School Support Staff Pay & Pension
Understand your actual salary, compare working hours and explore your pension. For teaching assistants, HLTAs, school administrators, technicians, pastoral and site staff.
Start with the decision you are making
What will this job actually pay?
Use the term-time salary calculator to convert an advertised full-time salary into your actual annual and monthly gross pay. You can also calculate from an hourly rate and compare a change in weekly hours.
Use the paid-weeks figure from the employer, including any holiday entitlement already built into it.
Open the salary calculatorHow could my pension change?
If you are an LGPS member in England or Wales, explore pension estimates using the existing simulator. It includes active and deferred membership options, different retirement ages and part-time scenarios.
Check your scheme on your payslip or pension statement. Get a formal quotation from your fund before making retirement decisions.
Open the LGPS simulatorTeaching assistant salary: FTE versus actual pay
A job advert may show a full-time equivalent (FTE) annual salary alongside an actual annual salary. These are different figures. For a part-time, term-time post, actual pay can reflect both shorter weekly hours and fewer paid weeks across the year.
Before comparing two jobs, check the annual salary basis, contracted weekly hours, employer's full-time hours and paid weeks. Include any agreed allowances separately.
If the advert already states your actual annual salary, do not apply the hours and weeks adjustments again. For a contract paid in 12 equal instalments, divide that actual annual figure by 12 to find regular monthly gross pay.
Plan a change in hours or a new role
- Calculate the actual gross salary for each set of hours using the same pay rate and paid weeks.
- Ask payroll how your take-home pay and pensionable pay would change. Gross pay does not account for tax, National Insurance, pension contributions or student loans.
- Use your expected take-home figure in the Budget Planner to compare income with household costs.
Working all year? In the salary calculator, use the employer's full-year paid-weeks figure. The calculator can compare contracted basic pay, but does not price overtime or a partial year of employment.
School support staff pay FAQs
Can a teaching assistant use the term-time salary calculator?
Yes. Enter the full-time annual salary or hourly rate for your post, your weekly hours and the paid weeks confirmed by your employer. The calculator estimates annual and monthly gross pay; it does not calculate deductions.
Is the salary in a school job advert the amount I will receive?
Check whether the advert gives a full-time equivalent salary or an actual annual salary. A full-time equivalent figure usually needs adjustment for your hours and paid weeks. An actual annual salary has already been adjusted, so do not reduce it a second time.
Why are working weeks and paid weeks different?
A term-time contract's paid-weeks figure can include holiday entitlement as well as weeks worked. The figure depends on the employer's arrangements and your contract. Ask payroll for the paid-weeks factor rather than assuming that working 38 or 39 weeks gives the same number of paid weeks.
Which pension calculator should school support staff use?
If you belong to the Local Government Pension Scheme in England or Wales, use the LGPS pension simulator. Check your payslip or benefit statement to confirm your scheme. The simulator gives illustrative estimates; your pension fund supplies formal benefit quotations.