This shows base PAYE only. For full take-home including pension, student loans, and other deductions, use our Take-home pay calculatorComing soon.
How is pro rata salary calculated in the UK?
"Pro rata" is Latin for "in proportion" — a pro rata salary is simply a full-time salary scaled to the proportion of full-time hours or days you actually work. The standard UK formula is pro rata salary = full-time salary × (your hours or days ÷ full-time hours or days). Most UK employers use a 5-day, 37.5-hour week as the full-time baseline, though some sectors (manufacturing, hospitality, some public-sector roles) use a 40-hour week. Holiday entitlement, sick pay, and pension contributions also scale pro rata — a three-day-per-week worker gets three-fifths of statutory holiday and three-fifths of any employer pension match. Some benefits don't scale: a company car, private medical insurance, or fixed annual stipend usually remains a flat benefit regardless of hours. If you're a contractor working part-time, see our IR35 inside vs outside calculator for the contractor-specific version.
Term-time only contracts and pro rata pay
Term-time workers — mostly in schools and educational support — typically work 39 weeks plus their statutory paid holiday entitlement. The standard pro-rata formula for term-time roles is (term weeks + paid holiday weeks) ÷ 52, multiplied by the full-time-equivalent salary. Statutory minimum holiday for term-time staff is usually 6.6 weeks: 5.6 weeks statutory minimum × (39/52) plus the same multiplier applied to the eight English bank holidays, rounded. Different employers use different methodologies — some pay over 52 weeks (averaging the term-time figure across the year), others pay only during the 45.6 working+holiday weeks. Always check your contract: this pro-rata model gives the gross annual salary, but how it's spread across pay periods is a separate decision.
Pro rata vs hourly rate — what's the difference?
Pro rata is a salary expressed as a proportion of the full-time annual figure; hourly rate is pay per hour worked. Both can describe the same role from different angles. Pro rata is more common in salaried and professional roles where the working pattern is fixed; hourly rate is more common in shift-based or zero-hours roles where hours vary week to week. The two figures are mathematically equivalent if you assume a fixed working pattern. To see post-tax figures rather than just pro-rata gross, plug your pro-rata salary into our UK take-home pay calculator. Contractors working through their own limited company or via an umbrella may want our IR35 inside vs outside comparison as well.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate pro rata salary for a 4-day week?
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Take the full-time annual salary and multiply by 4/5. For a £40,000 full-time role: £40,000 ÷ 5 days = £8,000 per day equivalent, so a 4-day week is £32,000. The standard formula is FT salary × (your days ÷ 5). Note: a 'compressed working week' (4 longer days at full pay) is different from a genuine pro-rata 4-day week — compressed pays the same as a 5-day equivalent because the same hours are still worked.
Is pro rata salary the same as part-time?
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Not quite. Pro rata describes how a salary is calculated — proportionally to a full-time equivalent. Part-time describes the working pattern itself. Most part-time roles in the UK are pro rata, but a 'flat rate' part-time role (for example, £20,000 regardless of hours within a defined band) is technically not pro rata. Pro rata is the fairer and more common approach because it scales transparently with hours worked.
Do pro rata workers get the same holiday entitlement?
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Yes — pro rata. UK statutory minimum holiday is 5.6 weeks per year, which is 28 days for a full-time 5-day week. Part-time workers get 5.6 weeks of their own working week. So a 3-day-per-week worker gets 16.8 days of paid holiday (3 × 5.6). Bank holidays are also pro rated unless your contract specifically states they're additional and not pro rated.
How does pro rata work with overtime?
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Overtime worked above your contracted hours is typically paid at the agreed overtime rate — often 1x, 1.5x, or 2x your hourly equivalent. Some employers pay standard rate up to the full-time-equivalent hours and only enhance pay above that. Each contract differs, so check yours. The pro rata calculation here assumes you work exactly your contracted hours each week.
Are pro rata salaries on job adverts always before tax?
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Yes — pro rata figures advertised on job listings are gross (before income tax, National Insurance, and pension). The actual take-home depends on your tax code, student loan plan, and pension contribution rate. Toggle 'Show PAYE deductions' above to see an estimate of base PAYE net pay.
How is pro rata salary calculated for term-time only contracts?
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Standard formula: (term weeks + paid holiday weeks) ÷ 52, then multiply by the full-time salary. Most UK schools use 39 term weeks plus 6.6 weeks of statutory paid holiday = 45.6 ÷ 52 = 87.69%. So a £30,000 full-time-equivalent term-time-only role pays £26,308. Some employers spread this over 12 monthly payments (averaged); others pay only during working months. Check your contract for payment timing.
Calcsmith provides estimates based on the information you enter and the 2026/27 tax bands. PAYE estimates assume the standard personal allowance and no other income; actual take-home depends on your tax code, student loan, and pension scheme. Not financial advice.