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Education pay scales in Ireland

Teachers, special needs assistants and school leaders are all paid on published incremental scales set by circular. The SNA pay scale, the teacher scales and the principal allowances are all here, side by side.

Every role side by side

5 roles covered so far, ordered by starting salary, each from its entry grade to its highest. Every grade and scale within them has its own row further down. The ceiling column includes any long service increments, and the years column is how long it takes to get there.

Grade Starts on Ceiling Years to ceiling
Special Needs Assistant€31,664€50,16117 years
Primary school teacher€45,833€84,41224 years
School principal€45,833€84,41224 years
Post-primary teacher€47,417€86,26524 years
Lecturer (Technological University and Institute of Technology)€47,572€135,4949 years
Lowest entry point
€31,664

Special Needs Assistant, about €2,293 a month take-home.

Highest ceiling
€135,494

Lecturer (Technological University and Institute of Technology), reached after 9 years.

Every grade, one row each

All 11 grades on the 2026 scales, each on its own row, ordered by starting salary. The ceiling includes any long service increment. Type to find yours.

Grade Starts on Ceiling
Special Needs Assistant€31,664€50,161
Primary school teacher€45,833€84,412
School principal: Primary teacher scale€45,833€84,412
Post-primary teacher€47,417€86,265
School principal: Post-primary teacher scale€47,417€86,265
Lecturer (Technological University and Institute of Technology): Assistant Lecturer (new)€47,572€64,372
Lecturer (Technological University and Institute of Technology): Assistant Lecturer€52,181€64,372
Lecturer (Technological University and Institute of Technology): Lecturer€69,625€107,727
Lecturer (Technological University and Institute of Technology): Senior Lecturer I€94,736€117,279
Lecturer (Technological University and Institute of Technology): Senior Lecturer II€97,917€125,890
Lecturer (Technological University and Institute of Technology): Senior Lecturer III€105,346€135,494

How pay works in this sector

Education is the sector where when you started matters most. Anyone appointed before 1 January 2011 is on an older scale and keeps qualification allowances worth up to €7,734 a year. Anyone appointed since is on the newer scale, which pays more at the bottom but carries no qualification allowances at all, because they were abolished for new beneficiaries from 1 February 2012. Two teachers side by side in the same staffroom, doing the same job, can be on quite different money for that reason alone.

The newer teaching scales also carry incremental skips at points 4, 8 and 12. When you are due to move to one of those points you get a normal increment plus a skip, so the top of the scale arrives after 24 years rather than 27. The skipped points still exist on the scale with a value printed beside them, you simply pass over them, which is why counting the points on the page gives you a bigger number than the years it actually takes.

A note on words, because it trips up anyone who did not grow up here. In Ireland a primary school is usually called a national school, and a national school teacher and a primary school teacher are the same job on the same scale. There is no separate national school pay scale to go looking for.

School leadership is not a grade. This is where most salary sites go wrong. A principal does not move onto a principal scale: they keep their own point on the teacher scale and receive an allowance on top, and that allowance is set by the size of the school. Two principals with the same title can therefore be thousands apart, and a long serving teacher who becomes a principal in a small school sees a smaller jump than the job title suggests.

Special Needs Assistants are on their own scale entirely, not a fraction of a teacher one, and it has its own two versions depending on when you were appointed. Lecturers are a different world again: Technological University and Institute of Technology staff run from Assistant Lecturer up to Senior Lecturer III on scales set separately from the school sector.

Questions people ask most

What are the teacher pay scales in Ireland for 2026?
Two separate scales, one for primary and one for post-primary, each with an older version for anyone appointed before 1 January 2011 and a newer one for everyone since. Every point of all of them is on the grade pages linked from here, taken from the Department of Education circulars rather than from salary surveys.
Is a national school teacher paid the same as a primary school teacher?
Yes, they are the same job. In Ireland a primary school is commonly called a national school, and there is no separate scale for one or the other. If you are searching for a national school pay scale, the primary teacher scale is the one you want.
How much does a school principal earn in Ireland?
There is no single answer, and that is the honest one. A principal keeps their own point on the teacher scale and receives an allowance on top set by the size of the school. Two principals with the same title and different school sizes are thousands apart, so any site quoting one principal salary is guessing.
What is the SNA pay scale in Ireland?
Special Needs Assistants are on a scale of their own, not a share of a teacher scale, and there are two versions depending on whether you were appointed before or after the 2011 change. Every point, the long service increment and the substitute hourly rates are on the SNA pay scale page.
What are incremental skips on a teacher scale?
Points 4, 8 and 12 on the newer scales are skipped over. When you are due to arrive at one you take a normal increment plus the skip, so the top of the scale comes after 24 years rather than 27. The skipped points are still printed on the scale with a value, which is why counting points overstates how long the climb takes.
Do teachers still get qualification allowances?
Only if you were appointed before 1 January 2011. Those teachers keep allowances worth up to €7,734 a year. They were abolished for new beneficiaries from 1 February 2012, so anyone appointed since gets none, which is the single biggest reason two teachers on the same point can be on different money.
Are primary and post-primary teachers paid the same?
Close but not identical. They are set by separate circulars and post-primary starts and finishes slightly higher. The structure is the same on both: the same 2011 divide, the same skips at points 4, 8 and 12, and the same rule that allowances are gone for anyone appointed since.
When do teacher salaries change next?
When a revising circular is published under the public service agreement in force. These pages are updated from the circular when a new one lands, and the date each page was last checked is printed at the bottom of it.

Pick a grade

Every grade in this sector, including any kept out of the table above because their pay is not a salary.

Primary school teacher Post-primary teacher Special Needs Assistant School principal Lecturer (Technological University and Institute of Technology)
All public sector pay scales →