Every September, thousands of teaching assistants, school administrators, catering staff and technicians sign contracts that look odd at first glance: a full-time-equivalent salary of, say, £24,000 — but an actual salary several thousand pounds lower, paid in twelve equal monthly instalments for working only during school terms. Welcome to term-time only pay, the most common form of pro rata working in UK education.
If you’ve just been offered term time only pay — or you’re already in one and the payslip has never quite made sense — this guide explains exactly how the calculation works, why the monthly figure is what it is, and how to check you’re being paid correctly.
What “term-time only” actually means
A term-time-only contract means you’re employed to work during school terms and you’re not required to work during school holidays. In most English schools, the pupil year is 195 days (39 weeks). Staff on term-time contracts typically work those 39 weeks, though some contracts add a few extra days for inset or training.
Crucially, you’re not simply paid for 39 weeks and left with nothing in August. Your pay is annualised: the employer calculates what you’re owed for the whole year — working weeks plus your paid holiday entitlement — and spreads it evenly across twelve monthly pay packets. That’s why you still get paid in the summer holidays even though you’re not working.
The same principle applies in nurseries, colleges and universities with term-time or sessional contracts, though the exact weeks vary. Always check your contract for the precise number of working weeks — 39 is typical for schools, but 38, 40 or 42-week contracts all exist.
How the calculation works
There are two common methods, and it’s worth knowing which one your employer uses because they can give slightly different answers.
Method 1: The weeks-ratio method (most common)
Term-time salary = full-time annual salary × (your paid weeks ÷ 52)
Your “paid weeks” = term weeks worked + pro rata holiday weeks.
Example: a teaching assistant post is full-time equivalent £24,000 (37 hours, 52 weeks). The term-time contract is 39 weeks plus a pro rata holiday allowance. A full-time worker gets 5.6 weeks of holiday; the term-time worker’s share is calculated on the same basis most employers use: they add the holiday weeks to the working weeks.
A widely used formulation: paid weeks = 39 + (5.6 × 39 ÷ 52)… actually, let us show the version most local authorities publish, which is simpler to follow:
Paid weeks = working weeks + (working weeks × 5.6 ÷ (52 − 5.6)) — no. Let’s keep it practical with the formulation schools actually put in offer letters:
Most commonly you’ll see: 39 weeks + 7.4 weeks pro rata holiday = 46.4 paid weeks (figures vary by employer — some use 44.3, some 46.4, depending on how they treat the 5.6 weeks and any extra closure days).
Term-time salary = £24,000 × (46.4 ÷ 52) = £21,415.38
Monthly pay = £21,415.38 ÷ 12 = £1,784.62
That £1,784.62 lands every month, including August — it’s not “holiday pay”, it’s your annual salary smoothed across the year.
Method 2: The hourly/daily rate method
Some employers (especially academies and private nurseries) calculate an hourly rate from the full-time salary and multiply by actual hours:
Hourly rate = full-time salary ÷ 52 ÷ full-time weekly hours
Term-time salary = hourly rate × your weekly hours × paid weeks
Using the same £24,000 FTE at 37 hours: hourly rate = £24,000 ÷ 52 ÷ 37 = £12.47. For a TA working 32.5 hours term-time: £12.47 × 32.5 × 46.4 = £18,807. — then ÷ 12 = £1,567.28 per month.
The two methods should converge if the inputs are consistent; if your employer’s figure looks very different from your own calculation, ask which method and which “paid weeks” figure they used. That single number — paid weeks — is where almost all discrepancies hide.
Term-time pay table: what FTE salaries become
Based on 46.4 paid weeks (a common local-authority figure — yours may differ slightly), here’s what popular FTE salaries translate to for term-time contracts:
| FTE salary (52 weeks) | Term-time annual (46.4 wks) | Monthly pay | Effective reduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £17,846.15 | £1,487.18 | 10.8% |
| £22,000 | £19,630.77 | £1,635.90 | 10.8% |
| £24,000 | £21,415.38 | £1,784.62 | 10.8% |
| £26,000 | £23,200.00 | £1,933.33 | 10.8% |
| £28,000 | £24,984.62 | £2,082.05 | 10.8% |
| £30,000 | £26,769.23 | £2,230.77 | 10.8% |
The reduction looks modest — around 11% — because you’re still being paid for your holiday weeks; you’re only “losing” the non-term, non-holiday weeks. If your employer’s figure is much lower than the table suggests, check whether they’re using fewer paid weeks (some use 44.3) or whether the FTE salary quoted includes allowances you won’t receive.
Worked example: checking a real offer letter
Let’s put this to practical use. Imran is offered a school caretaker role: 30 hours a week, term-time only (39 weeks), FTE salary £25,000 based on a 40-hour full-time week. The offer letter states an actual salary of £19,200. Is that right?
Step 1 — Pro rata the hours: £25,000 × (30 ÷ 40) = £18,750 would be the 52-week part-time figure.
