NJC Green Book pay and the cover supervisor grade
Cover Supervisors are employed on the NJC Green Book terms and conditions for local government services, alongside other school support staff. The NJC pay spine runs from SCP 3 upward in 2025/26 (SCP 2 was deleted from 1 April 2026). Most schools grade a Cover Supervisor at a higher point than a standard TA, reflecting the supervisory responsibility and the requirement to manage a whole class, typically somewhere in the SCP 12 to SCP 22 range. In 2025/26 that equates to a full-time-equivalent salary of roughly £28,598 (SCP 12) to £33,699 (SCP 22).
Unlike teachers, Cover Supervisors have no nationally defined pay scale for their specific role. Each school or local authority allocates a grade through its own job-evaluation process. This means the same job title in two neighbouring schools can sit on different SCPs, and a move between schools does not guarantee you keep the same SCP. When you join a new employer, negotiate the SCP explicitly in writing before starting - do not assume continuity from a previous post.
The April 2025 NJC award of 3.2 percent applied to all spine points from 1 April 2025. For 2026/27 the NJC pay round is subject to ongoing negotiation between employers and unions; any rate circulated during that process should not be treated as settled until both sides confirm the outcome. Back-pay for the 2025 award is processed as a lump sum; if you received no such lump sum after September 2025, check your payslip against the published 2025/26 SCP values and raise a query.
Some schools require Cover Supervisors to hold HLTA status, placing them on a higher SCP accordingly. Others treat Cover Supervision as a separate role at a lower grade than HLTA. Your contract should state both the grade and the SCP; if it mentions only a salary figure without an SCP, ask HR which SCP that corresponds to so you can track future awards correctly.
What a cover supervisor payslip looks like
A Cover Supervisor payslip shows: basic pay (the term-time-only monthly amount), any supervisory allowance if separately paid, and any additional hours for sessions worked beyond the contracted allocation. The deductions block contains PAYE tax, Class 1 NI, LGPS pension contribution and voluntary deductions. Because the post is term-time only, the monthly gross is a fixed figure throughout the year.
If the school uses cover supervisors for more classes per week than the contracted number, any excess should appear as additional hours or overtime, clearly showing the number of sessions and the hourly or session rate. Some schools absorb extra sessions informally without paying separately; you are entitled to payment for every session worked above your contract, so keep your own record of sessions covered.
The year-to-date column is particularly useful if you have recently had a pay award or an SCP change. Dividing the year-to-date gross by months elapsed gives you the true monthly run rate. If it is lower than expected, work back through the SCP values and check whether the award has been applied from the correct date.
Cover Supervisors do not receive the teacher's marking, planning and preparation allowance (MPPA) because they do not set or plan work. Nor do they receive Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) payments, which are teacher-only supplements. If you see either of those lines on your payslip it is almost certainly an error, and you should flag it rather than assume you are entitled to it - an overpayment identified late will be recovered as a deduction.
Cover Supervisor pay bands (UK 2026/27)
Gross figures reflect typical national pay-scale and ONS ASHE 2024 levels. Net figures are a simplified estimate using 2026/27 PAYE bands and a 5% pension assumption. Your real pension rate and tax code may differ - see the pension section below.
| Band | Gross / year | Net / year | Net / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower (25th percentile) | £25,200 | £20,716 | £1,726 |
| Median | £27,300 | £22,123 | £1,844 |
| Upper (75th percentile) | £30,600 | £24,334 | £2,028 |
Pay and additions on a cover supervisor payslip
- Basic pay (term-time-only)Your annual FTE salary for your NJC SCP, pro-rated for term-time hours. The formula is: FTE annual salary multiplied by (term weeks plus accrued statutory holiday, divided by 52). For a full-time cover supervisor working 37 hours per week across 39 term weeks, the fraction is roughly (43.2 divided by 52), about 0.831. The resulting annual term-time salary is divided by 12 to give the monthly gross shown on every payslip.
- Additional cover sessions or overtimeExtra sessions above the contracted allocation are regularly uncompensated in cover supervisor posts - not because they are unpayable, but because the informal nature of daily cover makes it easy to absorb. Every session worked above your contract should be paid. The rate is derived from your annual salary divided by contracted annual hours; some schools use a fixed session rate instead. Keep a daily log, raise any discrepancy at the end of each month rather than the end of term.
- London weighting supplementAn NJC contractual entitlement, not a discretionary top-up. Inner London, outer London and the fringe zones each carry different values; the zone is determined by your school's postcode. It should appear on every payslip and should be included in your LGPS pensionable pay. If it disappears from a payslip without explanation, that is an underpayment, not a rounding difference.
