Teachers’ Pension Calculator: CARE & Final Salary
Explore how your England and Wales Teachers’ Pension builds up. Keep career-average and final-salary benefits separate, and see when a retirement quote is needed. For current net pay, use our teacher take-home pay calculator.
Read more
Start with your benefit statement. CARE mode uses the annual pension already earned and future actual pensionable pay. Legacy mode uses your scheme final average salary and reckonable service.
Normal pension age, minimum access age and planned retirement age are different. This tool shows unreduced benefits and flags when official early or late adjustments are needed; it does not substitute a flat reduction or combine mixed service automatically.
England and Wales Teachers’ Pension Scheme only. Model one arrangement at a time. Results are gross annual pension income, not an invested pot or take-home pay.
Your pension illustration
Use your benefit statement rather than joining date alone. Mixed benefits can have different pension ages.
Use an opening annual pension from your statement, not total contributions. Do not count past service again below.
Whole years only, up to 60 as a tool limit. This is not a scheme service cap.
Actual annual pensionable pay, including pensionable overtime. Held constant for each projected year.
Applies to the opening CARE balance before each new annual slice. Zero is valid. This does not automatically add CPI or 1.6%; future rates are unknown.
CARE normal pension age is State Pension age or 65, whichever is later. 67 is only an example; fractional ages are supported.
This selects the adjustment warning, not eligibility. Confirm your minimum/protected access age with the scheme.
Unreduced benefit illustration
Annual pension before retirement adjustments and tax
£7,017.54
Accrual: 1/57. Normal pension age for this arrangement: 67.
Each full future year adds £701.75 of annual pension before subsequent revaluation.
At the entered normal pension age, the gross monthly equivalent is £584.80. This is before tax and any optional cash exchange or scheme deductions.
No standard automatic lump sum for this arrangement. Optional pension-to-cash exchange is not included.
No State Pension, income tax, faster accrual, additional pension, McCloud choice, divorce or Scheme Pays deductions are included. CARE projections use constant nominal pay and revaluation; future amounts are not expressed in today’s purchasing power.
Use the official Teachers’ Pensions calculators and statementCombine a confirmed pension quote with your retirement budget
See the CARE pension build-up year by year
| Model year | Opening pension | Revaluation | Pension earned | Closing pension |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £701.75 |
| 2 | £701.75 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £1,403.51 |
| 3 | £1,403.51 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £2,105.26 |
| 4 | £2,105.26 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £2,807.02 |
| 5 | £2,807.02 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £3,508.77 |
| 6 | £3,508.77 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £4,210.53 |
| 7 | £4,210.53 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £4,912.28 |
| 8 | £4,912.28 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £5,614.04 |
| 9 | £5,614.04 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £6,315.79 |
| 10 | £6,315.79 | £0.00 | £701.75 | £7,017.54 |
How to use this Teachers’ Pension calculator
Reviewed 16 October 2026. This is an England and Wales TPS illustration. Scotland and Northern Ireland operate separate schemes. Check your statement for the arrangement, pension already earned, final average salary and reckonable service.
CARE mode models an opening annual pension plus whole future active years. Each model year revalues the opening balance, then adds pay ÷ 57. There is no salary growth and no historic CPI lookup. Enter amounts at a consistent valuation date; exact scheme-year timing and part years may differ from this simplified schedule.
Legacy mode illustrates existing NPA 60 or NPA 65 benefits. It does not create future final-salary service. The scheme determines the appropriate final average salary using its averaging, revaluation and salary-link rules; the last payslip alone may be wrong. Mixed benefits need separate calculations and an official combined retirement quote.
Worked CARE example
With £5,000 annual pension already earned, £34,200 annual pay and a 2% total revaluation assumption, each new year earns £600. Year one: £5,000 × 1.02 + £600 = £5,700. Year two: £5,700 × 1.02 + £600 = £6,414 annual pension before retirement adjustments and tax. The 2% is an example, not the published rate or a forecast.
Worked final-salary example
£40,000 scheme final average salary and 20 reckonable years in the NPA 60 arrangement gives £10,000 gross annual pension and £30,000 automatic cash before adjustments. The same salary and service in NPA 65 gives £13,333.33 annual pension and no standard automatic cash. An earlier or later benefit-taking age requires the scheme’s calculation.
