Calculator

SPL calculator for teachers

Progress

Maternity details

if No: “This calculator will use your due date to help plan your leave. Once your baby is born, update the calculator with the actual birth date, as SPL must end before your baby’s first birthday.” if Yes: “Your baby’s birth date will be used to work out your final legal leave window.”

Your baby’s birth date is used to work out the final legal window for Shared Parental Leave.

You can use your due date to plan your maternity leave. Once your baby is born, update this to recalculate your final SPL dates.

You can start maternity leave on your due date or up to 11 weeks before your baby is due, which is the earliest legal start date. Starting maternity leave earlier can give you more flexibility when structuring your leave. When combined with Shared Parental Leave and school holidays, some teachers are able to plan their leave so they remain away from the classroom for more than 12 calendar months in total. Your chosen start date cannot be more than 11 weeks before your due date.

You can begin maternity leave up to 11 weeks before your due date.

Maternity leave can last up to 52 weeks from your maternity start date. If you plan to use Shared Parental Leave, you would normally end maternity leave early and switch to SPL, allowing the remaining entitlement to be shared between parents.

You can specify the actual end date in the calculator.

Salary details

Choose “Yes” if you want the calculator to estimate your pay and deductions. Your results unlock once the calculation is saved to a profile, you can create an account and save it at the end of the calculation. This will show extra questions to help work out your income before and after tax — useful for seeing what you’ll receive during maternity or shared parental leave (spl).

Enter your full-time annual salary before tax or deductions (the figure shown in your contract or payslip as “annual salary” or “gross pay”). If you work part-time, enter your actual annual salary — not the full-time equivalent. This helps estimate your standard pay before maternity or shared parental leave starts.

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Select the tax year your leave and payments fall into. Tax years in the UK run from 6 April to 5 April the following year (for example, 2025/26 runs from 6 April 2025 – 5 April 2026). The calculator uses this to apply the correct tax bands and allowances for your period of leave.

Choose how you’d like to estimate your income: • From last payslip — quick and simple if you have a recent payslip to hand. It uses your actual deductions to work out tax and NI automatically. • Enter tax code, pension and bands (traditional) — best if you know your tax code and contribution rates, or want a more detailed manual breakdown. Either method will calculate your take-home pay during maternity and shared parental leave.

Some schools continue to pay full salary until the end of a school holiday if your maternity leave starts during that holiday. Because this isn’t guaranteed everywhere, it’s safer to plan without this overlap. If your school does pay the extra full-pay days, treat it as a bonus. Use this toggle to switch the overlap effect on or off depending on how your school handles it. More information in our FAQ's

Select “Yes” if you give up part of your salary in exchange for a non-cash benefit such as childcare vouchers, cycle-to-work scheme, electric car lease, or additional pension contributions. Salary sacrifice reduces your gross pay for tax and National Insurance purposes, which can slightly reduce your take-home pay but also lower tax and NI. If you’re not sure, check your payslip — these usually appear under “salary sacrifice” or similar deductions.

Tick “Yes” if you receive any benefits from your employer that are not paid as normal salary — for example, a car allowance, accommodation, or other taxable perks. These are sometimes called Benefits in Kind (BIK) and are reported to HMRC by your employer. Most teachers won’t have these, so choose “No” unless you know you do.

Select “Yes” if you’re currently repaying a student loan through your salary (you’ll see “Student Loan” on your payslip if so). We’ll include your loan plan type later — this helps calculate your correct net pay after deductions.

Select “Yes” if you have a Postgraduate Loan (for a master’s or PhD) and repayments are taken from your salary. This is separate from a normal student loan — if you have both, make sure both are marked “Yes”.

Pick the month this payslip covers. Teachers are usually paid monthly (use the month shown on the payslip).

Enter your pay **before** tax, NI, pension and other deductions for this payslip period (labelled ‘Gross’ on your slip).

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The **Income Tax** deducted for this payslip period (usually shown as ‘Tax’ or ‘PAYE’).

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Your **National Insurance (employee)** deduction for this payslip period.

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Optional. NI category from your payslip (e.g. A, M, H). Used for NI accuracy.

Your own **employee** pension contribution this period (not employer).

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Choose your scheme (most teachers are **TPS**). If unsure, check the pension line on your payslip.

**Relief at source** = you pay from net pay and get tax relief added by the provider. **Net pay arrangement** = your contribution is taken from gross pay (reduces taxable pay). If unsure, leave as shown on payslip.

Enter the **Student Loan** deduction shown on this payslip (if any).

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Enter the **Postgraduate Loan** deduction shown on this payslip (if any).

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Add any **salary sacrifice** items on this payslip (e.g. cycle-to-work, car lease, extra pension via sacrifice). These reduce taxable/NI pay.

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Add item

If your payslip shows a deduction or taxable amount for **Benefits in Kind (BIK)** — such as a car allowance, accommodation, or other perk — enter it here. Most teachers won’t have this, so leave blank unless it appears on your payslip.

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Anything else deducted that isn’t already listed (e.g. union fees, childcare not via sacrifice, overpayments).

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Add deduction

Anything unusual this month? (e.g. back-pay, overtime, half-month start/leave). Helps explain differences.

Your HMRC tax code (e.g. 1257L, BR, 0T, D0, K123). This sets your personal allowance and tax bands.

Your NI category (from your payslip). A is most common. This affects NI rates/thresholds.

Select your scheme. Most teachers are in **TPS**; some staff are in **LGPS**.

Your **employee** pension contribution rate (percentage). If tiered, enter your current rate from your payslip.

%

Choose your plan (if you repay via payroll). Plan 1/2/4 depend on when/where you studied; ‘None’ if you don’t repay.

Tick if you also repay a **Postgraduate Loan** via payroll (separate from Student Loan).

Add each salary-sacrifice item that reduces your gross pay (e.g. cycle-to-work, car lease). Use ‘Is annual amount?’ for yearly totals.

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Short name for this sacrifice item.

Enter the amount. Use ‘Is annual amount?’ if this is a yearly total instead of per-period.

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On = the amount above is an **annual** total. Off = amount is **per payslip period**.
Add item

Any **annual** adjustment that increases or reduces taxable pay (e.g. marriage allowance transfer, uniform allowance, agreed deductions).

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Optional: other regular reductions not covered elsewhere (describe and enter the amount).

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Name this reduction (how it appears on your payslip).

Enter the amount per payslip period unless it’s clearly annual.

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Add reduction

OMP (Occupational Maternity Pay), OAP (Occupational Adoption Pay) is enhanced maternity pay provided by an employer on top of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

The following will give you a guide of how much you will be paid throughout your OMP / OAP. During this period SPL wont be used to maximise take home pay.

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weeks
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weeks
Add benefit

You want SPL to start after OMP / OAP ends to maximise pay during your maternity, entering in the total amount of weeks you receive OMP / OAP.

weeks

Shows the length of duration for OMP from repeater or no repeater

Holiday schedule

To calculate SPL we need to know when your school is closed for half terms etc. If doing a quick calculations choose 'Estimated dates', if calculating for final submission choose 'Exact dates'

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Add holiday