- Supply or bank cover (where applicable)Supply days in other schools through a separate agency arrive via the agency on their own payslip or assignment line, and are typically taxed on a BR code because your personal allowance is already committed to your main school contract. That is normally correct, not an error. If your combined annual income from both stays below the higher-rate threshold, any overpaid tax is reconciled by HMRC after the tax year ends.
- Occupational sick payNJC sick pay builds with service: one month full plus one month half in year one, reaching six months full plus six months half after five years. The drop during half-pay is calculated against contractual days actually absent in the period, mapped against a term-time pattern, so a two-week absence in a packed half-term can reduce a single payslip by a noticeable amount.
LGPS for Cover Supervisors
Cover Supervisors directly employed by maintained schools are automatically enrolled in the Local Government Pension Scheme. This is the same CARE defined-benefit scheme available to all NJC school support staff. A Cover Supervisor on a full-time 37-hour contract in term time will usually have a pensionable pay around the £23,000 to £28,000 range depending on SCP, which puts the LGPS contribution rate at 5.5 percent (up to £18,400 pensionable pay) or 5.8 percent (£18,401 to £29,000) for 2026/27.
Under the standard LGPS arrangement the scheme operates on a net-pay basis: the pension contribution is deducted from your gross before income tax is calculated, so you receive full tax relief through payroll without any separate claim to HMRC. This is different from a salary-sacrifice arrangement, where the contractual gross itself is reduced before both tax and NI are applied. Some employers offer Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) schemes through the LGPS that can be structured as salary sacrifice to provide NI savings on top of the tax relief; ask your HR team whether that option is available.
If you work in an academy rather than a maintained school, LGPS membership depends on whether the academy has opted to offer LGPS or uses a separate auto-enrolment scheme. Most academy trusts do maintain LGPS membership for their support staff, but it is not legally automatic in the same way as for maintained schools. Confirm with your academy HR team which scheme you are enrolled in, and check the pension line on your payslip confirms LGPS rather than a workplace pension provider.
Deductions on a cover supervisor payslip
- PAYE income tax. Assessed against your tax code, normally 1257L. Because the monthly gross is constant, tax is also constant month to month, which makes it easy to check: take your monthly gross, subtract the monthly personal allowance equivalent (£1,047.50 for a 1257L code), and apply the basic-rate tax of 20 percent to the balance. The result should closely match the tax line on your payslip. If it is materially different, your code may be wrong.
- National Insurance. Class 1 NI at 8 percent on monthly earnings between approximately £1,048 and £4,189. Most cover supervisors will have all earnings in the 8 percent band. NI is calculated period by period, not cumulatively, so a constant gross produces a constant NI deduction each month.
- LGPS pension contribution. Your tiered percentage of pensionable pay, deducted under the LGPS net-pay arrangement before income tax is calculated. This means your LGPS contribution reduces your taxable pay automatically - no separate tax relief claim is needed. Check the percentage each April when the bands are updated, and verify it reflects your actual annual pensionable pay.
- Union subscription. UNISON, NEU and GMB are the principal unions for cover supervisors. A payroll-deducted subscription appears by the union name. UNISON in particular has campaigned on the appropriate deployment and pay of cover supervisors relative to supply teachers; if you have concerns about workload or pay parity, your union is a useful first port of call.
- Salary sacrifice. Cycle-to-work or other salary-sacrifice schemes reduce your contractual gross before tax and NI, giving a tax and NI saving. Be aware that reducing gross below the NI primary threshold costs you NI credits for the state pension. For a cover supervisor on a mid-range gross well above threshold, the saving is genuine and normally worthwhile.
Common cover supervisor payslip errors
The mistakes that genuinely show up on this role's payslips, and how to spot them.
Your cover supervisor payslip checklist
- 1.Confirm the SCP on your payslip matches the grade in your contract
- 2.Check the monthly basic pay equals the FTE SCP annual salary multiplied by the term-time fraction divided by 12
- 3.Keep a session log and compare it to your contracted cover allocation each month
- 4.Check that the April 2025 pay award (3.2%) and any subsequent award have been applied from the correct date
- 5.Confirm your pension scheme is LGPS (not a private auto-enrolment provider), especially if you work for an academy
- 6.Check the LGPS contribution percentage against the 2026/27 band for your actual pensionable pay
- 7.Verify your tax code in your HMRC online account if you joined this school in the last 12 months
- 8.Review the year-to-date gross column each month to catch any systematic underpayment early
A worked example for a full-time Cover Supervisor on SCP 15
Consider a Cover Supervisor on SCP 15 in 2025/26, with a full-time-equivalent annual salary of £30,024. She works 37 hours a week, term-time only, across 39 working weeks including INSET days. Accrued statutory holiday is 5.6 times (39 divided by 52), approximately 4.2 weeks. Term-time fraction is (43.2 divided by 52), about 0.831. Annual term-time salary: £30,024 times 0.831 is about £24,950. Monthly gross: £24,950 divided by 12, roughly £2,079.
