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Payment

The levelling up premium payment ranges from 3,000 to 6,000, from the 2024 to 2025 academic year, depending on the school you teach in.

You can apply from September in the 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 academic years.

Eligible teachers of the following subjects can claim a levelling up premium payment for teaching, in eligible state-funded secondary schools:

• chemistry
• computing
• mathematics
• physics

Eligibility changes from September 2024

For academic years 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026, eligible school and college teachers will be able to claim a levelling up premium payment in the first 5 years of teaching:

• STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects
• certain technical shortage subjects

Up to 6,000 will be available in the 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 academic years.

We will publish eligibility criteria in spring 2024.

When to apply

Use the table to find out when you can apply for a levelling up premium payment. If you are a postgraduate, use the academic year your ITT course started. If you are an undergraduate, use the academic year your ITT course finished.

The academic year runs from 1 September to 31 August. Applications open in September of the year shown.

Eligibility criteria

You must meet the eligibility criteria to be able to claim any additional payments. The published criteria relates to the 2023 to 2024 claims window and will be updated to reflect 2024 to 2025 eligibility.

From September 2024 to March 2025, you will be able to answer some questions to find out what additional payments you are eligible to claim. You will only be able to claim either an early-career payment or levelling up premium payment per academic year, even if you are eligible to claim for both payments.

Learn more about what additional payments are available.

School eligibility and payment amount

Levelling up premium payments are offered to teachers in schools identified as having a high need for teachers. If you teach in an eligible school in an education investment area, you will receive a higher payment.

List of eligible and non-eligible schools for levelling up premium payment (CSV, 476 KB).

Methodology

We have produced a methodology document (PDF, 130 KB, 2 pages) which explains our funding approach.

Qualifications

To claim, you must have completed at least one of the following:

• an ITT course specialising in mathematics, physics, chemistry or computing
• a UK undergraduate or postgraduate degree related to mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing on the JACS 3.0 principal subject codes or with a relevant higher education classification of subjects (HECoS) code (ODS, 9.24 KB)
• an equivalent non-UK degree

If you were awarded qualified teacher status (QTS) through assessment only or overseas recognition in an eligible academic year, you will also be eligible.

QTS and QTLS

You must have either:

• QTS
• qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS) status and membership of the Society for Education and Training (SET)

Employment

You must be employed as a teacher in a state-funded secondary school (or middle-deemed secondary school) in England when you apply for the payment. State-funded schools include:

• local authority-maintained secondary schools
• academies, free schools or multi-academy trusts
• local-authority-maintained or non-maintained special schools

You must have spent at least 50% of your contracted hours allocated to teaching one or more of the eligible subjects at the time of the application.

Supply, independent school and sixth-form college teachers

If you are a supply teacher, you must:

• be employed directly by the school
• have been working for at least one term before applying

If you are employed by a private supply-teaching agency or teach in an independent school or sixth-form college, you are not eligible.

Part-time teachers

If you are a part-time teacher, you are eligible for the same levelling up premium payment amount as a full-time teacher.

You still need to meet all of the eligibility criteria.

Breaks in teaching

You are allowed to have some breaks in your normal employment such as:

• sickness
• maternity, paternity, parental or adoption leave

You should apply for payments as usual during these breaks before the claim window closes each year.

Performance

You must not currently be subject to any:

• formal performance measures as a result of continuous poor teaching standards
• disciplinary action

Payments and deductions

Number of payments

The Department for Education (DfE) makes the payment in one lump sum.

If you are eligible for both the levelling up premium and the early-career payments, you can only claim one of these additional payments in the same academic year.

However, if you are eligible to claim back your student loan repayments, you will be able to claim these as well as a levelling up premium payment or an early-career payment.

Taxable income and National Insurance

DfE will pay Income Tax up to the basic rate and National Insurance for the payment on your behalf. The basic rate of tax is currently based on an annual income of 12,571 to 50,270, taxed at a rate of 20%.

You will need to pay any Income Tax over the higher rate through PAYE if you become or already are a higher rate taxpayer. The higher rate is currently an income of 50,271 to 125,140, taxed at a rate of 40%.

You can review the tax bands updated on Income Tax rates and personal allowances.

The payment is not part of your

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