Teacher pay structure

Guidance on how teachers’ pay is structured in England and Wales, including allowances and additional ranges or scales.

Classroom teachers, i.e. those who are not head teachers, deputy or assistant head teachers or leading practitioners, are paid on the main pay range (MPR) and the upper pay range (UPR) in England, and on the main pay scale (MPS) and upper pay scale (UPS) in Wales.

School teachers’ pay and conditions documents

The STPCD and STPCD(W)D are the statutory guidance documents on pay and conditions for teachers in England and Wales.

Person using laptop with credit card in hand

Moving to the UPR or UPS (threshold progression)

Any qualified teacher, regardless of their position on the main pay range or scale, can apply to move onto the upper pay range or scale.

TLR payments and other allowances

Advice on teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) payments and other allowances, including SEN / ALN.

Part-time teachers’ pay and conditions

Part-time teachers are paid on a pro rata basis according to the proportion of the normal school week for which they are employed.

Additional pay ranges

Pay for leadership teachers

Schools determine the individual pay ranges for head teachers, deputy and assistant head teachers, subject to statutory criteria set out in the STPCDs. The individual pay scale points recommended in the joint union advice for England can be found at Pay scales – England and for Wales at Pay scales – Wales.

Leading practitioners

Leading practitioners are paid on individual five point pay ranges from the leading practitioners’ pay range. The individual pay scale points recommended in the joint union pay advice for England can be found at Pay scales – England and for Wales at Pay scales – Wales.

Unqualified teachers

Unqualified teachers must be paid on the unqualified teachers’ pay range (Pay scales – England / Pay scales – Wales), unless they are on one of the employment-based routes into teaching when schools have the discretion to pay them on the same basis as qualified teachers. They may also be paid additional responsibility allowances, for which there are no prescribed values.

Pay bargaining toolkit

This pay bargaining toolkit will provide you and your colleagues with the guidance and resources you need to take a pro-active approach to pay bargaining in your workplace.

Find out more