Primary education teaching professionals salary in the UK
The median full-time salary for primary education teaching professionals in the UK is £45,939 (ONS, 2025). After tax and National Insurance at 2026/27 rates that is about £3,050 a month.
Pay range for primary education teaching professionals
This is the ONS occupation group "Primary education teaching professionals" (SOC 2020 code 2314). ONS figures for 2025 show that one in ten earn less than £30,674, a quarter earn less than £37,847, half earn less than £45,939, a quarter earn more than £51,676 and one in ten earn more than £60,620.
| Point in the pay range | Gross a year | Gross a month | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | £30,674 | £2,556 | £25,605 | £2,134 |
| 25th percentile | £37,847 | £3,154 | £30,769 | £2,564 |
| Median (50th percentile) | £45,939 | £3,828 | £36,596 | £3,050 |
| 75th percentile | £51,676 | £4,306 | £40,529 | £3,377 |
| 90th percentile | £60,620 | £5,052 | £45,717 | £3,810 |
Take-home at England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates. ONS rates the median for primary education teaching professionals as precise: its sampling error (coefficient of variation) is 1.5%. ONS estimates about 289,000 full-time employee jobs in this occupation. ONS says job counts like this are indicative only.
Where primary education teaching professionals rank
The median for primary education teaching professionals ranks 86th of 362 occupations on this site, in the top quarter, and 53rd of 91 in professional occupations. It is £6,900 (17.7%) higher than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs. ONS change on the previous year: the median for primary education teaching professionals rose 7.4%, more than the 4.3% rise in the UK median for all full-time jobs.
Jobs with the nearest medians: Managers in logistics (£46,143), Nurse practitioners (£46,069), Rail travel assistants (£46,062), Aircraft maintenance and related trades (£45,779), Arts officers, producers and directors (£45,534) and Speech and language therapists (£45,511).
How spread out pay is
The 90th percentile (£60,620) is 2.0 times the 10th (£30,674). That is a narrower spread than for all UK full-time jobs, where it is 3.2 times. The middle half of full-time primary education teaching professionals earn between £37,847 and £51,676, a gap of £13,829, or 30.1% of the median. That is £10,918 narrower than the £24,747 gap for all UK jobs, and the 110th widest of the 223 jobs where ONS published both figures, in the upper half of the list.
The mean for primary education teaching professionals (total pay divided by the number of employees) is £45,535, which is £404 (0.9%) lower than the median. The two are close, so very high or very low salaries are not pulling the average far from the middle. For all UK full-time jobs the mean is 24.3% above the median, so the gap for primary education teaching professionals is smaller.
Primary education teaching professionals and related jobs
Among these 7 jobs in the same ONS minor group, this one has the 4th highest median. The highest median among them is £52,835 (higher education teaching professionals) and the lowest £37,514 (teachers of English as a foreign language).
| Job | SOC code | Median salary | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education teaching professionals | 2311 | £52,835 | £3,433 |
| Secondary education teaching professionals | 2313 | £47,632 | £3,151 |
| Special needs education teaching professionals | 2316 | £47,432 | £3,139 |
| Primary education teaching professionals | 2314 | £45,939 | £3,050 |
| Further education teaching professionals | 2312 | £42,218 | £2,826 |
| Nursery education teaching professionals | 2315 | £37,593 | £2,549 |
| Teachers of English as a foreign language | 2317 | £37,514 | £2,544 |
Take-home pay against all jobs
At the median, primary education teaching professionals take home about £3,050 a month, against £2,636 on the UK median for all jobs. Scotland has its own income tax bands, so take-home pay on the same salary is different there.
| Group | Median a year | Take-home a month | Take-home a month in Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary education teaching professionals | £45,939 | £3,050 | £2,999 |
| All full-time employee jobs, UK | £39,039 | £2,636 | £2,631 |
Related pages
All jobs in the Professional occupations table, average salary by area, the take home pay calculator, salary to hourly calculator and pay rise calculator.
How this is worked out
Pay: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), 2025 provisional, SOC 2020 unit group 2314. Take-home: 2026/27 rates, tax code 1257L, no pension or student loan. How to read these figures.
Sources
- ASHE Table 14: earnings by occupation (4-digit SOC), 2025 provisional (ONS)
- ASHE Table 7: earnings by place of work, local authority, 2025 provisional (ONS)
- SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions of unit groups (ONS)
- Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances (GOV.UK)
- Scottish Income Tax (GOV.UK)
- National Insurance: how much you pay (GOV.UK)
Figures checked on 12 October 2026. ONS plans to publish its next ASHE figures on 22 October 2026. Read how we calculate or tell us about a mistake.
Frequently asked questions
On the median full-time salary of £45,939, take-home pay is about £3,050 a month (£36,596 a year) after 2026/27 income tax and National Insurance, with tax code 1257L and no pension or student loan. In Scotland, where income tax is different, it is about £2,999 a month.
ONS figures for full-time jobs (2025) show that one in ten earn less than £30,674, a quarter earn less than £37,847, half earn less than £45,939, a quarter earn more than £51,676 and one in ten earn more than £60,620.
Yes. The median for primary education teaching professionals is £45,939, which is £6,900 (17.7%) higher than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs (ONS, 2025). It ranks 86th of 362 occupations on this site.