Fact Sheet – Average salary

What is average salary?

• This is the salary used to calculate your benefits when you retire.

Is it always calculated in the same way?

• No, it depends on when you retire.
• If you are out of service and your last service was before 1 April 2007, then only one calculation is necessary.
• If you are retiring on or before 31 March 2009, then it is the best of three different calculations.
• If you joined the scheme after 1 April 2007 or are retiring after 31 March 2009, then it is the better of two different calculations.

What method is used if I left service before 1 April 2007?

• 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.

What method is used if I was in service before 1 April 2007 but retire before 31 March 2009?

• The best of the following calculations will be used.
• 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 Retail Prices Index (RPI).  Then 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.

What method is used if I retire after 31 March 2009?

• The better of the following calculations will be used.
• The salaries for the last ten calendar years are increased to current day value using the RPI.  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.

Related forms and leaflets:

Fact Sheet: Average Salary PDF 61.1 KB