Police pension contribution rates 2026/27: what each rank pays

Your April 2026 payslip showed a different pension deduction, or you are joining the police and want to know what comes off. In the 2015 Police Pension Scheme in England and Wales you pay 12.88%, 13.88% or 14.22% of your pensionable pay from 1 April 2026, depending on what you earn. A constable at pay point 7 (£52,015) pays 13.88%, which is £602 a month before tax relief, or about £452 a month off take-home pay once the tax saving is counted.

The 2026/27 rates

The rate is a single percentage on all your pensionable pay, not a slice-by-slice rate like Income Tax. The reduced rate, 2.5 points lower, applies only to the small number of officers who are not covered for ill-health retirement. From April 2027 the pay thresholds will rise each year in line with CPI.

What changed in April 2026

Until 31 March 2026 the tiers were 12.44% up to £27,000, 13.44% up to £60,000 and 13.78% above, set on your full-time equivalent pay. Almost every officer earned more than £27,000, so in practice nearly everyone paid 13.44% or 13.78%. The Home Office redrew the tiers so the scheme still collects an average of 13.7% of pay, which the scheme's funding rules require. Two things changed:

• New thresholds and rates, which moved some officers up and some down.
• Actual pay instead of full-time pay, which matters for anyone part-time.

What each rank pays now

Pay from 1 September 2026, outside London. “Real cost” is how much less you take home because of the contribution, after the Income Tax it saves you. It assumes no other pensionable allowances, which would add to your pensionable pay.

Constables on pay points 1 to 4 now pay less than before: 12.88% instead of 13.44%. From pay point 5, above £37,035, constables pay 13.88%, which is more than the old 13.44%. Superintendents and above pay 14.22%, up from 13.78%.

Part-time officers

A constable at pay point 7 working 60% of full time earns £31,209. Under the old rules their rate was set on the full-time £52,015, so they paid 13.44%. From April 2026 it is set on their actual £31,209, so they pay 12.88%, saving about £15 a month before tax. If your hours change, your rate can change with them.

Pay that counts, and pay that doesn’t

Your contribution is worked out on pensionable pay: basic salary plus pensionable allowances such as London weighting. The South East allowance, the London allowance, overtime, and most expenses are not pensionable, so you pay nothing on them and they do not build pension. Temporary or acting pay can be pensionable in some cases, so check your payslip.

New joiners and officers returning from a long period of unpaid leave have their rate set on their annual rate of pay at the start, until they complete a full scheme year.

Is it worth paying?

Police officers pay more into their pension than almost anyone else in the public sector, so it is a fair question. In return, the 2015 scheme builds up 1/55.3 of your pensionable pay as pension each year, revalued by CPI plus 1.25% while you serve, with a normal pension age of 60. Your force pays in far more than you do on top. Opting out saves the contribution but loses that, plus ill-health and death-in-service cover. Use the police pension calculator to see what your years add up to.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Police Scotland officers pay a flat 13.7% of pensionable pay, whatever they earn, up from 13.46% in April 2025. PSNI officers have their own rates, set by the Department of Justice. See Police Scotland pay scales and PSNI pay scales, and for England and Wales, the police pay scales by rank.