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Pension shortfalls of up to £70,000: School leaders call for supplementary fund

School funding and finance Government policy Whole-school issues
Shortfalls of “often substantial” amounts in the teachers’ pension grants paid to schools have sparked pleas for government to launch a supplementary fund to help protect school budgets.
Image: Adobe Stock

The Teachers’ Pension Employer Contribution Grant (TPECG) is supposed to cover the additional cost of a 5% increase in the employer contribution rate for teachers’ pensions.

However, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Association of School and College Leaders are reporting significant shortfalls in some schools – including some cases amounting to as much as £70,000.

The 5% increase was introduced from April 2024 after a valuation of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme undertaken by the Department for Education (DfE) in autumn 2023 found it was necessary to “meet present and future obligations” (DfE, 2024).

As such, the DfE unveiled in March an additional £1.1bn via the TPECG for the 2024/25 financial year to help fund these costs.

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