Eligibility

Employers have a statutory responsibility to inform employees about scheme benefits. If employers are approached by employees seeking financial advice on the various options open to them, they should be informed that neither they nor SPPA can give such advice and that they should contact an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA).

Each eligible employee must decide whether to remain in the scheme or not. 

Before reaching a decision on membership of the scheme, employees should consider carefully the full package of benefits and relative cost.

Each eligible teacher on commencement of pensionable employment will be included in the scheme automatically, unless they have made an election not to join.

Members may choose to 'Opt Out' of the scheme at any time and should do so by completing form STSS: (OPT OUT).

If employees decide not to participate in the scheme, they can at any time join the scheme at a later date.

There is no restriction on the number of occasions a member may opt in or out of the scheme, however, members must be aware that by opting out they are electing to opt out of the scheme not just that employment.

A person may join the scheme if they are over the age of 16 and under the age of 75. A member is considered to be a member of the scheme unless they are on nil pay, at this point they are deemed to no longer be in pensionable employment and are not a contributing member of the scheme.

What is Membership?

Membership is the length of time a member has contributed to the scheme. It is used in the calculation of benefits and for determining eligibility to benefits. In order to qualify for scheme benefits members have to accrue a certain amount of membership. All whole time contributing membership counts at full calendar length towards qualifying and reckonable membership.

All contributing part time membership counts at full calendar length towards qualifying membership but is converted to the whole time equivalent for reckonable membership.

Maximum Membership and Age Restrictions

For NPA 60 and 65, Members can accrue a maximum of 45 years pensionable membership in total. If a member achieves 45 years membership and continues in employment (but not contributing to the scheme) they will be covered for Death in Service benefits. These benefits will be calculated using the service and salary at the date the contributions ceased plus any relevant pension increase. Members of the CARE scheme do not have a maximum membership but must leave the scheme prior to the day of their 75th Birthday.

There are four types of membership:

1. Qualifying
2. Reckonable
3. Contributing
4. Non-contributing

The four types of membership also incorporate:

• whole time membership
• part-time membership.

This is dependant upon the employee's contracted hours at the time of contributing to the scheme.

Qualifying membership

Qualifying membership is membership that counts towards determining eligibility to benefits, but is not always reckonable in the calculation of those benefits. (The relating regulation can be found under Part B pensionable employment of the scheme regulations).

The following are taken as qualifying service:

• all contributing membership (reckonable for benefit purposes);
• part-time pensionable service i.e. the calendar length of time rather than the service actually worked;
• transferred in service – the actual membership in a former scheme when a member transfers those benefits to the STSS.

NB: in some cases the service credit given may not be on a day for day basis.

It should be noted that all reckonable membership is qualifying membership but not all qualifying membership is reckonable.

The following does not count as Qualifying Membership:

if a member has an additional service contract the service being bought cannot be used to determine their qualifying service.

Reckonable membership

Reckonable membership is membership that counts both for deciding entitlement to benefits and for calculating them. Membership that counts for reckonable purposes includes:

• any period of pensionable employment in respect of which the member pays contributions to the scheme
• any period of additional service that the member has purchased
• any period of service credited to the member as part of a transfer.

Membership that does not count for reckonable purposes includes:

• any period of employment in respect of which SPPA has paid contributions to another occupational scheme (transferred out service)
• any period of service that has been used in the calculation of previous benefits
• any period where the employee has opted out of the scheme
• any period where scheme has discharged liability (e.g. refunds)
• any period of unauthorised or unpaid leave where contributions are not payable, including strike days.

Contributing Membership

This is membership during where contributions have been or are deemed to have been paid and counts towards both qualifying and reckonable membership. Membership still counts as contributing even when a member is on paid sick leave, paid maternity/paternity leave.

Non Contributing Membership

This is membership during which no contributions are paid. Non contributing membership includes:

• any period of unpaid sick leave.
• any period of authorised unpaid leave where contributions are not recovered e.g. unpaid maternity leave any period of unauthorised unpaid leave where contributions are not payable, including strike days

Whole Time Membership

A member is employed whole time if their contract of employment is on a whole time basis, i.e. they work the number of whole time conditioned hours recognised in their particular job (also referred to as full time). All whole time contributing membership counts at full calendar length towards qualifying and reckonable membership.

Part-time Membership

A member is considered part-time in the scheme if he/she works less than the whole time conditioned hours for their job. Benefits are based on the actual part-time service but membership is based on the calendar length the service accrued.

