Contractual Enrolment

When you take up teaching employment and each time you receive a new contract of employment as a teacher, your employer must contractually enrol you into the Teachers’ Pension Scheme if you are aged between 16 and 75, regardless of how much you earn.

Auto Enrolment

In addition to contractual enrolment, to help people save more money for retirement, the government also requires all employers in the public and private sector to enrol eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension scheme on given dates. (However an employer may apply postponement or transitional delay – they will inform you if this applies to you.)

The dates are a given staging date, or when a worker first becomes an eligible worker and each third anniversary after the initial staging date. Your employer will inform you if they are taking action to enrol you into the pension scheme.

To be eligible for Auto Enrolment, you must:-

• Earn over the minimum earnings threshold, £192 per week (or £833 per month) for 2016/17 and 2017/18
• Be aged 22 or over and
• Be under state pension age
• Ordinarily work in the UK

Paying into the Scheme

Your employer will deduct pension contributions from your pay before deducting tax, thereby giving you tax relief on the amount you contribute to your pension. Your employer will also pay contributions towards your pension. You and your employer will both pay into the Scheme every month.

Opting out

We have more information on how to opt out of the Teachers' Pension Scheme.