Teacher Maternity Pay: The Full Guide

The two layers: statutory and occupational

SMP is the statutory floor for employees who meet its service and earnings tests. It is paid for up to 39 weeks: 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then the lower of £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings for the next 33. The Burgundy Book is a separate occupational scheme. For eligible teachers it adds enhanced pay, but it does not replace SMP: the figures in the schedule are inclusive of SMP where SMP is due.

Use the teacher maternity pay calculator first

Enter your actual annual contractual salary, not your full-time equivalent if you work part time. Then answer the two service questions separately. This is important: a teacher can qualify for occupational Burgundy Book pay but not SMP after a recent move, or qualify for SMP without meeting the year of local-authority teacher service. The calculator shows the relevant schedule rather than assuming one answer fits every teacher.

• Full Burgundy Book plus SMP: at least one year of qualifying local-authority teacher service and 26 weeks with the current employer.
• Burgundy Book plus Maternity Allowance: at least one year of qualifying teacher service but fewer than 26 weeks with the current employer. Maternity Allowance depends on a separate National Insurance record, so enter it only once DWP has confirmed the award.
• SMP only: 26 weeks with the current employer but less than one year of qualifying local-authority teacher service.
• Maternity Allowance route: neither service test is met. This calculator deliberately does not guess a Maternity Allowance award.

What the Burgundy Book pays, week by week

Maternity leave itself can run to 52 weeks — 26 weeks ordinary plus 26 weeks additional — regardless of service length. The pay simply runs out before the leave does, which is why budgeting for the unpaid stretch matters as much as knowing the headline entitlements.

Who qualifies: the four categories

Entitlement depends on two clocks with different measurement points. The Burgundy Book occupational test is one year of continuous service as a teacher with one or more local authorities at the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC). The SMP test is 26 weeks' continuous employment with the current employer by the end of the 15th week before the EWC. Do not use one date as a shortcut for both.

Continuity is about the actual service record, not simply the number of schools on your CV. A move between qualifying local-authority employments can preserve the occupational count where there is no break in service. A voluntary move into an academy may be treated differently from a TUPE transfer, depending on the trust policy. Agency supply workers normally need to test entitlement through the agency, and should not assume earlier permanent service creates an occupational entitlement there.

Worked example: an M4 teacher

Take a full-time teacher on M4 in the rest of England (£40,941 in 2026/27). A simple annual-salary ÷ 52 planning figure is about £787 a week. Payroll can use average earnings where salary has varied significantly in the 12 weeks before absence starts, so the calculator and table are budgeting tools, not a replacement for the employer's calculation.

Compare that with the SMP-only route, which is materially lower over the same 39 weeks at this salary. The difference explains why it is worth checking the two service dates before changing employer. Use the calculator above to change the salary and service answers, then ask HR to model your exact contractual case. The figures shown are gross; see teacher take-home pay for how tax, National Insurance and pension contributions affect the payslip.

Notifying your school and choosing a start date

For the full Burgundy Book scheme, notify your employer by the beginning of the 14th week before the EWC, declare in writing that you intend to return after leave, and provide your MATB1. The statutory notification deadline is the end of the 15th week before the EWC. You can give notice of your intended maternity-leave start date 21 days before absence under the Burgundy Book, although giving at least 28 days where possible helps the school arrange cover.

Leave cannot start earlier than 11 weeks before the EWC, and it starts automatically if you are off sick with a pregnancy-related illness in the last four weeks. If your baby arrives early, leave begins the day after birth. Antenatal appointments are paid time off throughout, and you can work up to 10 keeping-in-touch (KIT) days during leave without ending it.

The 13-week return rule and repayment trap

Enhanced occupational pay carries a condition: return to teaching for at least 13 weeks after your leave. School holidays count toward the 13 weeks. If you resign instead, you keep the first six weeks of pay and all SMP, but your employer can reclaim the twelve weeks of half pay — roughly £4,700 in the M4 example above. Employers have discretion to waive recovery, particularly where the reason you did not return was within their control, such as refusing a flexible working request or expiring a fixed-term contract.

Plan resignations against this rule deliberately. Giving notice during maternity leave interacts with normal resignation deadlines too — our resignation dates guide covers the termly cut-offs, and our leaving teaching guide sets out the wider financial picture.

Pension, tax and progression during leave

Occupational and statutory maternity pay are earnings, so tax, National Insurance and pension contributions apply as appropriate. During pensionable family leave, the Teachers' Pension Scheme uses your normal contribution tier but applies it to the actual pensionable pay received; benefits continue to accrue as if normal pensionable earnings had been received. Unpaid leave is not pensionable. Pay progression and the precise right to return should be checked against the applicable pay policy and statutory rules rather than assumed from a calculator.

Part-time teachers and returning flexibly

Part-time entitlements use actual earnings, not a full-time equivalent: a 0.6 teacher applies the same schedule to the 0.6 salary. The return condition is also expressed as an equivalent period. The NEU explains that returning on a different part-time pattern may require the equivalent of 13 weeks at that new pattern, so confirm the arrangement before agreeing a phased return. The part-time pay calculator shows what different working patterns pay, while the teacher sick pay rules help where pregnancy-related illness affects the final weeks at work.

Scotland, Northern Ireland, academies and independent schools

This calculator models the Burgundy Book and UK statutory pay route. Scottish teachers should use the SNCT and their employer's maternity policy, while Northern Ireland teachers should check the Education Authority or employing-school policy. Academy trusts and independent schools can provide different contractual enhancements. Do not transpose the Burgundy Book table to a different scheme merely because the school uses a similar pay scale.

If your employer has announced a future policy change, ask for the effective date and the written policy before budgeting around it. This page reports the scheme in force for the stated 2026/27 statutory rate, not an unconfirmed future entitlement.