Teachers’ Pension Calculators & Guides

Teachers’ Pension Calculators

Use these free tools to explore how your pension builds and what choices you have at retirement. Each calculator has plain-English labels and examples.

Plan your Teachers’ Pension with confidence

Use our calculators to explore Lump Sum options, Phased Retirement, and Early Retirement. For more tools – including how part-time work, or going deferred affect your CARE pension – visit the Pensions Hub.

Lump Sum
Phased Retirement
Early Retirement
New Early Retirement

Early Retirement Calculator

Estimate your pension if you retire before Normal Pension Age. Compare 55, 57, 60, see official actuarial reductions, and understand the 2028 minimum pension age change.

Try Early Retirement
New Phased Retirement

Phased Retirement Calculator

Work part-time and take a slice of pension now. See income now vs later, check the 20% pay reduction rule, and (optionally) model early-payment reductions.

Try Phased Retirement
Popular Lump Sum Options

Lump Sum Calculator

See how swapping yearly pension for a tax-free lump sum changes your income. Handles automatic 1/80ths cash, extra commutation, and HMRC LSA checks.

Try the Lump Sum Calculator
Planner Going Part-time?

CARE Impact Calculator

Model how breaks, part-time, or rejoining may change your career-average pension. Add past events or project to retirement.

Try the CARE Impact Calculator
Opting out? Scenario

Deferred vs Active Pension Growth

What happens if you stop paying in? Compare a deferred pension (CPI only) against staying active (CPI + 1.6% with new accrual).

Compare Deferred vs Active
Note: These tools are for education and planning. Scheme rules and tax can change. Confirm your personal figures with Teachers’ Pensions or a regulated adviser.

The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is made up of three sections depending on when you taught: Final Salary 1/80ths, Final Salary 1/60ths, and the current CARE 2015 scheme. Each builds pension differently and has different lump sum rules.

Scheme section When it applied How pension builds Lump sum rules
Final Salary (1/80ths) Up to 31 Dec 2006 Each year = 1/80 of your final average salary Automatic lump sum = 3× your pension.
Final Salary (1/60ths) 1 Jan 2007 – 31 Mar 2015 Each year = 1/60 of your final average salary No automatic lump sum; you can create one by commutation (swap pension for cash).
CARE (Career Average) From 1 Apr 2015 Each year = 1/57 of that year’s pay; revalued annually by inflation No automatic lump sum; commutation allowed.

Example: A teacher with £12,000 CARE and £8,000 Final Salary (1/60ths) could swap £2,000/year of pension for £24,000 cash at retirement, leaving £18,000/year income. The Lump Sum Calculator shows the trade-offs instantly.

Teachers’ Pensions – Quick FAQs

  • 1/80ths (Final Salary, NPA 60): Service up to 2006; builds 1/80 per year; automatic lump sum.
  • 1/60ths (Final Salary, NPA 65): 2007–2015; builds 1/60 per year; no automatic lump sum.
  • CARE 2015: From April 2015; builds 1/57 of each year’s pay; revalued by inflation.

1/80ths includes an automatic lump sum = 3× the pension. For 1/60ths and CARE (and to add extra to 1/80ths), you can create cash by commutation — swapping £1/year pension for £12 cash. Try the Lump Sum Calculator.

Usually no. The scheme spreads commutation proportionally across your sections. Our tools let you test “advanced” scenarios (e.g., use 1/60ths first to preserve CARE).

LSA is HMRC’s tax-free cash limit across all pensions (normally £268,275). You can’t take more tax-free than the lower of your LSA or ~25% of your pension’s capital value. Our calculators apply this cap automatically.

CARE accrual uses your actual pay. Part-time lowers the pay used for that year’s slice; unpaid breaks mean no accrual. Use the CARE Impact Calculator to model patterns.