Monthly LGPS contribution at 5.8 percent on pensionable pay of £24,950: approximately £121. Under the LGPS net-pay arrangement, income tax is assessed on the post-pension figure (£2,079 minus £121 = £1,958). Tax at 1257L: roughly £182. Employee NI is assessed on the full gross: approximately £83. Net take-home: approximately £1,693. These are illustrative figures only, rounded, and are not a guarantee.
To illustrate the effect of a future pay award (the 2026/27 NJC rate is not yet settled - treat any figure cited here as illustrative only): if a subsequent award were to move the SCP 15 FTE value to about £31,016, the term-time annual salary would become roughly £25,774 and the monthly gross would rise to £2,148. The LGPS contribution stays in the same 5.8 percent band for 2026/27 (annual pensionable pay up to £29,000), so the pension deduction rises only modestly in line with the higher gross. Tax and NI each rise by a small amount. The net take-home increase would be around £45 to £50 per month, illustrating that a gross-pay increase produces a smaller net increase. Check your actual payslip after each award implementation using the PayslipIQ checker.
Cover Supervisor payslip questions
Am I paid on the teachers' pay scales as a Cover Supervisor?
No. Cover Supervisors are support staff employed under the NJC Green Book terms, not teachers employed under the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document. Your pay is set against NJC Spinal Column Points, and your pension is the Local Government Pension Scheme, not the Teachers Pension Scheme. Some cover supervisors hold QTS but remain on NJC terms because they are not contracted as teachers.
Why is my pay the same every month even during school holidays?
Because your annual term-time salary is spread equally across 12 months. The summer is not unpaid; it is a month in which you receive one twelfth of the annual salary you earned by working during term time. If you were paid only in the months you worked, you would receive a higher amount per month during term time but nothing in the holidays.
Should I be paid extra for covering more than my contracted sessions?
Yes. Every session you supervise above your contractual allocation should be paid. The rate is based on your annual salary divided by your contractual annual hours. Keep a record of every class covered and compare it to your contract each month. If uncompensated extra sessions have built up over time, you can raise a retrospective claim with the school, though recovering historic underpayments is significantly harder than catching them promptly.
What is the difference between being a Cover Supervisor and an HLTA?
An HLTA has achieved a specific national assessment status and can plan and deliver learning activities independently. A Cover Supervisor supervises work already set by the teacher and is not expected to plan or teach new content. In practice the roles can overlap, but the pay grade and title should reflect the actual responsibilities. If you are being asked to do HLTA work without HLTA pay, speak to your line manager and union about a grade review.
Does my LGPS pension still build up during school holidays?
Yes. Your LGPS pensionable pay is your annual contractual salary (the term-time pay spread over 12 months), and contributions and accrual occur in every month including August. The scheme treats the equal monthly payment as your ongoing pensionable pay throughout the year. This is one of the benefits of the equalised payment arrangement.
What happens to my pension if my school converts to an academy?
Under TUPE, your existing terms and conditions are preserved at the point of transfer, including LGPS membership. Most academies choose to continue offering LGPS to support staff; however, the academy is not bound by future NJC pay awards in the same way a maintained school is. Ask the academy trust to confirm in writing that you will remain in the LGPS and that future pay will continue to follow NJC awards. Your union can advise further on what to request before transfer.
The bottom line
The cover supervisor pay setup is designed to be steady, and mostly it is - until extra sessions accumulate unpaid, or a pay award slips through without being applied, or the LGPS rate is not updated after a spine-point change. None of those errors are flagged by the payslip itself. They only show up when you compare the monthly figure to the published SCP value and your session log. That comparison takes about ten minutes and is worth doing every term.
The free PayslipIQ checker can help you run those comparisons in plain language. Raise any shortfall in writing with your payroll team promptly - the longer an underpayment runs, the harder back-payment becomes to recover. PayslipIQ provides educational estimates only and is not a substitute for advice from your employer, your LGPS fund or HMRC.
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Salary estimates: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024, full-time gross annual pay by SOC 2020 occupation. Figures rounded to nearest £100. PayslipIQ provides educational information and estimated calculations only. It does not provide tax, legal, financial, payroll, pension or employment advice, and is not affiliated with HMRC, the NHS or any employer. Always verify your pay, tax code, deductions and pension with your employer's payroll team, HMRC or your pension provider before acting.