Education payroll has a language and a rhythm all of its own. Term-time-only contracts, a mix of teaching and support staff, and pension schemes that are unlike anything in the private sector all make it easy to get wrong. We handle payroll for education providers across South Wales, so your office can get back to running the setting rather than running the numbers.
Schools, nurseries and colleges
Whether you are a maintained school, an independent school, a day nursery or a further education college, the payroll challenge is similar: a lot of people, several different contract types, and no room for error on payday. We work with settings of all sizes and match our reporting to the way your finance function is structured.
Our fully managed service is £5 per employee, per month (plus VAT), which makes budgeting straightforward for a governing body or trust board. You can see the full detail on our pricing page, or read how our outsourced payroll service works end to end.
Term-time-only staff, handled correctly
Term-time-only pay is one of the biggest sources of confusion in education payroll. Many support staff, such as teaching assistants, midday supervisors, cleaners and admin staff, only work during term but are usually paid in equal instalments across the whole year. That means their actual hours and their pay do not line up month to month, and their annualised salary has to be worked out using the right number of working weeks plus holiday entitlement.
We calculate term-time-only salaries properly so staff receive a consistent, correct wage across the year, and we handle the fiddly cases that trip people up:
- Annualised term-time salaries spread evenly across twelve months.
- Starters and leavers part-way through a term, with pay adjusted to reflect actual service.
- Casual and supply cover paid for the sessions actually worked.
- Overtime, additional hours and unsocial-hours enhancements where they apply.
- Statutory sick, maternity, paternity and adoption pay calculated correctly.
New to term-time contracts? Tell us the number of working weeks and the holiday entitlement for each role and we will do the annualisation for you, so every payslip is right and staff know exactly what to expect each month.
Mixed teaching and support staff
Education settings run on two quite different workforces side by side. Teaching staff tend to be on national pay frameworks and belong to a teachers' pension arrangement, while support staff are often on local government pay scales with their own pension scheme and their own working patterns. Payroll has to treat each group correctly at the same time, every period.
We keep both populations straight: pay scales and pay points applied correctly, the right deductions for each group, and clear reporting so your finance team can see teaching and support costs separately when they need to.
Teachers' Pension Scheme and Local Government Pension Scheme
Education pensions are more involved than a standard workplace pension. Teaching staff are typically members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS), while support staff are usually in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Each has its own contribution tiers based on salary, its own reporting and its own deadlines, and both sit alongside your ordinary auto-enrolment duties for anyone not covered by them.
We assess and apply the correct contribution rates, produce the returns each scheme requires and keep your submissions on schedule, so membership records stay accurate. Our auto-enrolment and pensions service covers the wider workplace-pension duties that apply to any remaining staff.
Lifting the admin burden
A school office already has more than enough to do without chasing tax codes, filing pension returns and worrying about a payday deadline. Outsourcing to us removes that entire task. Real Time Information is filed with HMRC on or before every payday, payslips and P60s are produced, and you have a named contact who understands education and answers the phone when you ring.
You can rely on the standards behind the service too. We are members of the CIPP, ICAEW-affiliated and registered with the ICO, so staff pay and personal data are handled to recognised professional standards.
Get a no-obligation quote for your setting and tell us how many staff you pay, how often, and which pension schemes you run. We will come back to you the same day.