Step 2 — Apply the term-time ratio. Using 46.4 paid weeks: £18,750 × (46.4 ÷ 52)… wait — careful. The FTE salary is already a 52-week figure, and Imran’s hours are already pro-rated. The term-time adjustment applies to the hours-adjusted salary:
£18,750 × (46.4 ÷ 52) = £16,730.77.
Hmm — that doesn’t match the £19,200 offer. So what’s going on? Two possibilities: the employer uses a more generous paid-weeks figure, or the FTE salary already assumes something different. Let’s try 52 weeks as the base differently — maybe the employer calculated: hourly rate = £25,000 ÷ 52 ÷ 40 = £12.02; annual = £12.02 × 30 hours × 46.4 weeks = £16,731. Same answer.
So the £19,200 offer is actually more generous than our calculation — which is entirely possible if the employer uses, say, 52 paid weeks minus only the unpaid holiday weeks, or includes additional allowances. The lesson isn’t that the offer is wrong — it’s that you must ask for the employer’s exact formula. A polite “Could you share the calculation behind the pro rata figure?” is a completely normal question, and any decent HR department will provide it.
Holiday pay within term-time contracts
One of the most confusing aspects: where’s your holiday pay? The answer is that it’s baked into the annualised figure. Those 46.4 paid weeks include roughly 7.4 weeks of paid holiday — you don’t get separate holiday pay on top, and you don’t need to “book” summer holiday because you’re already being paid through it.
This has a practical consequence for the newer 12.07% accrual rules: term-time staff are generally treated as part-year workers, but because their holiday is already annualised into salary, most education employers continue with the baked-in method rather than switching to period-by-period accrual. If your payslip suddenly shows a 12.07% holiday line and your salary was annualised, query it — you might be getting holiday twice (lucky) or having it mishandled (not lucky).
Bank holidays during term time are also inside the calculation — they’re part of your paid weeks, not extra. And inset days: if your contract requires you to work them, they should be counted in your working weeks; if they’re voluntary or paid separately, check how they’re handled.
Starting or leaving mid-year
Because pay is annualised, starting in January or leaving in March creates an imbalance: you’ve been paid 1/12th per month but worked a different proportion of your term weeks. Employers handle this with a leaver’s adjustment — recalculating what you should have earned for the terms actually worked versus what you were paid.
Example: Farah works term-time (39 weeks), paid £1,784.62 monthly. She leaves at the end of the spring term, having worked roughly 24 of the 39 weeks and been paid for 7 months (£12,492.34). Her true entitlement: annual salary £21,415.38 × (24 ÷ 39)… this is where it gets technical, because holiday accrual also factors in. The key point: expect an adjustment in your final pay — it can go either way, and it’s legitimate provided the employer shows the working. Ask for it in writing.
Other school and term-time pay: term-time salary calculator · teachers · teaching assistants · term-time pro rata calculator · term-time vs full-year salary · term-time holiday pay · school salaries · teachers' pension · lecturers · HLTAs · nursery nurses · lunchtime supervisors · exam invigilators · school caretakers
Frequently asked questions
Am I paid during the school summer holidays?
Yes — that’s the whole point of annualised pay. Your twelve monthly payments include the summer break; you’re not working, but you’re still being paid your smoothed salary. What you’re not getting is extra on top: the summer weeks (minus your holiday allowance within them) are the unpaid portion that the pro rata calculation already accounted for.
Does term-time pay affect my pension?
Your pension contributions are based on your actual pensionable pay — the term-time salary, not the FTE figure. In the Local Government Pension Scheme (which covers most school support staff), this means contributions and benefits reflect your £21,415 rather than £24,000. It’s worth understanding because it affects your eventual pension — though you are still building pension on every pound you earn.
Can I work a second job in the school holidays?
Usually yes, but check your contract. Some term-time contracts include exclusivity or conflict-of-interest clauses, and some require you to be available for occasional holiday working (usually paid extra). Most schools are relaxed about holiday jobs — many TAs do exactly this — but get it confirmed rather than assuming.
What happens if term dates change or I work extra weeks?
If you’re asked to work additional weeks beyond your contracted term weeks — summer schemes, holiday clubs, extra inset — these should be paid pro rata on top of your salary, normally at your hourly rate. Keep a record of any extra weeks worked and check they appear in your pay. Regular extra weeks that become routine may indicate your contract’s week count needs updating.
Check your own figure
Term-time pay looks mysterious until you see the formula — then it’s just one ratio: your paid weeks over 52, applied to your hours-adjusted FTE salary. Get those two inputs (paid weeks and FTE salary) from your employer, and you can verify any offer in a minute.
For the salary side of the calculation — converting any FTE figure to your exact hours, and breaking it into monthly, weekly and daily rates — our free pro rata salary calculator does it instantly with the full working shown. And if you want the complete annualised picture without the spreadsheet, the free pro rata salary calculator on our homepage handles any working pattern in seconds.