over a long career the difference compounds into thousands of pounds of guaranteed annual income. Over three years near retirement it is far smaller.
That is why the faster accrual question is really a question about timing, and why asking early changes the answer.
That is a regulated question and we are not pension advisers. We introduce you to one who is. The introduction costs you nothing; we may be paid by that firm.
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What you would be giving up
These are the four things people lose sight of when a transfer value lands on the doormat.
You cannot move it to a personal pension
The Teachers' Pension Scheme is unfunded. Transfers out are limited to other defined benefit schemes.
Opting out costs more than it saves
You give up the employer's contribution, which is far larger than your own, plus the guarantee itself.
Independent school moves change what you build
If a school leaves the scheme, accrued benefits are protected and future service moves to whatever replacement arrangement the school provides.
Faster accrual cannot be backdated
Each year you do not elect is a year you cannot buy later at that rate. The option is forward-looking only.
The pot stays invested
A combined pot remains invested, so its value can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than was transferred in, and that risk sits with you, not the scheme.
The pots that are worth reviewing
Most people who work for maintained schools, academies, sixth form colleges and FE providers also have older pots from earlier jobs. Those are the ones worth looking at. They are often small, forgotten, and sitting in expensive or poorly performing funds.
Combining those can cut charges and give you one place to look. It carries its own risks, covered above, and it needs advice from a firm authorised to give it.
Have other pots alongside your Teachers' Pension Scheme (England and Wales) pension?
Old workplace pots from previous jobs are a different question from your scheme pension. Those are often worth reviewing. We will introduce you to a firm that can advise on them.
The introduction costs you nothing; we may be paid by the firm we introduce you to. Mon to Sat, 9am to 8pm.
Read next
Retirement cost guides for the areas where most of our clients live, plus the pensions hub.
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Common questions
Can I combine my Teachers' pension with my other pensions?
No. Because this is an unfunded public service scheme, you cannot move it into a personal pension or any other defined contribution plan. MoneyHelper puts it plainly: in an unfunded public sector scheme you can only transfer to another defined benefit scheme. So the question “should I combine this with my other pots” has already been answered for you by law.
Is the Teachers' Pension Scheme (England and Wales) a good pension?
It is career average (care), defined benefit. Your employer carries the investment risk, not you. Each year you build 1/57th of pensionable pay each year. That guarantee is the part people undervalue, because a pot with a number on it feels more real than an income promise.
What happens to my other old workplace pots?
Those are a separate question, and usually the more useful one. Pots from previous jobs can often be reviewed and sometimes combined. That is where we can introduce you to a firm that advises. Your Teachers' scheme pension normally stays exactly where it is.
Do I have to take advice before transferring?
If safeguarded benefits are worth more than £30,000, you are required by law to take regulated advice before you can transfer them to a scheme that offers flexible benefits. That is a legal requirement, not a suggestion, and the scheme you are leaving must see evidence of it.
When can I take my Teachers' pension?
The normal pension age for this scheme is the later of your State Pension age and 65. You can usually take benefits earlier, but they are reduced to reflect the longer period they will be paid for. Taking a scheme pension early is a permanent decision.
What does it cost me to be in the scheme?
Contributions are tiered by salary band. The salary bands rose by 3.8% from 1 April 2026 in line with inflation, so check your own band before assuming a rate.
Is faster accrual worth paying for?
It depends on how long you will keep teaching and what else you could do with the money. It buys a guaranteed, inflation-linked income, which is expensive to replicate elsewhere. It is a decision for a regulated adviser, not for us.
My school is talking about leaving the Teachers' Pension Scheme. What happens?
Some independent schools have left the scheme because of employer cost. Your accrued benefits stay protected. What changes is what you build from that point, under whatever replacement the school provides.
Does That's Family Finance advise on my scheme pension?
No. We hold protection permissions only. We do not advise on pensions and we are not pension transfer specialists. We introduce you to a separately authorised firm that is. The introduction costs you nothing; we may be paid by the firm we introduce you to.
Got old teaching pots from before you joined the scheme?
Those are the ones worth reviewing. Your main Teachers' Pension almost never is. Tell us what you hold and we will put you in front of a regulated pension adviser. If combining is the wrong move, they will tell you that.
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Sources and how to check
- Teachers' Pensions, calculating contributions
- Teachers' Pensions, changes to member contributions 2026
- MoneyHelper, defined benefit pensions explained
- Teachers Pensions, changes to employer contributions from 2027
Figures were checked in August 2026. Scheme rules and pay bands change, usually each April, so check the scheme’s own page before you act.
Pensions go to a separately authorised firm we have vetted. The introduction costs you nothing; we may be paid by the firm we introduce you to.