If you work in further education or the 'new' universities and colleges of higher education in England and Wales you are covered by the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS). There are similar, but separate, arrangements for teachers in Northern Ireland.

If you are a full-time lecturer you are automatically in the TPS. If you work part-time (including on a fractional appointment) you have to opt into it - forms are available from employers.

NATFHE works with the other teaching unions to ensure that the TPS reflects and responds to the pension needs of members. We are represented on the Teachers' Pensions User Group which monitors the operation of the scheme and, with other unions, the employers and the Department for Education and Skills, on the Teachers' Superannuation Working Party which considers possible changes to the scheme. The union also works with the TUC and takes test cases in law, campaigning and lobbying the government where it believes the scheme and arrangements need clarifying, improving or changing.

You can find information about the scheme in the NATFHE diary or from Teachers' Pensions (TP), the body which administers the scheme in England and Wales (telephone 0845 6066166), in Northern Ireland from the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (telephone 0287 131 9000), in Isle of Man from 01624 685820 or via www.gov.im, in Jersey from 01534 28000 or via www.ess.gov.je or in Guersney from 01481 732500 or via www.gov.gg.

You are advised to check your payslips to make sure that the correct deductions are being made (currently 6% of your salary), and to request a benefit statement from time to time from TP - you need to provide your teachers' reference or national insurance number and date of birth to get information about your records from TP.

You can get information on state pensions and benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (telephone 0845 7 312 33). For a forecast of your state pension entitlement ask for form BR19 or phone 0191 218 7585. For queries about other benefits, contact your local benefits office or phone 020 7712 2171.

THE TEACHERS' PENSION - WHAT YOU GET

• The Teachers' Pension Scheme provides a pension based on final salary. If you leave the profession after two years' service, but before retirement, your pension will be based on your final salary increased in line with the cost of living until you reach pensionable age. It is also index-linked after retirement.
• Both men and women can retire at 60 on a full pension.
• Your pension is calculated by taking 1/80th of your final salary and multiplying that by your years of service - so, for example, if you teach full-time for 40 years you would retire on a half-salary.
• The pension is index-linked and is increased annually from the first Monday after 5 April each year.
• If you will have less than 40 years' service by the time you are 60, you can buy extra years.
• You get a lump sum at retirement equal to three times the annual pension (tax-free).
• Since 1 April 2000, lecturers who retire can elect for any re-employment after retirement to be pensionable, after a qualifying period of one year of early retirement. You can choose to pay contributions backdated to 1 April 2000, with the agreement of the employer (7% interest will be payable). If you have retired on a full pension there are limits to the amount you can earn in any financial year without suffering a reduction in your pension - check with Teachers' Pensions for information relevant to your salary and pension.
• If you become permanently incapacitated from teaching, you can receive an ill-health pension.
• If your retirement benefits become payable on or after 1 April 2000 and you die within five years of retirement, your estate will receive the remainder of the pension which you would have received if you had lived to draw it for five years.
• If you die while still in service and paying pension contributions, your nominee will get a death grant, currently equal to twice your average salary. If you want anyone other than your spouse to receive this, you should nominate that person on a form obtainable from Teachers' Pensions.
• There are long term pensions for widows based on service from 1972 (from 1978 if the marriage took place after leaving service) and for widowers, based on service from 1988, unless earlier service has been purchased for family benefits. You can also nominate a dependant relative if you have no spouse. The scheme does not yet provide a long term pension to an unmarried partner - NATFHE is campaigning to change this.
• The scheme also provides pensions for children while they are under 17 or in full-time education.
• You can estimate your retirement benefits by checking out the calculator on the Teachers' Pensions website.

YOUR PENSION IF YOU'RE PART-TIME

If you are a part-time lecturer, whether on a fractional contract or hourly paid, you have full access to the Teachers' Pension Scheme - but you need to opt into it. This also applies if you change from full-time to part-time lecturing. Your employer should provide the appropriate forms and you should check your payslip to make sure the deductions are made.

Your pension will be based on your final average salary, calculated on the full-time equivalent salary for 365 days. For full-time, fractional and regular hourly paid teachers the pension is based on the highest average salary for 365 consecutive days in the last three years of pensionable service. For hourly paid teachers whose contracts are irregular, the pension is based on the average full-time equivalent salary over the last three years of employment.

Because the teachers' scheme provides a pension of 1/80th of final salary for each full-time year of 'reckonable service', if you are on a 0.5 contract you would have to work for two years to gain one year of reckonable service.

You have to work for at least two years to qualify for most of the benefits, such as a pension or ill-health retirement. The two years of pensionable service is a calendar period, not a full-time equivalent. Two years worked on a 0.5 contract would thus count as two years for the purpose of qualifying for benefits, but only one year of reckonable service for estimating the amount of benefit.