Teacher pay scales in Wales 2026/27

Teachers’ pay in Wales has been set in Cardiff since 2018. The Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB) makes a recommendation each year and the Welsh Government decides the award, which then goes into the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions (Wales) Document. The figures below come from the 2026/27 Document published in October 2026. They apply in every maintained school in Wales, with no separate London-style pay areas.

The core pay scale from 1 September 2026

Take-home is for a full-time teacher, after Income Tax, National Insurance and Teachers’ Pension contributions, tax code 1257L, no student loan. Income Tax rates in Wales are currently the same as in England.

What the new core scale means for you

Everyone moved across on 1 September 2026 point for point: M2 became C1, M6 became C5, U1 became C6 and U3 became C8. If your salary did not match a point exactly, you went to the next point up.

The bigger change is what happens after C5. Under the old system you reached M6 and then had to apply to cross the threshold onto the upper pay scale. On the core scale there is no threshold. You move up one point every September after a year as a qualified teacher, unless capability procedures have started. Your school can also give you an extra point in a year if your performance was excellent, as long as its pay policy allows for it. So a new teacher on C1 in September 2026 should reach C8 by September 2033 without applying for anything.

The 2026 pay award

The IWPRB recommended 4.25% on all salaries and allowances. The Welsh Government consulted on a lower award and confirmed 3.5% on teacher and leadership pay, with 5% on the unqualified teacher scale. It is backdated to 1 September 2026, but when the back pay reaches you is up to your local authority, so check your payslip in the months after the Document is published. The award in England was also 3.5%.

A step that adds less than it looks

Teachers’ Pension contributions are a single rate on your whole salary, set by which band your pay falls in. Two core points sit just over a band line:

• C1 to C2 adds £2,805 a year, but C2 pays 8.9% instead of 7.4%, so take-home rises by about £117 a month.
• C5 to C6 adds £1,769 a year, but C6 pays 9.9% instead of 8.9%, so take-home rises by only about £62 a month.

The higher contribution does buy more pension, as every pound of salary builds career average pension at the same rate. It just means the payslip jump is smaller than the pay scale suggests.

Wales or England: who takes home more?

Year by year from qualifying, against a teacher outside London in England who applies for the upper pay range as soon as they reach the top of the main range and is accepted:

Wales pays more in every year, and the gap is widest in year five, when a Welsh teacher on C5 earns £4,697 more than an English teacher on M5. Even at the top, C8 (£53,760) is above the outside-London U3 (£52,835). In England the upper range also depends on a successful application, while in Wales the whole scale is automatic.

Unqualified teachers

The unqualified scale rose by 5% this year, more than the 3.5% for qualified teachers. It covers instructors and trainees who are teaching before they have qualified teacher status.

Allowances and leading practitioners

Wales calls the special needs payment the ALN (additional learning needs) allowance. The leading practitioner range runs from £54,792 to £83,295. Since March 2026, ALN coordinators in Wales have been paid on the leadership scale.

Leadership and headteacher pay

The leadership spine runs from £54,524 at L1 to £151,434 at L43. A headteacher’s range depends on the school’s group, which is based mainly on pupil numbers: