If you're suffering Ill Health, you have options

As an active member of the Teachers pension scheme you may qualify for a pension if you're suffering from serious ill health. If you've been a member of your pension scheme for more than two years and you’re permanently unable to work to your normal pension age due to ill health you could qualify for ill health retirement.

The level of pension awarded to you in these circumstances will depend on the severity of your condition and your potential for employment in the future.

If you feel that you potentially meet these circumstances you should, take a look at our Ill Health retirement section before approaching your employer to discuss whether they would support your claim for ill-health retirement.

What happens to your Teachers pension when you die?

The pension accumulated from your service Teaching in Scotland offers a number of valuable benefits to your surviving family members when you die. 

If you hold benefits in more than one section of the Teachers scheme, death in service benefits are only based on the regulations that apply to the most recent scheme you’ve been active in. Any survivor benefits that are based upon service within a previous scheme will be calculated separately.

Find out more about the Guaranteed Minimum Pension

If you were contributing to a public service occupational pension scheme between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1997, you were contracted out of the earnings related state additional pension.

During this period legislation ensured public service schemes guaranteed to pay scheme members at least as much as they would have received had they contributed to the state additional pension. This amount is known as the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP).

You can find out more about this subject, and how it affects some people who retired before 6 April 2016, by clicking the buttons below.

Guaranteed Minimum Pension

GMP Reconciliation