Education Policy Institute: What pensions do teachers want. March 2025. James Zuccullo. 

Flexibility is the issue. It rightly says that although generous, the Teachers’ Pension is inflexible.

There are some very obvious findings; young teachers in their 20s would like the chance to pay less into their pension and have more pay, whilst fewer older teachers in their 50s want this trade-off.

It appears that something along those lines is available under the Civil service scheme.

“It is possible that new entrants to teaching may be even more likely to make this trade-off because they do not face the same loss aversion as teachers who are already enrolled in the TPS.

A more attractive salary offer could help recruitment to the profession, as well as retention.” Page 6

 

Here are the Report’s recommendations (edited for brevity):

 

• Schools should be allowed to offer alternative arrangements to their staff, alongside the TPS, should they wish.

 

• The government should review the TPS with recruitment and retention in mind. It may be that there is room to offer more flexibility within the TPS and make teaching a more attractive profession to more people.

 

• Research should be conducted into the likely impact and consequences of various policy options, with the goal of offering a set of schemes that promote recruitment and retention, while still ensuring retirement security for teachers.

 

It’s good to know where to look for when you need to.