Nearly half a million teachers are being left in the dark over what pension they will be entitled to as they await new figures following a landmark discrimination ruling.
Public sector workers saw changes to their schemes in 2015 which made their pensions less generous, but a court case – known as the McCloud judgement – found that there had been age discrimination based on how some staff pensions had been revalued.
A fix called the McCloud remedy was announced back in 2021 but though the remedy affects 592,000 teachers, 449,330 are still awaiting their recalculations, according to a Freedom of Information request submitted by financial advice firm Wesleyan to the Government.
Although some of the teachers are not due their calculations until closer to retirement, many are in their forties and fifties, and experts say it will be difficult for them to plan their retirements without knowing exactly how much cash they’re due.
Even among teachers who have had their pensions recalculated, 71,226 still don’t know exactly what they will get in retirement, because they have not been sent statements informing them.
Other public sector staff are facing similar problems, with The i Paper revealing earlier this year that more than 300,000 retired NHS staff still don’t know if they are getting the right size of pension.
Teacher pensions are run on a defined benefit system, and are more lucrative than most private sector pensions. Employees build up an entitlement to an annual income in retirement, regardless of how long they live.
Most private sector pension schemes run on a defined contribution system, where workers build up a pot and manage this during their retirement.
Teachers now get 1/57 of their annual earnings each year in retirement, based on their career average salary.
Steve Renfrew, head of education at Wesleyan Financial Services, said teachers were facing an “impossible situation” not having a timeline for when the recalculations would be complete.
He said without accurate pension figures, forecasting retirement income becomes very difficult. It also makes decisions around phased retirement or reducing working hours harder to navigate.
“This comes at a critical time for schools. The education system needs experienced teachers in flexible roles – mentoring, covering gaps and providing continuity. Our recent research shows 26 per cent of teachers say the pension scheme makes them more likely to stay in the profession, rising to 37 per cent among those aged 18-24.
“The pension scheme is a key recruitment and retention tool, yet these delays risk undermining that value precisely when schools can least afford it.
“Teachers need transparency, realistic timelines and urgent prioritisation for hardship cases. The McCloud remedy has created an administrative burden the system is struggling to manage, and without action, an entire generation of experienced educators is stuck in limbo, and schools are paying the price.”
Teachers have criticised the administration of the pension scheme more widely.
At the National Education Union conference in March, joint secretary of the Liverpool branch of the union Graham Copsey described the scheme as “a mess” and added: “It’s not fit for purpose. It’s failing teachers.”
The Department for Education was contacted for comment.
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