Teachers' Pension Calculator 2025/26
Project your TPS pension under the career average (CARE) scheme with 1/57th accrual. See your contribution tier for 2025/26, employer contribution (28.68%), and why opting out almost never makes sense.
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How to Use This Calculator
My Teacher's Pension tab
Enter your annual salary, years in the scheme, and select your pension scheme (Career Average 2015, Final Salary 1/60th, or Final Salary 1/80th). The calculator projects your annual and monthly pension at Normal Pension Age (NPA). For the 2015 CARE scheme, it uses the 1/57th accrual rate. For pre-2015 service, it uses 1/60th or 1/80th with automatic lump sum. It also shows your employee and employer contribution rates and death in service benefit.
Contribution Rates tab
Enter your annual salary and the calculator instantly shows which of the six contribution tiers you fall into for 2025/26, your monthly and annual employee deduction, and the employer contribution (28.68%). All six tiers are displayed so you can see where you sit relative to the band thresholds.
Should I Opt Out? tab
Enter your salary to see a full breakdown of what you would lose by opting out. The calculator shows the employer contribution you forfeit (28.68% of salary), the pension you lose each year, death in service benefit, and compares with a hypothetical ISA. The verdict: almost never opt out.
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The Formula
The Teachers' Pension Scheme uses a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) formula from April 2015:
Annual Pension Slice = Pensionable Earnings × 1/57
Revalued Pension = Pension Slice × (1 + CPI + 1.6%)years to NPA
Total Pension at NPA = Sum of all revalued annual slices
Pre-2015 Final Salary:
1/60th scheme (2007–2015): Final Salary × Years × 1/60
1/80th scheme (pre-2007): Final Salary × Years × 1/80 + automatic lump sum (3 × annual pension)
Employee Contribution (2025/26):
Up to £34,872: 7.4%
£34,873 – £46,943: 8.9%
£46,944 – £55,660: 9.9%
£55,661 – £73,768: 10.5%
£73,769 – £100,590: 11.6%
£100,591+: 12.0%
Employer Contribution: 28.68% (from April 2024, incl. 0.08% admin levy)
Under the CARE scheme, each year of service earns you 1/57th of that year's pensionable salary as pension. This pension slice is then revalued each year by CPI + 1.6% until you reach your Normal Pension Age (NPA), currently 67. The revaluation means your pension keeps pace with inflation and then some. For pre-April 2015 service, the final salary scheme applies, and the McCloud remedy ensures no member is disadvantaged by the 2015 transition.
Example
Sarah — M6 Secondary Teacher, £35,000, 20 years of service
Sarah earns £35,000 and has been in the TPS for 20 years, all under the 2015 CARE scheme. She wants to know her projected pension at NPA.
Step 1: Calculate annual pension
20 years at 1/57th: approximately £12,281/year at NPA, plus CPI+1.6% revaluation applied each year until retirement.
Step 2: Check contribution tier
For every £260 Sarah pays per month, her employer adds £836 — a 3.2x match. This is one of the most generous pension schemes in the UK.
Step 3: Should she opt out?
If Sarah opted out, she would lose £10,038/year in employer contributions, plus a guaranteed, index-linked pension and a £105,000 death-in-service lump sum. Even with a salary sacrifice ISA, she cannot replicate the TPS value. Verdict: do not opt out.