Teacher TLR Payments 2026/27: TLR 1, 2, 3 and SEN Allowance
What TLR 1, TLR 2, TLR 3 and the SEN allowance are worth in 2026/27, what each is paid for, and what a TLR actually adds to take-home once Income Tax, National Insurance and the Teachers' Pension take their share.
What a TLR actually is
A Teaching and Learning Responsibility payment is an allowance paid on top of a classroom teacher's salary for a sustained additional responsibility. It attaches to the post, not the person, and the pay document requires the responsibility to be significant, focused on teaching and learning, and to require the exercise of a teacher's professional skills and judgement. The values below are those in force from 1 September 2026.
It is not a step onto the leadership range, which is a different pay structure altogether, and it is not discretionary spending: a school must set out in its pay policy which posts carry which TLR and why.
One change lands with the new pay year. Since September 2025 a relevant body has been able to set a TLR 1 or TLR 2 in proportion to the share of the responsibility actually undertaken; from 1 September 2026 that becomes a requirement rather than an option. The payment follows the share of the TLR responsibility a teacher takes on, not their contracted hours: the pay document's guidance (paragraph 51) says a part-time teacher who carries a higher proportion of the responsibility may receive a higher percentage of the TLR than of their salary, up to the full amount, and a full-time teacher carrying only part of it receives only part. TLR 3 is explicitly outside the pro-rata principle.
The four allowances
| Allowance | Minimum | Maximum | Typically paid for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TLR 1 (Teaching and Learning Responsibility) | £10,531 | £17,819 | A significant responsibility that includes line management of a significant number of people |
| TLR 2 | £3,651 | £8,913 | A significant responsibility meeting the same criteria, without the line-management requirement |
| TLR 3 | £727 | £3,600 | A clearly time-limited school improvement project or one-off externally driven responsibility |
| SEN allowance | £2,885 | £5,690 | Specified special educational needs posts |
A teacher cannot hold a TLR 1 and a TLR 2 at the same time, but someone on either may also hold a TLR 3 concurrently. The SEN allowance sits outside the TLR structure altogether and can be held alongside any of them.
What a TLR adds after tax
A TLR is ordinary pay, so the headline figure is not what lands. Each row below nets the salary with and without the allowance and shows the difference, including the Teachers' Pension contribution, which is charged on the allowance as well.
| Example | Allowance | Gross total | Added to take-home | Per month | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M6 plus TLR 2 minimum | £3,651 | £50,591 | £1,983 | £165 | 54% |
| M6 plus TLR 2 maximum | £8,913 | £55,853 | £5,660 | £472 | 64% |
| U1 plus TLR 1 minimum | £10,531 | £59,665 | £6,400 | £533 | 61% |
| U3 plus TLR 1 maximum | £17,819 | £70,654 | £9,555 | £796 | 54% |
| M6 plus SEN allowance minimum | £2,885 | £49,825 | £1,473 | £123 | 51% |
The "kept" column is the share of the allowance that reaches the bank. It falls where the allowance crosses the higher-rate threshold, and again where the extra pay tips the salary into a higher pension contribution tier, which is charged on the whole salary rather than only on the part above the tier boundary.
Why TLR 3 is different
TLR 1 and TLR 2 are for sustained responsibilities and behave like the rest of pay: they continue while the post continues, and the pay document's safeguarding provisions protect them for a period if the post changes.
TLR 3 is for a clearly time-limited school improvement project or an externally driven responsibility. It is awarded for a fixed term stated at the outset, and when that term ends the payment ends with it, with no safeguarding. It is worth being clear about that before accepting one: a TLR 3 of £3,600 raises pay for as long as the project runs and no longer, and it does not create an expectation of a permanent allowance afterwards.
Pension, and the tier trap
All three TLRs and the SEN allowance are pensionable, so they build career-average benefits and the contribution is deducted from them. The Teachers' Pension Scheme is a net pay arrangement: the contribution reduces taxable pay, so it gets full Income Tax relief at the marginal rate, but National Insurance is charged on the full gross including the allowance.
The tier boundary is the thing to watch. Contribution rates are banded on total pensionable pay and the rate applies to the whole salary, not just the part above the boundary, so an allowance that pushes a teacher over one costs more than its own contribution. On every example in the table above the allowance is larger than the extra contribution the tier step creates, so the teacher is still better off, but the share kept can drop sharply between two otherwise similar cases. That is not guaranteed everywhere: higher up the scale, reachable on the London upper pay ranges with a large TLR 1, the step on the whole salary can cost more than a TLR 3 at its £727 minimum, so a small allowance landing just over a boundary can leave take-home lower than before. A part-time or proportionally awarded TLR is smaller, so that comparison should be made on the actual amount rather than the full-time value.
Related
- Teacher pay scales 2026/27: main and upper ranges by area
- School leadership pay: the range above the TLR structure
- Teacher pay and take-home and deputy headteacher pay
- Teacher take-home calculator
Frequently asked questions
What is a TLR payment?
A Teaching and Learning Responsibility payment: an allowance paid on top of the main or upper pay range for a sustained additional responsibility, such as leading a subject or curriculum area, or leading pupil development across the curriculum. It is not a promotion into leadership, and it is attached to the responsibility rather than to the person.
What is the difference between TLR 1 and TLR 2?
Line management. Both must meet the same criteria in the pay document: a significant responsibility not required of all classroom teachers, focused on teaching and learning, leading a subject, curriculum area or pupil development, with an impact beyond the teacher's own classes and on other staff's teaching. A TLR 1 must also include line management of a significant number of people. TLR 1 runs £10,531 to £17,819 and TLR 2 £3,651 to £8,913. A teacher cannot hold both at once.
How much does a TLR add to take-home?
Less than its face value. A TLR is ordinary pay: taxed, NIable and pensionable, so the Teachers' Pension contribution comes out of it too. On the worked examples on this page (the TLRs and one SEN allowance) the share kept runs from 51% to 64%. Every example pushes pensionable pay across a contribution tier, and the higher rate applies to the whole salary rather than only to the allowance, so that extra cost weighs most on a small allowance. The lowest share here is the smallest allowance (M6 plus SEN allowance minimum), not the highest salary.
Is a TLR pensionable?
Yes. TLR 1, TLR 2 and TLR 3 all count as pensionable pay in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, so the contribution is deducted from them and they build career-average benefits in the ordinary way. That also means a TLR can push a teacher into a higher contribution tier.
Can a TLR be taken away?
TLR 1 and TLR 2 are attached to a post, so they end if the responsibility ends, subject to the pay document’s safeguarding provisions, which normally protect the payment for a limited period. TLR 3 is different: it is awarded for a fixed term from the outset and is explicitly not safeguarded when it ends.
Do school leaders get TLR payments?
No. TLRs belong to the main and upper pay ranges. Heads, deputies and assistant heads are paid on the leadership range instead, which already reflects the responsibility.