Teachers Active member Newsletter - 19 August 2026
Welcome to the latest edition of the SPPA’s member newsletter. In this edition we share information about your pension benefits and provide an update on the 2015 Remedy.
Your 2026 Annual Benefit Statement
Annual Benefit Statements (ABS) for most members who are paying into their pension scheme will be available to view on Engage from Monday 31 August.
An ABS provides an estimate of your pension benefits up to 31 March 2026.
The estimate is based on information which is provided to us by your employer.
Visit our website to sign in or register on Engage.
Your State Pension age
Your State Pension age (SPA) is the earliest you can start to receive your state pension. This is decided by the UK government and is based on your date of birth.
Current legislation increases the SPA to 67 for those retiring between 2026 and 2028 and a further increase to 68 for those retiring between 2044 and 2046.
What this means for you
The current SPA timeline is shown in the table below:
| Date of Birth | State Pension age |
| Before 6 April 1960 | 66 |
| 6 April 1960 – 5 March 1961 | Between 66 and 67 |
| 6 March 1961 – 5 April 1977 | 67 |
| 6 April 1977 – 5 April 1978 | Between 67 and 68 |
| On or after 6 April 1978 | 68 |
You can check your exact State Pension age on the GOV.UK website.
Explaining the normal and minimum pension age for your Teachers’ pension
What do we mean when we say normal and minimum pension age?
Your normal pension age (NPA) is when you can apply for your full pension benefits from the Teachers’ pension scheme. The NPA for our Teachers’ schemes are:
- Scottish Teachers' Superannuation Scheme (STSS): age 60 or age 65 if you joined the scheme on or after 1 April 2007
- 2015 scheme: your state pension age
Your minimum pension age is the earliest age that you can take your pension benefits.
The minimum pension age for the STSS and 2015 scheme is currently age 55. However, this will increase to age 57 on 6 April 2028.
If you choose to retire early, your pension benefits would be reduced for each year below your NPA.
Find out more about your retirement options on our website.
Ill health retirement
If you become ill during your teaching career and are unable to work, you can apply for ill health retirement.
If you have paid into the pension scheme for at least 2 years, you may be able to access your pension before your normal pension age (NPA).
There are two types of ill health retirement in the Scottish Teachers’ pension scheme:
Partial Incapacity Benefits
Partial benefits will be paid if you are permanently unable to work as a teacher but able to undertake other employment.
Total Incapacity Benefits
Total benefits will be paid if you are permanently unable to carry out your job as a teacher and your ability to carry out any other employment is impaired by more than 90%.
Ill health pensions are not reduced if you successfully apply before your NPA and the amount you receive depends on your individual circumstances.
More information about ill health retirement is available on our website.
2015 Remedy
The aim of 2015 Remedy is to put right the discrimination that occurred when public sector pensions were reformed in 2015. If you are eligible, you will be given a choice of which benefits you want to take for the Remedy period (1 April 2015 – 31 March 2022) when you retire. While you are building up your pension, the SPPA will provide eligible members with an annual statement called an ABS-RSS which shows benefit estimates in the legacy (final salary) and reformed (CARE) schemes.
2026 ABS-RSS delivery update
Work is underway to prepare Annual Benefit Statements (ABS). If you are eligible for the 2015 Remedy, you will get an ABS combined with a Remediable Saving Statement (ABS-RSS). We intend to issue these by 31 August 2026. Building on progress made last year, most eligible members have now received a statement. However, despite our best intentions, some members are still waiting to receive one. We are sorry for this and understand how frustrating it must be. We are continuing to identify solutions to enable us to provide statements in cases where additional member circumstances make the calculations more complex.
You can find out more by visiting our website and the information about Annual Benefit Statements. If you are four months from retirement, you can request an estimate.
Keeping your information up to date
Have you moved house or changed your name? You can login to Engage, our online pension portal to:
- view your pension documents
- update your personal details
Planning to retire soon?
Engage sends an email to verify your identity when you login.
If you registered for Engage using your work email, make sure to update this to a personal email before your final working day.
Changing to a personal email address means you can access your account after you retire.
To update your email address:
- login to your Engage account and select ‘Go to details and settings’
- select ‘Manage my personal details' and navigate to the login email section
- select ‘Change email’ and enter your personal email address
- select ‘Save Changes’
- check your inbox for a one-time passcode, type it into Engage and click ‘Submit’
Help us improve our services
Have you contacted us recently? We would like to hear about your experience.
Your feedback will help us understand how well our services are meeting your needs and identify areas for improvement.
If you would like to share your experience, please complete our short survey.
As part of the survey, you will also have the option to register your interest in taking part in future user research. If you choose to sign up, we will keep your details secure and may invite you to participate in activities such as workshops, interviews, or testing of new services and forms.