Term-Time Salary Calculator

Updated August 2026 · Free · No sign-up

Calculate term-time only (TTO) pay: how school-support salaries are built from term weeks plus accrued holiday, annualised from the FTE rate, and spread across 12 equal monthly payments.

How Term-Time Only Pay Is Built

TTO staff (teaching assistants, school office, catering, some council roles) work only school weeks but are paid in 12 equal monthly instalments. The annualisation:

TTO Salary = FTE Salary × (Paid Weeks ÷ 52.14) × Hours Fraction

where Paid Weeks = worked weeks + holiday weeks. Holiday can't be taken in term time, so it's added as paid weeks instead — at least the statutory 12.07% of worked weeks (39 weeks → +4.7 = 43.7 paid weeks), and more under many local-authority schemes (Green Book employers often add 5.5-6.5 weeks depending on service). The 52.14 divisor (365 ÷ 7) is the sector convention; some payrolls use 52 — a 0.3% difference worth knowing when checking a payslip.

Worked Examples

Example 1 — full-time TA. £22,000 FTE, 39 weeks, statutory holiday (43.71 paid weeks): 22,000 × 43.71/52.14 = £18,441 → £1,537/month all year round, including August.

Example 2 — part-time hours too. Same role at 25 of 37 hours (0.676): 18,441 × 0.676 = £12,466 — TTO and part-time fractions multiply.

Example 3 — generous LA scheme. 39 weeks + 6.5 holiday weeks = 45.5 paid: 22,000 × 45.5/52.14 = £19,196 — £755/year more than statutory. Scheme details are real money; ask which weeks figure your contract uses.

The Standard Week Counts

Why August Pay Exists (Annualisation)

The 12-month spread smooths a lumpy working year into equal payments — you're not "paid for the summer holidays"; you're paid 1/12th of an annualised figure that already accounts for unpaid non-term weeks. Two consequences: leavers' recalculations — quitting mid-year triggers a reconciliation between weeks worked and months paid, producing either a final top-up or (leaving right after summer) a clawback; and starters in September get a first-year figure covering September-August, not a calendar year. The reconciliation maths is exactly the prorated salary problem in school clothing.

The Holiday-Pay Correction (Harpur v Brazel)

The Supreme Court's Harpur Trust v Brazel ruling established that part-year workers' holiday could not simply be percentage-capped — leading many schools to recalculate TTO holiday weeks upward, and later legislation (2024) to re-permit 12.07% accrual for irregular-hours workers. Practical takeaway: TTO holiday-weeks figures vary by employer and contract date — if your paid-weeks number is below 43.7 on a 39-week pattern, ask payroll to show the calculation. Underpaid holiday claims in this sector have succeeded.

Comparing TTO Against Other Work

• Against a full-year offer: divide both by their real worked weeks — £18,441 for 39 worked weeks is £473/worked-week, competitive with a £22k/46-week job's £478. The school holidays are the compensation.
• Hourly reality: convert with the salary to hourly calculator using term-week hours — TTO hourly rates must still clear minimum wage on actual hours.
• Benefits carry through: pension (LGPS for support staff) applies to actual pay; holiday entitlement is baked into the paid weeks; sick pay follows the SSP/occupational scheme on normal monthly pay.
• Childcare economics: TTO's unpriced benefit — school-hours work with school-holiday alignment — is worth thousands in avoided holiday childcare; factor it before comparing raw salaries.

Checking Your TTO Payslip

1. Get the formula in writing: FTE rate, worked weeks, holiday weeks, divisor (52.14 or 52), hours fraction.
2. Recompute with this calculator — mismatches are usually a wrong weeks figure or a stale FTE rate after a pay award.
3. Pay awards: national/LA increases apply to the FTE rate — your TTO amount should move the same percentage, from the award's effective date (arrears due if implemented late).

✓ Formula verified  •  Last updated: August 20, 2026