Concurrency

Part-time members may contribute to more than 1 employment, but the total membership must not exceed 365 calendar days in each year.

Calculation of part-time service

STSS Employing Authorities are directly responsible for submitting and calculating the numbers of days in the scheme a part-time member has accrued. A member's pensionable service in part-time employment will not count at its full calendar length but will be calculated using the following calculation:

If the pensionable service is measured in hours

Number Hours per Week / Whole Time Conditioned Hours x 365**

The above is sometimes referred to as the part-time fraction e.g. 18.75 / 37.5 would be a member working half of the whole-time hours.

**Or whole time days in period to be calculated.

Additional Hours Worked for Part-time Members

A part-time member who works hours in addition to their normal working week will be pensionable on the extra hours worked up to full time conditioned hours.

Formula used to calculate this is:

Total Number of Hours, Including Additional Part-Time Hours / Number of Whole Time Conditioned Hours for the Year x 365**

Part-time members may contribute to more than 1 employment, but the total membership must not exceed 365 calendar days in each year.

Calculation of part-time service

STSS Employing Authorities are directly responsible for submitting and calculating the numbers of days in the scheme a part-time member has accrued. A member's pensionable service in part-time employment will not count at its full calendar length but will be calculated using the following calculation:

If the pensionable service is measured in hours

Number Hours per Week / Whole Time Conditioned Hours x 365**

The above is sometimes referred to as the part-time fraction e.g. 18.75 / 37.5 would be a member working half of the whole-time hours.

**Or whole time days in period to be calculated.

Additional Hours Worked for Part-time Members

A part-time member who works hours in addition to their normal working week will be pensionable on the extra hours worked up to full time conditioned hours.

Formula used to calculate this is:

Total Number of Hours, Including Additional Part-Time Hours / Number of Whole Time Conditioned Hours for the Year x 365**

The Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme (STPS) is the default pension scheme for all teachers working in local authorities and some independent schools in Scotland, membership is also extended to lecturers working in Scottish further education colleges and post-1992 universities, and satellite campuses for Scottish institutions based elsewhere.

Following the consultation response published in March 2025 on proposed changes to eligibility criteria, the scheme regulations were updated from 1 August 2025 to specify other roles that could join the STPS.

While the rules remain generally unchanged, eligibility was extended to Music Instructors and Quality Improvement Manager roles which were not previously entitled to membership of the scheme.

Local Authorities – SNCT roles

Within Local Authorities, all roles covered by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) terms and conditions are eligible for membership of the STPS.  Those roles include:

• Teachers;
• Chartered / Lead / Principal / Depute / Head Teacher;
• Music Instructor (excluding self-employed Music Instructors);
• Educational Psychologist;
• Senior / Depute Principal / Principal Educational Psychologist;
• Education Support Officer;
• Quality Improvement Officer;
• Quality Improvement Manager

Members starting employment with a local authority on or after 1 August 2025 in one of these roles should be enrolled automatically into the STPS when commencing that employment.  There is no requirement for those employees to have previously been a member of the STPS to be eligible for scheme membership.

Should the roles covered by SNCT terms and conditions change, or new roles be created, we will assess whether the scheme regulations need to be updated accordingly.

Arrangements are in place to cover existing members of the STPS who no longer meet the updated eligibility criteria, and existing members of the Local Government Pension Scheme who have become eligible for STPS membership as a result of the updated criteria. Further information on how existing employees should be treated can be found in the section relating to Transitional Arrangements.

Lecturers in further education

There is generally no change to previous rules, meaning that lecturers employed in further education colleges and post-1992 universities are eligible for membership of the STPS. 

Support staff who are not employed as lecturers are not eligible for membership of the STPS.

Secondments – extension of time limits

From 1 August 2025, if a member of the STPS is seconded to a role connected to education, the control or supervision of teachers and lecturers, or services ancillary to education, they will remain eligible to continue STPS membership during that secondment up to a maximum period of four years.

Once the secondment period ends, if the member returns to their substantive teaching role they will continue membership of the STPS. However, if the member gains substantive employment in the previously seconded role, and that role is not eligible for STPS membership, they should be moved into the appropriate pension scheme for that role from the commencement date of the substantive post.

Senior Manager Posts in Local Authorities, Further Education Colleges and Universities 

Senior Manager roles are not generally eligible for STPS membership, and should not be advertised as having this entitlement.  These roles would normally be entitled to membership of an alternative pension scheme, such as the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) or an alternative provided by the employer.  To provide continuity of pension provision for successful candidates and remove barriers to recruitment for employers, however, members may be able to retain STPS membership following recruitment under certain circumstances.

