Teacher Pay Scales 26/27: Every UK Pay Point

How the teacher pay scale is structured

The teacher pay scale is not one ladder. It is a set of separate ranges, and which one you sit on depends on your qualification status and role rather than your length of service. Most searchers looking up teaching pay scales actually need to find their way to one of five ranges:

• Unqualified Teacher Range (UQ1–UQ6) — for teachers without QTS, including instructors and many trainees on employment-based routes.
• Main Pay Range (M1–M6) — the standard scale for qualified classroom teachers, normally progressing one point a year.
• Upper Pay Range (U1–U3) — for qualified teachers who passed through the threshold; three points, slower progression.
• Lead Practitioner Range — for teachers who stay in the classroom but take on whole-school teaching expertise.
• Leadership Group (L1–L43) — heads, deputies and assistant heads, on a 43-point spine.

Every range has regional versions. England's advisory points apply outside London, then three London bands sit on top. Scotland and Northern Ireland negotiate entirely separate scales. This guide covers them all; the deep dives are on our pages for the main pay range, upper pay range and each London band.

What changed for 2026/27

The School Teachers' Review Body recommended, and the government accepted, a 3.5% pay award applied to every point from 1 September 2026. Because the award was percentage-based, the cash value differs sharply by region: an inner London M1 rose far more in pounds than a rest-of-England M1, because the starting base was already higher.

For context across recent years, the pattern has been large awards in 2023 and 2024 followed by smaller ones, so a teacher who started in 2021 has seen their scale point rise materially faster than inflation over some stretches and fall behind over others. Our teacher pay rise guide tracks the full history and the arithmetic behind each award.

Main Pay Range 2026/27: all regions

The main pay range is where nearly every qualified teacher starts. Progression is normally automatic, one point per year based on performance management, so most teachers reach M6 within six years.

*Scotland's points are the nearest SNCT equivalents; the Scottish spine is negotiated separately and has its own structure. A full-time M6 teacher salary is £46,940 in the rest of England — the figure most people mean by the top of the "ordinary" classroom scale. What that turns into after tax is covered in our take-home pay breakdowns.

Upper Pay Range 2026/27

Teachers who demonstrate sustained high-quality teaching cross the threshold onto the upper pay range. There are only three points, and movement along them is performance-based rather than automatic.

Scotland has no upper pay range; experienced teachers progress instead towards the Chartered Teacher grade at £52,539. The mechanics of crossing the threshold, and how schools justify refusing applications, are on the upper pay range page.

Unqualified teachers and other ranges

The unqualified teacher range starts far lower — £23,732 (UQ1) in the rest of England — but six points take it to £36,494, which overlaps the bottom of the qualified main range. Inner London unqualified teachers run from £29,336 to £42,429.

The leadership endpoints span an enormous distance because a two-form entry primary head and the head of a large secondary sit on the same national spine — each school publishes its own individual range within it. We map that in the leadership pay scale guide.

Why London has four different teacher pay scales

England's advisory scale is split into four areas to reflect the cost of living. At M1 the gap between the lowest and highest band is £7,660 a year; at U3 it widens to £11,848. The bands are defined by postcode, not by school type, so two schools a mile apart can pay differently.

• Inner London — most central boroughs, the highest rates (£41,729 M1 start).
• Outer London — suburban boroughs (£39,196 M1 start).
• London Fringe — commuter belt edges like parts of Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent (£35,602 M1 start).
• Rest of England — everywhere else (£34,069 M1 start).

Which band a specific borough falls into trips a lot of people up, so we keep dedicated tables for inner London, outer London and the fringe, plus a combined London overview.

Allowances that sit on top of the scale

Basic scale pay is rarely the whole story. Teaching and Learning Responsibility payments reward extra duties such as leading a subject or a key stage, and SEN allowances compensate for special educational needs work. Both are pensionable.

How progression up the scale actually works

1. Years 1–6: you are normally moved up one main-range point each year, subject to your appraisal meeting the school's standards. Since 2013 this is not fully automatic — schools *can* withhold it — but in practice most teachers progress annually.
2. Crossing the threshold: applying to move from M6 to U1 requires evidence of sustained high-quality teaching. Application windows and criteria are set by each school's pay policy.
3. U1 to U3: discretionary, tied to continued high performance. Many teachers plateau at U1 or U2.
4. Beyond U3: further earnings growth means TLRs, lead practitioner posts or moving into the leadership group.

Common mistakes when reading the pay scale

• Comparing gross salaries across regions without tax — higher London pay is partly clawed back by rent, not tax; income tax is identical across the UK for the same salary.
• Assuming academies must use these figures — they are government-accepted advisory points; maintained-school implementation awaits the 2026 Pay Order; academies can diverge, though most don't materially.
• Reading old blog posts — pre-September 2026 articles show 2025/26 numbers. Always check the effective date; the difference is 3.5%.
• Ignoring the FTE rule — part-time pay is quoted pro-rata; job ads sometimes show full-time equivalents.
• Confusing Scotland's structure — there is no UPS in Scotland and the chartered grade works differently.

If you want the wider picture beyond scale points — average actual earnings, subject and phase differences — see our UK teacher salary guide.