The 4% Teacher Pay Award 2025: What It Actually Meant for Your Pay Packet
The STRB recommended 4% for 2025/26, effective September 2025. After TPS pension, tax and NI, how much extra did it actually put in your account each month?
This article covers the September 2025 award. For the latest award, read what the 3.5% 2026 rise means for your pay.
The headline: 4%
The School Teachers' Review Body recommended a 4% uplift for 2025/26, accepted by the government and applied from September 2025. For most teachers, it was the first award that properly kept pace with recent inflation — even if it didn't close the real-terms gap entirely.
For a teacher on M4, that moved basic pay from roughly £38,035 to £39,556 — an increase of £1,521/year.
What 4% actually adds to take-home
The gross increase is not what you see in your account. Here's roughly what happened to that £1,521 for a mid-scale teacher:
| Deduction | Impact |
|---|---|
| Extra TPS (8.9%) | −£135 |
| Extra income tax (20%) | −£277 |
| Extra NI (8%) | −£122 |
| Net increase | ~£987/year |
| Net monthly increase | ~£82/month |
A 4% headline rise added roughly £82/month to a mid-scale teacher's take-home.
Real-terms context
CPI peaked at 11.1% in October 2022. Teachers are still broadly behind in real terms compared to 2010 levels — the STRB noted that teacher pay has fallen around 13% in real terms over that period.
The 4% award partially closed the gap but didn't eliminate it. Whether it changed your financial picture depended heavily on your location and living costs.
Use our calculator to see what your pay means today after all deductions.
Figures are for guidance only. Not financial advice. For personalised calculations, use the take-home calculator.