From 1 August 2025, once recruitment for a Senior Manager role is concluded, if the successful candidate is an existing member of the STPS, provided the promoted post is connected to the control and supervision of teachers, they may remain eligible to continued membership of the STPS in that management post. In order to retain membership of the scheme, however, those promoted to a senior manager position must have previously been a member of the STPS, or a corresponding scheme in England and Wales or Northern Ireland within twelve months of commencing that role. 

Entitlement to continuing membership of the STPS should be assessed and confirmed by the employer.  Where the employer is not aware of the employee’s previous pension provision – such as where the employee is moving from a different employer – the new employer will need to establish whether the member has had previous membership of the STPS, or a corresponding scheme in England, Wales or Northern Ireland within twelve months of the commencement date of the management role.

In these cases, it is the employee’s responsibility to provide appropriate evidence to the employer, for example a recent annual benefit statement confirming membership of the STPS or corresponding scheme within the previous twelve months. If the employer is not satisfied that the member has had previous membership of the teachers’ pension scheme, that member cannot continue to contribute to the STPS and should be enrolled into the appropriate pension scheme for the role. 

This provision does not cover strategic management roles such as Chief Executive of a local authority where responsibility covers multiple areas and is not specifically focused on education, as this cannot be considered to be connected to the control or supervision of teachers. However, roles such as Principal or Vice Principal of a college would be in scope as they would be considered to be connected to the control and supervision of teachers or lecturers.

Individuals who move from lecturing to research roles in Higher Education Institutions (HEI)

Research roles are not generally eligible for membership of the STPS as they do not involve front line teaching. Normally those roles would be entitled to membership of an alternative pension scheme provided by the employer. 

To provide continuity of pension provision for those who move between lecturing and research roles, however, from 1 August 2025, an existing member of the STPS moving from a lecturing role to a research role within a Higher Education Institution in Scotland, can remain eligible to continue membership of the STPS.  

To retain membership of the scheme, those members who move to a research role must have previously been a member of the STPS or corresponding scheme in England and Wales or Northern Ireland within twelve months of commencing that role. 

Entitlement to continuing membership of the STPS should be assessed and confirmed by the employer.  Where the employer is not aware of the employee’s previous pension provision – such as where the employee is moving from a different employer – the new employer will need to establish whether the member has had previous membership of the STPS, or the corresponding scheme in England, Wales or Northern Ireland within twelve months of the commencement date of the research role.

In these cases it is the employee’s responsibility to provide appropriate evidence to the employer, for example a recent annual benefit statement confirming membership of the STPS or corresponding scheme within the previous twelve months. If the employer is not satisfied that the member has had previous membership of the teachers’ pension scheme, that member cannot continue to contribute to the STPS and should be enrolled into the appropriate pension scheme for that role.

To provide consistency of pension provision for existing employees, transitional arrangements are in place to protect members covered by the SNCT terms and conditions who meet the updated eligibility criteria but are currently members of the LGPS. Those employees will generally be allowed to continue membership of LGPS until they leave their post, however, they can opt to leave their current pension provision and to join the STPS before leaving their post if they wish to do so. 

Similarly, members who meet the updated eligibility criteria relating to senior manager posts, research roles and seconded roles, who were enrolled into an alternative pension scheme such as LGPS, but have subsequently become eligible under the updated rules which came into effect on 1 August 2025 will also be covered by the transitional arrangements and can remain in their current pension scheme. They can, however, opt out of that scheme and join STPS if they wish to do so, if they meet the updated criteria, and providing they were a member of the STPS or corresponding TPS in England & Wales or Northern Ireland within 12 months of starting that role.

In the scenarios noted above, the pension accrued in the alternative pension scheme for the period prior to joining or re-joining STPS will remain in that scheme, subject to meeting the minimum qualifying period. However, members may have the option to transfer their pension into STPS after joining or re-joining. Any request to transfer must be made to SPPA within 12 months of joining or re-joining the STPS. Members may wish to consider seeking independent financial advice prior to making any decisions relating to changing pension schemes or transferring benefits.

Existing members of the STPS whose current post no longer meets the updated eligibility criteria can continue membership of the STPS until they leave their current post. 

Any subsequent posts should be assessed based on the criteria detailed in the guidance contained in Teachers’ Circular 2025/07.