Quote Originally Posted by az city View Post
HE = higher education.
You can work in HE and still be classed as self-employed. Visiting lecturer, for example. I'd check your pay slips and see if the employer was paying your NI contributions. My last employer (an academy) failed to pay the Treasury £2million in teacher pension contributions. Its possible, you were classed as self-employed and you weren't told. Especially if you never had a contract. Saves dodgy organisations coughing up NI contributions. If you can prove you paid NI for the missing years then get on to HMRC ASAP.