Skip the NI Direct Bar
Skip to content

Your Pension Benefits

Qualifying for benefits


This means becoming entitled to a pension when you retire. You will qualify for benefits if you complete:

  • two years’ pensionable employment at any time after 5 April 1988;
  • two years’ pensionable employment at any time, if you were in pensionable employment on 6 April 1988; or
  • five years’ pensionable employment at any time.

If you are in part-time pensionable employment, the whole period counts towards the above qualifying periods. But only the days you actually work will count towards your benefits. So if you work half-time for a year, this counts as one year for qualification, but only six months for calculating your benefits.

Back to the top

Calculation of benefits


If you were a member of the scheme before 1 April 2007 the method of calculating benefits, which will consist of an annual pension and a lump sum based on reckonable service and average salary, is as follows:

Pension = (Service X Average Salary)/80

The lump sum is three times the pension.

If you were a member of the scheme before 1 April 2007 and have service on or after that date you can convert, ‘commute’, part of your pension to receive a lump sum up to 25% of your fund value. The formula for calculating the maximum amount of lump sum benefits that can be paid is as follows:

(Pension X 20) + (Lump Sum X 20/12) / 4.6667

If you became a member of the scheme on or after 1 April 2007 your benefits will consist of an annual pension based on reckonable service and average salary. It will be:

Pension = (Service X Average Salary)/60

You can commute part of your pension to a lump sum and the formula for calculating the maximum amount of lump sum benefits that can be paid is as follows:

(Pension X 20)/4.6667

The commutation formulae represent 25% of your fund value. You can choose up to 25% maximum to be paid as a lump sum. In doing so there is a consequent reduction in the value of the annual pension. For each £1 of pension commuted there will be £12 of lump sum paid.

Back to the top

Average salary


If you left service before 1 April 2007 your average salary is:

  • The highest amount of full salary for any consecutive 365 days of reckonable service, whether continuous or not, during the last three years of reckonable service.
  • Reckonable service is those years and days that count towards your pension benefits.

If you were in service before 1 April 2007 but retire before 31 March 2009 your average salary is the best of the following:

  • The highest amount of full salary for any consecutive 365 days of reckonable service, whether continuous or not, during the last three years of reckonable service.
  • The salaries for the last ten calendar years are increased using the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). The average of the best consecutive three years’ re-valued salaries in those ten calendar years is used.
  • The pensionable salary received in the last 12 months before the date of retirement.

If you retire after 31 March 2009 your average salary is the better of the following:

  • The salaries for the last ten calendar years are increased to current day value using the CPI. The average of the best consecutive three years re-valued salaries in those ten calendar years is used.
  • The pensionable salary received in the last 12 months before the date of retirement.

The salary used to calculate your retirement benefits may be restricted if your salary is increased by more than 10% plus the standard increase during any financial year in your last 3 years of pensionable employment before retirement and your last year’s salary is used as the average salary and your employer is not prepared to meet the cost of the difference in benefits. This also applies where the best year’s salary in your final 3 years of service is used as the average salary. If your employer pays the additional contributions, you will receive benefits calculated on the unrestricted salary.

It is not possible to anticipate whether this provision might apply in any individual's case (and, if so, what the impact might be) in advance of retirement. It is only at retirement that we will be in a position to determine your average salary period and assess your salary progression against standard pay awards during that period. If you are approaching retirement and you think that it is possible that your average salary might be affected you should speak to your employer.

Back to the top

Age retirement (Retiring at NPA or later)


You will be paid age retirement benefits on application at NPA if you are no longer in pensionable employment. If you remain in employment after NPA, you will be paid benefits when you eventually cease pensionable employment. If you have a break in pensionable employment after NPA, even for 1 day, you will be entitled to benefits from that date. All reckonable service up to age 75, limited to 45 years in total, will be used in the calculation of your retirement benefits.

Back to the top

Actuarially Reduced Benefits (Retiring between the ages of 55 and NPA)


If you are aged between 55 and NPA and you have been in pensionable employment on or after 1 April 2007, you will be able to obtain early access to your pension benefits, which will be actuarially reduced, provided that your benefits are at least equal to your Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP).

If you are in pensionable employment or excluded employment when you apply for actuarially reduced benefits you must obtain the consent of your employer to gain immediate access to retirement benefits. Employers cannot withhold their consent for longer than six months from the date on which you submit your request. Subject to your employer's consent, actuarially reduced pension benefits are paid from the day after the last day of pensionable or excluded employment.

If you have already left teaching when you apply, benefits will be paid from a date not earlier than 6 weeks after the date of your application.

Back to the top

Premature Retirement (Caused by redundancy or reorganisation)


Retirement benefits may be paid if 55 or over for all members and your employer makes you redundant  or you leave pensionable employment on the grounds of organisational efficiency, you may be granted premature retirement benefits.

Back to the top

Phased Retirement (Drawing part of your benefits while continuing in service)


After age 55 you may take phased retirement without having a break in employment provided that your pensionable salary reduces by 25% or more for at least 12 months. The reduction in salary is compared to your average salary over the previous six months. This could for example be because you have taken up a post of lesser responsibility or because you are working reduced hours. You will need to discuss this arrangement with your employer and they will be required to provide confirmation of the reduction on your application form. You may exercise this option twice before final retirement.

