How Burgundy Book sick pay works

The Burgundy Book is the national agreement governing sick pay for school teachers in England and Wales. The headline numbers are generous, but the structure has a tail you need to understand.

Sick pay entitlement under the Burgundy Book scales with length of service. The schedule is the legal minimum that schools following the Burgundy Book must provide; many local authorities and academy trusts pay more than this, but the floor is:

• First year of service — after the first four months, 25 working days at full pay followed by 50 working days at half pay.
• Second year — 50 working days at full pay followed by 50 working days at half pay.
• Third year — 75 working days at full pay followed by 75 working days at half pay.
• Fourth year and beyond — 100 working days at full pay followed by 100 working days at half pay.

Two important details that often catch teachers out:

• The entitlement runs April to April, not from each new period of absence. If you've used part of your entitlement earlier in the year, you start any new absence with what's left over, not a fresh allowance.
• Sick pay is only paid for working days — bank holidays, weekends and school holidays don't count, even though many schools pay teachers across the full calendar year.

Free schools, academies and independent schools sometimes operate outside the Burgundy Book and may have their own schemes (often modelled on it, sometimes more or less generous). Always check the specifics of your contract before relying on the headline numbers.

Why teachers commonly take out income protection

Burgundy Book sick pay is generous on a short-to-medium timeline. The case for personal income protection is the long tail — illnesses or injuries that take more than half a year out of the classroom.

For ordinary absences — a fortnight with flu, a few weeks recovering from minor surgery, a broken bone — Burgundy Book pay is more than sufficient. Teachers don't typically need income protection to cover these.

Where personal income protection is useful is the longer absences:

• Stress, anxiety and depression — mental-health absences make up a meaningful share of long-term teacher sick leave. Workplace mental-health conditions can take months to recover from, easily exceeding even fourth-year Burgundy entitlements.
• Cancer treatment — chemotherapy, radiotherapy and recovery often run 6–18 months. Burgundy entitlement runs out during the second half of most cancer treatment journeys.
• Major surgery and orthopaedic recovery — joint replacement, spinal surgery, complex orthopaedic injuries can require 6+ months out of work plus a phased return.
• Chronic conditions — long COVID, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia and similar conditions can produce extended periods of being unable to teach.

Income protection pays a monthly tax-free benefit (typically up to 65% of pre-tax salary on incomes under £60,000) for as long as you remain unable to do your specific job, up to the policy's chosen end date. For most teachers buying cover for the first time, the policy is structured to start paying when Burgundy half-pay ends or shortly before, and to continue paying through the rest of any extended absence.

Setting the deferred period to align with sick pay

The deferred period is the gap between you becoming unable to work and the policy starting to pay. Choosing it well is the single most important decision in setting up teacher income protection — and the one that has the biggest impact on premium.

UK income protection deferred periods are typically 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks. The longer the deferred period, the cheaper the policy. For teachers there's a clear logic to which one to pick:

• 26 weeks (6 months) — usually the right answer for teachers in their fourth year of service or beyond. Burgundy entitlement covers full pay for 100 working days (~5 months) and half pay for a further 100 working days (~5 months), so a 26-week deferred period broadly aligns with the transition to half pay. Premium savings vs a 4-week deferred are typically 30–40%.
• 13 weeks (3 months) — useful for teachers in their second or third year of service whose full-pay entitlement runs out around the 50–75 day mark.
• 52 weeks (12 months) — cheapest option but only really viable for teachers with substantial savings or other income sources able to bridge the gap. Premium savings over 26 weeks are typically a further 15–20%.
• 4 or 8 weeks — generally not the right choice for teachers because of the duplication with sick pay; a teacher claiming income protection at week 5 of an absence would still be receiving full salary from the school, and most policies offset the benefit accordingly.

A handful of UK insurers offer 'sick-pay alignment' as an explicit policy feature, where the deferred period is set to a long enough period (usually 52 weeks) that benefit payments only start when statutory or contractual sick pay has fully ended. British Friendly is one example.

What teacher income protection costs

Teacher income protection is priced like any other income protection — based on age, sum assured, deferred period, payment period and health, with teaching as an occupation rated near the lower end of the risk spectrum.

Indicative monthly premiums for a non-smoker teacher in good health, taking out income protection covering 50% of a £35,000 salary, with cover running to age 65:

• Age 25, 26-week deferred, full payment to age 65 — around £15–£25/month
• Age 35, 26-week deferred, full payment to age 65 — around £20–£35/month
• Age 45, 26-week deferred, full payment to age 65 — around £30–£50/month
• Age 55, 26-week deferred, full payment to age 65 — around £45–£70/month

Teaching is classified as a 'Class 1' occupation by most UK income protection insurers — the lowest-risk class — which means teachers benefit from the cheapest available occupational rate. Premiums for teachers will broadly match those for desk-based professionals (accountants, solicitors, IT staff). They are noticeably cheaper than premiums for manual-trade or higher-risk occupations.

Smoking adds 30–50% to teacher premiums, the same as any other occupation. Pre-existing conditions can attract loadings or personal exclusions. Choosing a shorter payment period (1, 2 or 5 years per claim, rather than full term) cuts premium by 50–70% but caps how long you'd receive benefits during a single extended claim.

Supply, part-time and academy teachers

The case for income protection sharpens for teachers who fall outside the Burgundy Book — supply teachers, agency staff, and some academy and independent-school teachers who are on different sick-pay schemes.

