Teachers’ Pension Calculators & Guides

Teachers’ Pension Tools (2026/27)

Explore how your pension builds under the current scheme rules and 2026/27 assumptions. Use these tools to model career breaks, part-time work, or early retirement.

How the Teachers’ Pension Scheme fits together

Teachers can hold benefits from more than one section of the scheme. Older service may sit in a Final Salary section, while newer service builds in the CARE (Career Average Revalued Earnings) scheme. Your eventual retirement income can therefore depend on service history, pensionable earnings, retirement age, breaks in service and whether you stay active in the scheme.

Use the projector for the overall picture, then use the specialist tools below to test individual decisions such as early retirement, phased retirement, taking a larger lump sum, paying AVCs, going part-time or leaving pensionable service.

Total Teachers’ Pension Projector

A single place to project your retirement income. Combine Final Salary (80/60) and CARE pots. Updated for 2026 contribution bands and the McCloud remedy rollback.

Launch 2026 Projector
Includes Lump Sum Slider   McCloud Remedy Logic
Updated Early Retirement

⏰ Early Retirement Calculator

Estimate your pension if you retire before Normal Pension Age. Compare ages 55-60 and see official actuarial reductions.

Try Early Retirement
New Phased Retirement

🧭 Phased Retirement Calculator

Work part-time and take a slice of pension now. Check the 20% pay reduction rule and abatement risks.

Try Phased Retirement
Popular Lump Sum Options

💷 Lump Sum Calculator

See how swapping yearly pension for a tax-free lump sum changes your income. Includes HMRC LSA checks.

Try Lump Sums
Tax Relief Voluntary Contributions

📈 AVC Calculator

Model how paying extra monthly could grow by retirement. Includes 2026/27 tax relief calculations.

Try AVCs
Planner Going Part-time?

📊 CARE Impact Calculator

Model how breaks or part-time hours change your career-average pension pot.

Model CARE Impact
Opting out? Scenario

⚖️ Deferred vs Active Growth

Compare a deferred pension (CPI only) against staying active (CPI + 1.6% revaluation).

Compare Growth
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Note: These tools are for education and planning. Current 2026/27 scheme assumptions are used where relevant. Confirm important decisions and final figures with Teachers’ Pensions.
Scheme Section When it applied Accrual Rate Lump Sum Rules
Final Salary (1/80ths) Typically linked to older pre-2007 service 1/80 of final average salary Automatic lump sum = 3× pension.
Final Salary (1/60ths) Typically linked to later Final Salary service before CARE 1/60 of final average salary No auto lump sum; commutation allowed.
CARE (Career Average) CARE service from April 2015, subject to individual transition/remedy history 1/57 of actual annual pay No auto lump sum; commute up to 25%.

Example: A teacher with £12,000 CARE and £8,000 FS (1/60ths) could swap £2,000 pension for £24,000 tax-free cash (12:1 rate). Use the Lump Sum Calculator to test your own mix.

Frequently Asked Questions (2026/27)

  • 1/80ths (NPA 60): Pre-2006; Final Salary; automatic lump sum.
  • 1/60ths (NPA 65): 2007–2015; Final Salary; commutation only.
  • CARE 2015: Post-2015; Career average; revalued annually by CPI + 1.6%.

Yes, you can opt out, but your employer will no longer pay its employer contribution towards your active scheme membership. The employer contribution rate is currently around 28.7%, but this should not be interpreted as an equivalent amount of extra salary that would be paid to you.

The LSA is the tax-free cash limit, currently £268,275. Most teachers are well under this, but our calculators apply the 25% capital value cap automatically.

Active CARE benefits are generally revalued by CPI + 1.6% while you remain in active pensionable service. Deferred benefits are revalued under the deferred-member rules, so leaving the scheme changes the basis on which those benefits grow.