Term weeks alone always understates the figure
A term-time only role does not pay term weeks divided by a year. It pays term weeks plus statutory holiday, divided by a year, because a school cannot ask somebody to take their holiday during weeks the building is shut with nobody there to authorise it. The 5.6 weeks of statutory annual leave sits on top of the weeks worked. It cannot be counted as already taken during the summer break.
Leaving that out is the mistake made most often in a term-time pay calculation, and it only ever runs one way: it understates what somebody is owed. Thirty-nine term weeks with the holiday left out looks like a smaller job than thirty-nine term weeks plus 5.6 weeks of paid leave, and that gap turns up in every monthly payment.
Why 52.14 weeks, not 52
A calendar year is 365 days, which comes to 52.14 weeks. The round 52 everybody reaches for is short by a seventh of a week. Local authority and school payroll calculations conventionally use the more precise figure, because a flat 52 quietly gives away just over three hours of pay a year for every full-time-equivalent salary once compounded across the proportion sums. There is no single formula every employer uses, and that is what the written statement of employment particulars is for: it should name the method applied to your contract, and it is the one document that settles the question.
The 2024 change reversed Harpur Trust v Brazel, and it helps the traditional method rather than threatening it
Harpur Trust v Brazel, decided by the Supreme Court in 2022, said a part-year worker on a permanent contract was entitled to the full 5.6 weeks of statutory leave regardless of how few weeks a year they worked, calculated by averaging pay over the weeks worked. Many payroll systems had been under-paying against that standard for years without anyone in the school or the authority noticing.
The government's response, in force for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, set a different statutory minimum for part-year and irregular hours workers: leave now accrues at 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period, the same rate used across every other accrual tool on this site.
Here is the detail that gets missed. 12.07% was originally derived from a worker doing 46.4 weeks a year: 5.6 divided by 46.4 is 0.1207. For anybody working meaningfully less than that, which is every term-time role there is, 12.07% of the hours worked comes to less than a flat 5.6 weeks added on top of term weeks. So a school still using the traditional annualised formula is not exposed by the 2024 change: it already pays more than the new legal floor requires. The real risk sits with an employer moving away from the annualised method towards the bare 12.07% figure, for whom that is a genuine cut for a long-serving member of staff, not a change of paperwork.
What the two methods pay
Annualised: the full-time-equivalent salary, multiplied by (term weeks plus holiday weeks) over the weeks in a year, spread across 12 equal monthly payments so pay stays level through the school holidays. This is how most permanent term-time-only support staff are paid.
Hours worked: an hourly rate, derived from the full-time salary over a full year, paid only for hours worked in term weeks, with statutory holiday pay added on top at 12.07% of those hours. No pay in the weeks not worked beyond that accrued holiday. Both are lawful ways to meet the same underlying entitlement; they spread it differently across the year.
Pension, and the NJC spine, are not in this sum
Pension contributions, term-time working patterns that change part way through a school year, and the specific NJC pay spine points many local authority contracts are built on are all outside this tool. It works from a plain full-time-equivalent salary figure, because the pay spine itself varies by authority and by year, and guessing one would be worse than asking for the number directly off the contract.
Common questions
How is term-time only pay worked out?
The most common method takes the full-time-equivalent salary and pays a share of it based on (term weeks required, plus statutory holiday weeks, plus any extra INSET or training days) divided by the weeks in a year, then spreads that annual figure over 12 equal monthly payments. There is no single national formula though: local authorities and schools use different methods, and the written statement of employment particulars should say which one applies to a given contract.
Do I still get paid holiday if I only work in term time?
Yes. Term-time only staff are the textbook example of a "part-year worker" under the Working Time Regulations, and every worker is entitled to at least 5.6 weeks of statutory paid holiday regardless of the pattern worked. The school cannot ask somebody to take that leave during weeks it is shut, so it has to be added on top of the weeks worked rather than absorbed into the school holidays.
Why does dividing term weeks by 52 give too low a figure?
Because it leaves the 5.6 weeks of statutory holiday out entirely. Term weeks alone is only the time worked; the correct calculation adds the holiday entitlement to that before dividing by the weeks in a year. Leaving it out is the most common mistake in term-time pay calculations and it always understates the result, never overstates it.
Did the 2024 change to holiday law cut term-time pay?
Not for anyone still paid on the traditional annualised method used here, and in most cases the opposite. The 2024 reform set the statutory MINIMUM for part-year workers at 12.07% of hours worked, reversing the earlier Harpur Trust v Brazel position of a flat 5.6 weeks regardless of weeks worked. For a genuine term-time pattern, working well under 46.4 weeks a year, 12.07% of hours worked comes to LESS than a flat 5.6 weeks, so the traditional annualised formula already pays more than the new legal floor requires. The risk runs the other way: an employer switching from the annualised method to the bare statutory minimum is a real cut for long-serving staff, not just a change of paperwork.
What is the difference between the two methods this tool shows?
The annualised method is what most permanent term-time-only support staff are paid: a smooth, equal monthly salary all year round, including through the school holidays. The hours-worked method pays only for the hours worked, with statutory holiday pay added separately at 12.07% of those hours. Both are lawful; they spread the same underlying entitlement differently, and for a real term-time pattern the annualised method comes out higher.
Are bank holidays paid on top of the 5.6 weeks?
No. The UK statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks can include bank holidays rather than sitting on top of them; whether it does depends on the contract. There is no separate legal right to have bank holidays off with extra pay beyond the 5.6 weeks itself.