Short answer
Why this calculator exists right now
The National Education Union opened a formal strike ballot of teachers and support staff in England over pay and school funding, running from 3 October to 15 December 2026. Whatever your own view on industrial action, knowing the real cash cost of a strike day — precisely, not roughly — is the first practical question most teachers actually have before deciding how to vote or how to plan around a strike date.
1/365th
Standard strike-day deduction basis
The calculation most people get wrong
It's a genuinely common assumption that because teachers work roughly 195 term-time days a year, a strike day should be docked at 1/195th of salary — treating your pay as if it were earned only across the days you're actually in the classroom. That's not how it works. Your annual salary was calculated and divided into 365ths from the start (the same basis used for calculating daily rates for unpaid leave, sickness absence beyond your entitlement, and other partial-year adjustments), and strike-day deductions follow the same convention. Using 1/195ths would actually cost you more per day, not less — so if anything, the standard approach is more favourable to staff than the "term-time only" logic might suggest.
A small number of employers do use a working-days convention (around 1/260th, excluding weekends but not term-time patterns), which produces a slightly higher daily figure than 1/365th. If a real deduction on your payslip doesn't match this calculator, that's the most likely explanation — check your own school or local authority's stated policy, which is usually in your contract or available from payroll.
This tool doesn't take a position on striking
What a strike day doesn't affect
A single unpaid strike day has no meaningful effect on your Teachers' Pension Scheme benefits (no pension contribution is due on pay you didn't receive, and this doesn't reset your Normal Pension Age or affect continuous service for other purposes), and doesn't affect your entitlement to sick pay, maternity pay, or annual leave calculations, which are all based on your normal contracted salary rather than pay actually received in any given period.
Frequently asked questions
How much pay do you actually lose per strike day as a teacher? +
Most schools and local authorities deduct 1/365th of your annual salary for each strike day — a calendar-day basis, not a working-day or term-time-day basis. On a £38,000 salary that's about £104 per strike day. Some employers use 1/260th (working days only), which comes out slightly higher per day — check your own school's actual policy if you want to be precise.
Is the strike-day deduction based on term-time days (1/195ths) since that's what teachers actually work? +
No — this is a common misconception. Even though a teacher's contracted working pattern is usually term-time only (around 195 days), the standard convention for docking strike pay uses the full calendar year (365 days) as the denominator, exactly the same as how your annual salary was calculated to begin with. Using 195ths would actually produce a LARGER deduction per day, not smaller.
Does a strike day affect your Teachers' Pension? +
A day of unpaid strike action generally means no pension contribution is deducted or accrued for that specific day, since there's no pay to calculate it from — the effect on your lifetime pension from a single strike day is negligible. It does not affect your Normal Pension Age or scheme membership.
Do you get strike pay from your union? +
Some unions offer a strike fund or hardship payment to members in good standing during industrial action, but this varies by union and by the specific dispute, and is typically much less than your normal daily pay. Check directly with your union (NEU, NASUWT, NAHT, ASCL) for what's available for a specific ballot.
Can my school refuse to tell me how much will be deducted? +
No — you're entitled to know how your pay is calculated. If a strike goes ahead, your payslip should show any deduction clearly, and you can ask your school's payroll team for the calculation in advance.