Optional cash, early/late adjustments, eligibility, additional pension, faster accrual, pension sharing, Scheme Pays and remedy choices are outside the arithmetic. A displayed reference amount is not an official award.
Teachers’ pension contribution rates from April 2026
Annualised pensionable pay for the relevant employment determines the member tier. These rates are separate from benefit accrual.
| Annual salary rate | Member rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £36,198.99 | 7.4% |
| £36,199–£48,727.99 | 8.9% |
| £48,728–£57,776.99 | 9.9% |
| £57,777–£76,572.99 | 10.5% |
| £76,573–£104,413.99 | 11.6% |
| £104,414 and above | 12% |
Teachers’ pension questions
How is a Teachers’ career-average pension calculated?
Standard CARE benefits earn annual pension of pensionable earnings divided by 57 for each scheme year. Previously earned pension is revalued under the scheme rules. This tool starts with an entered annual pension balance and models whole future active years at constant pay and an entered total revaluation rate. It does not reconstruct your historic record from an average salary.
What is the normal pension age for teachers?
For England and Wales CARE benefits it is State Pension age or 65, whichever is later. Legacy final-salary benefits normally have an age of 60 or 65, as shown on your statement. Different parts of a mixed pension can therefore have different normal ages. State Pension age is not universally 67.
Can I take my Teachers’ Pension at 55 or 57?
Minimum access age differs from normal pension age. From 6 April 2028, members first joining TPS on or after 4 November 2021 generally have a minimum age of 57. Scheme guidance says earlier service can retain a protected age of 55, subject to retirement conditions. Early benefits are adjusted using scheme factors; a flat 5% reduction per year is not used here. Check your individual rights and obtain a quote.
How does CPI plus 1.6% revaluation work?
Active CARE pension normally receives the scheme revaluation rate plus 1.6 percentage points; deferred benefits normally receive the scheme increase without that active-member addition. Breaks in service can affect treatment. Published April 2026 rates are 5.4% active and 3.8% deferred, not forecasts for every future year. Enter a total assumption once: this calculator does not add another 1.6%.
How do final salary and part-time service affect the result?
Legacy pension is scheme final average salary multiplied by reckonable service, divided by 80 for NPA 60 or 60 for NPA 65. Part-time final-salary benefits generally use full-time equivalent salary with reduced reckonable service. CARE uses actual pensionable earnings instead. Use statement values; do not reduce both legacy salary and service for the same part-time work.
Do teachers receive an automatic lump sum?
NPA 60 final-salary benefits normally include automatic cash of three times the unreduced annual pension. NPA 65 and CARE benefits do not have standard automatic cash. Optional cash generally exchanges £1 of annual pension for £12 of lump sum, subject to scheme limits and available tax allowances. This tool does not calculate optional cash or certify tax-free entitlement.
Does the calculator include McCloud remedy benefits?
No. Eligible members may have a choice for service from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022. All active members moved to CARE for new accrual from 1 April 2022, while legacy rights can remain. Use your remediable service statement and scheme guidance; do not put the same service into both calculations or assume the tool selects the better option.
Are contribution rates the same as pension growth?
No. TPS is a defined benefit scheme, not an individual investment fund. Member rates depend on the relevant pay band and apply to the pay for that employment, not progressively like Income Tax bands. Contributions do not set the annual benefit by themselves. The table below is effective from 1 April 2026; payroll treatment can vary with pay changes and multiple employments.
Official sources and next steps
- Teachers’ Pensions calculation methodology
- Current contribution tiers and revaluation rates
- Early retirement and protected access ages
- Final average salary and part-time rules
- GOV.UK lump sum allowance
Use your benefit/remediable service statement and request an official quote for the date you intend to take benefits. Pension income is generally taxable; this page shows gross amounts. Use a confirmed gross quote in the retirement planner to explore a wider budget.
What's Next?
Not sure which calculators you need?
Answer 7 quick questions and we'll show you exactly which UK costs apply to your situation. Takes under 60 seconds.