The Teachers' Pensions Regulations 1997

Qualification for retirement benefits

E3.—(1) A person is qualified for retirement benefits if—

(a) immediately before 6th April 1988 he would, but for his age, have been entitled under regulation 53 of the 1976 Regulations to payment of an annual allowance and an additional allowance by way of lump sum payment.

(b) immediately before 3rd February 1998 regulation E3(5) of the 1988 Regulations applied to him and he was qualified for retirement benefits under regulation E3 of those Regulations, or

(c) an appropriate qualifying period has been completed.

(2) An appropriate qualifying period—

(a) comprises every period of a kind described in Schedule 8 together with any period referred to in paragraph (4)(b), where that sub-paragraph applies, but excluding any contributions refund period, and

(b) may be discontinuous.

(3) If the person—

(a) was in pensionable employment, or paying contributions for a current period under regulation 30 of the 1976 Regulations on 6th April 1988, or

(b) entered pensionable employment after 6th April 1988 without having been in such employment before that date,

any qualifying period of 2 years is an appropriate one.

(4) If paragraph (3) does not apply, but the person was in pensionable employment before 6th April 1988 and subsequently entered pensionable employment again after that date, any qualifying period of—

(a) two years beginning on or after 6th April 1988; or

(b) such period beginning on or after 6th April 1988 as will, when taken with every period of a kind described in Schedule 9 to the 1988 Regulations before 6th April 1988, amount to 5 years

whichever is the shorter, is an appropriate one.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4) any period of the kind described in paragraph 4 of Schedule 8 (transfer value accepted) is to be treated as having begun after 5th April 1988.

(6) Notwithstanding that an appropriate qualifying period has not been completed, a person is qualified for retirement benefits—

(a) subject to paragraph (7), if he has a guaranteed minimum in relation to benefits under these Regulations, or

(b) if a transfer value was paid in respect of him by the Secretary of State to the superannuation scheme of the Commission of the European Communities and one has since been received by the Secretary of State from that scheme.

(7) If a contributions equivalent premium is paid by the Secretary of State, paragraph (6)(a) is to be treated as not having applied.