Government puts in £940 million to protect Teachers’ Pension Scheme

The Department for Education has announced it will fully-fund increased pension contributions that state-funded schools and colleges will have to make in 2019/20, following a public consultation on funding changes set out in a review of public sector pension schemes.

The Teachers’ Pension Scheme is guaranteed by the government; provides additional benefits linked to salary; is inflation-proof to offer teachers a secure retirement; and offers the typical teacher around £7,000 in employer contributions every year. Employees, employers and the government all contribute to the scheme.

The consultation response also assessed the funding changes for independent schools and higher education institutions that participate in the scheme. State-funded schools and FE colleges were prioritised to be funded.

This announcement commits to fully-funding the increases for state-funded schools and colleges in 2019/20 – the end of the current Spending Review period. Beyond that, with the exception of the NHS, all Government funding will be decided as part of the next Spending Review.

The extra funding of £940 million will be provided to FE colleges based on their individual TPS costs, and to schools on a per-pupil basis with an accompanying Supplementary Fund, as outlined in the accompanying pensions grant documents . This confirms that any school facing a shortfall from the formula grant of more than 0.05% of its overall budget can claim extra money to ensure schools are properly protected.