Part-time teaching in Wales: pro-rata fractions under STPC(W)D

The legal framework for part-time staff in Wales

Fractional and part-time contracts are common structural elements across Welsh primary and secondary schools. However, calculating partial timetables under the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions (Wales) Document (STPC(W)D) requires following strict statutory guidelines to prevent underpayment.

In Wales, a part-time teacher's compensation and workload allocation cannot be based on a rough estimate. It must track the precise relationship between their assigned teaching periods and the school's standard full-time operations.

The Welsh timetable fraction formula

Your exact contract fraction (FTE factor) is determined by comparing your individual School Timetabled Teaching Week (STTW) hours against the STTW hours of a full-time teacher at your specific school.

Individual Timetabled Teaching Hours (Including PPA)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────── = Your Exact FTE Fraction
  Full-Time Classroom Teacher STTW Hours Benchmark

What must be included in the Welsh math: core teaching blocks

• Every timetabled lesson you are assigned to lead.
• Statutory PPA time: In Wales, all part-time teachers have a legal right to a minimum of 10% of their timetabled teaching time allocated for Planning, Preparation, and Assessment. This PPA allocation must be included in your numerator hours.

What must be excluded

• Mid-morning break times, lunch hours, registration sessions, and standard daily school assemblies are completely stripped out of the hours equation for both full-time and part-time calculations.

The devolved directed-time trap

A full-time teacher in Wales is bound to a maximum of 1,265 directed hours spread across 195 working days per academic year. If you work part-time, your school's leadership team is legally required to pro-rata your directed time budget to match your exact pay fraction.

For example, if your contract is locked at 0.65 FTE:

• Your actual gross salary will be exactly 65% of your automatic Welsh scale point.
• Your maximum annual directed time allocation is restricted to exactly 822.25 hours (1,265 × 0.65).

If your school requires you to attend full-day INSET sessions or parent-consultation evenings on days you do not normally work, those hours must be tracked inside your 822.25-hour annual budget. If you exceed your pro-rated cap, the school must either adjust your timetable fractions upward or process additional payment claims for those surplus hours.