Teaching Assistant Pay Rise 2026: How Much Back Pay Will You Get?
The 3.3% pay rise for teaching assistants was agreed in August 2026 and backdated to April. Here's roughly how much back pay you'll get at each pay point, and how it shows on your payslip.
The short version
Teaching assistants and other school support staff got a 3.3% pay rise from 1 April 2026. But it wasn't agreed until August 2026, so schools couldn't pay it on time. Instead they're paying the new rate now — and back pay for the months since April.
Most schools are adding it in the September, October or November payroll, depending on how quickly their payroll team updated the rates.
How much back pay at each pay point
For a teaching assistant on 32.5 hours a week, term time only. The back pay figure is for April to September (6 months) and is before tax and pension.
| Pay point | New rate | Extra a month | Back pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCP 3 | £13.28/hr | +£50 | £302 |
| SCP 4 | £13.48/hr | +£51 | £307 |
| SCP 5 | £13.70/hr | +£52 | £312 |
| SCP 6 | £13.92/hr | +£53 | £317 |
| SCP 7 | £14.14/hr | +£54 | £322 |
| SCP 8 | £14.36/hr | +£55 | £327 |
| SCP 9 | £14.59/hr | +£55 | £332 |
| SCP 10 | £14.83/hr | +£56 | £338 |
| SCP 11 | £15.07/hr | +£57 | £344 |
| SCP 12 | £15.31/hr | +£58 | £349 |
| SCP 13 | £15.56/hr | +£59 | £355 |
| SCP 14 | £15.82/hr | +£60 | £361 |
| SCP 15 | £16.08/hr | +£61 | £366 |
| SCP 16 | £16.34/hr | +£62 | £372 |
| SCP 17 | £16.61/hr | +£63 | £379 |
| SCP 18 | £16.89/hr | +£64 | £385 |
| SCP 19 | £17.17/hr | +£65 | £391 |
Work fewer hours? A quick way to estimate it: take your old monthly Basic Pay and multiply by 0.033 — that's roughly the extra each month. Multiply that by the number of months you're owed.
How much will I actually get?
Back pay is taxed like the rest of your pay, and your pension (LGPS) is taken from it too. Many part-time TAs earn less than £12,570 a year, so they pay no income tax — they keep about 94p in every £1 after pension.
National Insurance works month by month, so a big back pay month can push you over the monthly limit (about £1,048) and you might pay a little NI that month. That's normal and it won't happen again the next month.
For example, on SCP 7 at 32.5 hours term time, your normal take-home goes from about £1,389 to about £1,425 a month.
How it shows on your payslip
You'll usually see a few small extra Basic Pay lines marked Retro or X — one for each month you're owed. If you did overtime since April, you may also see a minus overtime line next to a plus one: payroll takes back the overtime paid at the old rate and pays it again at the new one.
Our payslip guide explains each of these lines with examples.
Haven't had it yet?
If it's not on your payslip by November, ask your school office or payroll team when it's coming. Your union (usually UNISON or GMB) can help if it's delayed.
Check your new monthly pay with the teaching assistant pay calculator, or find your pay point on the TA pay scales.
Figures are for guidance only. Not financial advice. For personalised calculations, use the take-home calculator.