Leaving Teaching Career & Pay Hub

Calculate corporate salary equivalents, assess your Teachers' Pension rights, model supply pay, and check resignation deadlines.

1

Private Sector Salary Equivalent

Include any permanent TLR or SEN allowances.
Target Private Sector Offer
Equivalent Gross Salary

£54,800

Private salary required
Annual Pension Gap

+£7,861

Total package uplift
Why this gap exists

The Teachers' Pension Scheme accrues a guaranteed defined benefit of 1/57th of your pensionable earnings index-linked to CPI. To build equivalent retirement wealth through private DC investing, you need an offer approximately 16%–22% higher than your teaching salary.

Why A Headline Salary Match Is Actually a Pay Cut

In the corporate sector, compensation is heavily weighted towards headline cash. In state education, your true economic package includes the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), where the employer contributes an extra 28.68% on top of your salary towards a guaranteed defined-benefit index-linked income.

Teaching Package (M6 / £46,939)
  • • Gross Pay: £46,939
  • • Employer TPS Value (28.68%): +£13,462/yr
  • • Guaranteed Index-Linked Accrual: £823.49/yr added to pension pot for life
  • Total Reward Value: ~£60,401
Corporate Offer (£46,939 Match)
  • • Gross Pay: £46,939
  • • Standard Employer DC Match (5%): +£2,347/yr
  • • Investment Risk: 100% on employee via stock market
  • Total Reward Value: ~£49,286
* To build a private pot generating equivalent guaranteed index-linked retirement income, you need an offer between £53,000 and £57,000.
2

Burgundy Book Resignation Deadlines

Legal Notice Deadlines
  • Must Hand Notice in by: 31 May 2027
  • Official Contract End Date: 31 August 2027
  • Holiday Pay Entitlement: Fully Paid through July & August
Understanding Your Notice Rights
The Summer Pay Rule

If you teach to the end of the summer term and resign with an effective date of 31 August, you are legally entitled to receive your normal salary throughout July and August.

Early Departure Penalty

If you request to leave on the last day of term (e.g. 18 July) instead of 31 August, your school is legally permitted to stop paying you from that day forward.

Strict Notice Windows

Unlike standard 4-week private notice periods, school contracts operate exclusively on termly cut-offs (31 Oct, 28 Feb, 31 May). Missing by one day locks you in for another entire term.

3

True Hourly Wage Calculator

35 hrs 52 hours/week 75 hrs
Effective Hourly Rate Comparison
Teaching Hourly Rate

£23.14 / hr

(Based on 39.5 working weeks)
Corporate 37.5h Rate

£27.82 / hr

(Based on 46.5 working weeks)

Because teachers compress extensive hours into 39 teaching weeks, a £40k private role with strict 37.5h workweeks often delivers equal or superior pay per hour worked.

The 39-Week Time Compression Dilemma

Teachers often get told: "You get 13 weeks of holiday!" However, the working hours are compressed into fewer weeks:

Career Path Working Weeks Average Weekly Hours Total Annual Hours Effective Hourly Rate (£47k)
Teacher (M6) 39.5 53 hrs 2,093 hrs £22.42 / hr
Standard Corporate Role 46.5 (28 days holiday) 37.5 hrs 1,743 hrs £26.96 / hr
Teaching compresses roughly an entire year's worth of working hours into 39 weeks. Moving to a 37.5h 9-to-5 corporate job represents an immediate ~350 hours per year reduction in workload.
4

Supply Teaching Day Rate Matcher

Days Required Per Week

3.8 Days / week

Calculated factoring in umbrella company payroll overheads and 190 standard available teaching days per academic year without paid holidays.

Supply Teaching: Gross Day Rate vs Actual Take-Home

Supply agency headline day rates look high (e.g. £200–£230/day), but supply teachers paid via Umbrella Companies face deductions permanent teachers never see:

1. Employer NI (13.8%): Deducted directly from your assignment rate before you get paid.
2. Apprenticeship Levy (0.5%): Passed on as an operating deduction by umbrella providers.
3. Umbrella Margin: A weekly processing fee of £15–£30/week.
4. Unpaid Holidays: 13 weeks of zero income requires setting aside ~25% of each week's net pay.

About These Transition Estimates

These transition calculators model compensation conversions based on the 2026–27 tax year and standard Teachers' Pension Scheme (CARE) accrual factors compared against standard DC pensions.

  • Notice periods follow standard English Burgundy Book conditions of service for maintained and academy schools.
  • Tax, NI, and pension assumptions reflect UK statutory rates from April 2026.
  • These figures are estimates for career planning and do not constitute formal financial advice.

Support TeacherPayCalculator

If this website helped you understand your pay or pension, you can support future development and hosting with a one-off Ko-fi donation. The tools here take a huge amount of time and effort to build and maintain – all on top of our teaching jobs! No personal data is ever stored. Made for teachers, by teachers.

If this website helped you, you can support future development and hosting with a one-off Ko-fi donation. Made for teachers, by teachers.

More Pay & Pension Calculators

👩‍🏫
Qualified
Main & Upper Range
🏆
Leadership
Head & Deputy
🗺️
Pay Map
Regional averages
📅
2025/26 Tables
Confirmed Scales
📖
Teacher Pay Guide
How it works
🧮
Teachers' Pensions
TPS explained

Frequently Asked Questions

The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) provides a defined benefit CARE pension with an effective employer contribution value worth ~28.68% of salary. Standard private auto-enrolment pensions typically contribute only 3% to 5%. To replace that retirement wealth while matching your monthly take-home, you usually require an offer 15% to 25% higher.

No. Your earned pension remains legally protected. If you leave, your status changes to Deferred. Your accrued annual pension will continue to be index-linked to CPI inflation every year until retirement.

Under the Burgundy Book: To leave at Christmas (31 Dec), notify by 31 Oct. To leave at Easter (30 Apr), notify by 28/29 Feb. To leave at the End of Summer (31 Aug), notify by 31 May.

Yes. If you work through the end of the summer term and your contract resignation date is 31 August, you are legally entitled to your full salary throughout July and August.