You can decide how much you wish to take of the benefits you have accrued up to the commencement of phased retirement up to a maximum of 75% of your total benefits. Remaining service, which must be at least 25%, will be aggregated with any subsequent service you accrue and be used in any future benefit calculations.

Please note that if your phased retirement benefits are drawn before NPA, the benefits taken will be actuarially reduced.

Back to the top

How do I apply for retirement benefits?


You should apply to Teacher's Pensions (TP) about four months before the date of your retirement or when your benefits are due. You can obtain an application form from your employer if you are in service or it can be downloaded from the "applying for retirement" section of this wedsite. It is your responsibility to make an application.

Back to the top

Can I receive my benefits if I become ill?


If you are under NPA and have to retire through ill-health, you can apply for ill-health benefits. Applications should only be submitted after all other avenues such as redeployment have been exhausted. You must provide medical evidence that your illness permanently prevents you from teaching. Ill health benefits can be paid at two different levels depending upon the severity of the illness; Total Incapacity Benefits (TIB) and Partial Incapacity Benefits (PIB).

TIB would be awarded if you are assessed as being permanently unable to teach and unable to undertake any other gainful employment. PIB would be awarded if you are assessed as being permanently unable to teach but can do other work. If you receive TIB your service will be enhanced but if you receive PIB it will be based on your accrued benefits.

If you are not in pensionable employment and you are not on a career break agreed with your employer, sick leave or parental leave, only PIB can be awarded and your service will not be enhanced, but you must meet the criteria for TIB.

The total amount of enhancement you may receive if you are awarded TIB is half the service you could have completed before normal pension age (NPA).

No enhancement will be given if you are awarded PIB.

Ill-health benefits cannot be awarded to a teacher who has been barred for misconduct or who is under investigation by the DE with a view to barring. Where a teacher under investigation is not subsequently barred, and an application for ill-health benefits is accepted, the benefits will be backdated.

You cannot normally obtain ill-health benefits if you have already been awarded premature retirement benefits.

If you are seriously ill, your ill-health pension may be commuted to a lump sum payment. The request for commutation must be made at the time of application for ill-health benefits: a pension cannot be commuted once it has come into payment. Life expectancy must be less than a year. The lump sum payment amounts to approximately five times the annual pension.

If you have not been in service long enough to qualify for ill-health benefits you can apply for a short-service incapacity grant. You must have at least one year of pensionable employment to your credit. You must apply within six months of leaving reckonable service. The incapacity grant is 1/12 of your final average salary for the length of your reckonable service (years and days).

Back to the top

How to apply for ill-health retirement (IHR) benefits


If you are still employed you should obtain a TP5 application form. Part 1 should be completed by the teacher, part 2 by the reporting doctor and part 3 by your employer.

If you are no longer employed as a teacher you can download the TP5 application form from the "applied for retirementbenefits" section or telephone TP on

Local: 028 7131 9000,        International +44(0)28 7131 9000

quoting your teacher’s reference number or National Insurance number.

If you are in service form TP5 should be returned to TP by your employer or by you if you are out of service.

Employers and their occupational health advisors must look at ways of helping you return to work, e.g. re-deployment, part time working, transfer to a post with less responsibility or consider other workplace adjustments, before concluding that IHR may be appropriate.

You and your employer’s occupational health advisor in conjunction with your medical practitioner need to provide the medical evidence and complete the application forms. The cost of providing medical evidence is a matter between you and your employer.

If you left pensionable teaching within 12 months of submitting your application, you must complete the medical information sections of your application form. If you are not currently employed in pensionable teaching employment you will have to pay for any costs incurred in providing medical evidence.

Back to the top

Guaranteed Minimum Pension information

Employees who are members of the Northern Ireland Teachers Pension Scheme (NITPS) are “contracted out” for the purposes of the state pension scheme. By being contracted out to an occupational scheme, that scheme, i.e. NITPS must guarantee that the employee will receive at least the same amount of pension that he would have received had he not been “contracted out”. This is referred to as the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP). The GMP is a substitute for the state scheme additional pension rights which an employee would have received if his employment had not been “contracted out”.

The GMP amount is included in the Teachers’ pension; it is not additional to it. As the annual amount of GMP is derived from the state pension, this figure is deducted from a teachers’ pension before pension increase is applied.

NITPS is also responsible for paying increases to the GMP after the employee has reached state pension age. Statements of GMP are received in Teachers’ Pensions prior to the members state pension age. They are input into the teachers’ pensions’ computer system which will calculate the correct increases to apply at the date of the next pensions increase (April each year) up to a maximum of 3%.

Back to the top

Pensions increase


Your pension will be increased to take into account increases in the cost of living. This is called ‘index-linking’ because the increases are related to rises in the Consumer Price Index. The increases are paid in April, the same date as increases in state social security benefits.

Preserved pensions and lump sums are also increased so that they keep their value. Pensions Increase also applies to pensions paid by the scheme to widows, widowers, civil partners, children and dependants.

Back to the top