Three groups in particular need to think about cover differently from the standard Burgundy Book teacher:

• Supply teachers — generally have no employer sick pay at all (or only statutory sick pay, which is currently around £116 a week for up to 28 weeks). For supply teachers, income protection isn't a top-up; it's essentially the only meaningful income protection in the event of long-term illness. A 4 or 8 week deferred period usually makes more sense here than the 26 weeks that suits a permanent teacher.
• Part-time and job-share teachers — Burgundy Book sick pay is pro-rated by FTE. A 0.5 FTE teacher's full-pay entitlement is half a full-timer's, so the case for income protection is correspondingly stronger.
• Academy and free-school teachers on bespoke schemes — sick-pay terms vary widely. Some are more generous than the Burgundy Book; many are less. Always read the contract before assuming the standard scheme applies.

Insurers don't underwrite supply teachers any differently from permanent teachers as long as the applicant has consistent recent earnings — the rate class is the same. Some insurers ask for evidence of regular work in the previous 12 months as part of their financial-underwriting check.

Income protection vs life insurance vs critical illness — which does what

Teachers asking about 'protection' often conflate three distinct products. They cover different things and most teachers buying cover end up with two of the three rather than one.

The three protection products and what each covers:

• Income protection — pays a monthly benefit if you become unable to do your job because of illness or injury. Covers the long tail of long-term absence. The product this guide focuses on.
• Life insurance — pays a lump sum on death. Covers the financial impact on your family if you die. Most teachers in the Teachers' Pension Scheme already have a 'death in service' benefit (typically 3x annual salary), but this is only paid while you remain in service — it stops if you leave teaching.
• Critical illness cover — pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a defined serious illness from a fixed list (most cancers, heart attack, stroke, MS and 50+ others). Different from income protection — income protection pays you a monthly income because you can't work, critical illness pays a lump sum because you've been diagnosed with a named condition, regardless of whether you can work or not.

Most teachers who go through a full protection review end up with both income protection (for the work-replacement scenario) and either life insurance or critical illness (for the lump-sum-on-death or lump-sum-on-diagnosis scenarios). Buying all three is uncommon for teachers given that the Teachers' Pension Scheme death-in-service benefit usually covers the basic life insurance need.

Pre-existing conditions and teacher applications

Teaching is a low-risk occupation, but the medical underwriting for an income protection application is the same as for any other applicant. Pre-existing conditions, particularly mental-health-related ones, are the most common complications.

Mental-health applications come up disproportionately on teacher policies because teaching is one of the higher-stress professions in the UK. The good news: depression, anxiety and stress-related conditions are generally insurable, often at standard terms if mild and historic. The less good news: a recent or severe presentation can produce a personal exclusion (the policy covers everything except claims for the named condition) or a premium loading.

Other medical considerations that can affect teacher applications:

• Voice-related conditions — teachers' voices are an occupational tool. Recurrent vocal cord issues or vocal nodules can attract specific underwriting questions.
• Musculoskeletal conditions — back pain, RSI from marking, knee issues from years on the move in the classroom. Generally insurable; underwriting depends on severity and current status.
• Cardiovascular markers — high blood pressure or cholesterol, particularly if untreated. Treatable conditions on medication tend to attract small loadings; uncontrolled conditions tighten acceptance.

If you have any of these and want to understand likely underwriting outcomes before submitting an application, a broker can run a pre-underwriting enquiry with insurers without it being recorded as a formal declined application.

Specific UK insurers and teacher-friendly policies

Several mainstream UK income protection insurers offer specific features that align well with how teacher absence and sick-pay schedules actually work.

• British Friendly — offers an explicit 'sick-pay alignment' feature on its Protect policy where the deferred period can be set to dovetail with employer sick pay schedules, including teacher Burgundy Book entitlements. Strong overall claims record.
• LV= — competitive pricing for Class 1 teaching occupations and broad acceptance of the standard 26-week deferred period that matches Burgundy Book transitions.
• Vitality — offers a wellness discount programme that aligns well for teachers using gym memberships and step counts; the lifestyle integration is unique in the UK income protection market.
• Aviva — strong claims record on mental-health claims (23.9% of paid claims in 2023), which is relevant given the share of teacher long-term absences that are mental-health related.
• Royal London and Legal & General — both write standard teacher policies competitively; no specific teacher feature, but competitive baseline pricing.

There is no single 'best' insurer for teachers — the right answer depends on age, deferred-period choice, mental-health history, sick-pay scheme specifics and any other factors specific to the applicant. A broker comparison tends to produce better outcomes than going direct because the same teacher application can come back with materially different terms from different insurers.

Practical steps before applying

Five things worth doing before submitting an application — they often improve the outcome materially.

• Check your specific sick-pay scheme. Read your contract or ask HR. The Burgundy Book is the floor for state schools but not necessarily what you have — many schemes are more generous, some are less.
• Decide on the deferred period before you get quotes. The deferred period drives the premium more than any other lever. For permanent Burgundy Book teachers, 26 weeks usually matches the transition to half-pay; for supply teachers, 4–8 weeks usually makes more sense.
• Get quotes from a broker, not direct. Underwriting outcomes vary considerably between UK insurers — particularly for teachers with mental-health history or any pre-existing condition. A broker comparison is genuinely worthwhile.
• Apply when you're well, not after a recent absence. Insurers respond more favourably to applications where there has been no recent significant absence and no specialist referral in the past 12 months.
• Be ready for medical underwriting. A GP report (paid for by the insurer) is sometimes requested for higher cover amounts or for applicants with disclosed conditions.

LifePro is an FCA-regulated UK broker comparing income protection across all the major UK insurers — Aviva, LV=, Royal London, Vitality, British Friendly, Legal & General, The Exeter and others. Quotes are free to obtain and there is no obligation to take out a policy. We can also pre-sound applications with insurers before any formal application is recorded — useful for teachers with any complicating medical history.