NHS Pension contribution rates 2026/27

Contribution rates in England and Wales, 2026/27

These tiers apply from 1 April 2026 to members of the NHS Pension Scheme in England and Wales. They are based on your actual annual pensionable pay, so a part-timer is charged on what they really earn, not the full-time salary.

The rates have stayed the same since April 2024. The pay ranges rose by 3.8% this April, in line with CPI. The Agenda for Change award for England was 3.3%, lower than CPI, so the ranges will not move again this year.

What every Agenda for Change band pays a month

Full-time pay points in England, with the rate each one falls into and what that means each month. Your employer’s 23.7% is paid on top and does not come out of your pay.

Wales has its own slightly higher pay scales but the same tiers, so a Welsh salary goes into the table above at its own figure. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own tiers, further down.

What a Band 5 actually gives up

The deduction on your payslip is not what the pension costs you, because it comes off before Income Tax.

1. A Band 5 at entry earns £32,073 and pays 8.3%: £2,662 a year, or £221.84 a month.
2. That money is taken before tax, so you do not pay 20% Income Tax on it. That saves £532 a year.
3. National Insurance is still charged on it, so there is no saving there.
4. The real cost is £2,130 a year, about £177.47 a month.

Your employer adds £7,601 a year on top. For every £1 the pension costs you after tax, the scheme receives about £4.82. A higher-rate taxpayer saves more, so their real cost is lower still.

Here is the real cost across the bands, worked out from the take-home with and without the pension. It allows for the 40% band and, at the top of Band 9, the loss of the personal allowance above £100,000.

Why your whole pay jumps to a higher rate

Pension tiers do not work like tax bands. Your rate applies to every pound of pensionable pay, not just the part above the line. Cross a line by £1 and the higher rate is charged on all of it.

Take the line at £35,155. At that pay you pay 8.3%. At £35,156 you pay 9.8% on the whole amount, and your take-home falls by about £421 a year. You need to earn above £35,812 before you are back to where you were.

These figures use the standard tax code with no student loan. The pay points themselves sit outside these gaps this year, so the 2026/27 award has not pushed any full-time point into one. The risk comes from what gets added on top.

Who is most likely to cross a line

Unsocial hours payments, London weighting and extra hours worked at plain time all count as pensionable pay. Overtime does not. These full-time pay points sit within about £1,200 of the next line, so a modest amount of pensionable extras can tip them over:

• Band 4, entry (£28,392): £462 below the £28,854 line
• Band 5, middle (£34,592): £563 below the £35,155 line
• Band 7, middle (£51,932): £846 below the £52,778 line
• Band 8b, entry (£66,582): £1,086 below the £67,668 line

Part-timers are tiered on their actual pay. A Band 6 at entry on 30 hours earns £31,967 and pays 8.3%, against 9.8% full time. Picking up regular extra hours can move them into the next tier for the whole year’s pay, so check where you would land before agreeing to more.

Your rate is set at the start of the scheme year and reassessed when your pay changes, for example a new job, a change in hours or a step up. A backdated pay award can also mean arrears of contributions.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

NHS Scotland’s scheme is run by SPPA and has nine tiers. SPPA publishes one table for members whose pay has not changed, based on last year’s earnings, and the one below for anyone who starts a new job or whose pay changes during 2026/27. Your payslip shows which rate you are on.

The NHS Scotland pay scales page shows which tier each Scottish pay point falls into.

Northern Ireland’s HSC Pension Service uses the same pay ranges as England for 2026/27, with rates 0.2 points higher. HSC employers pay 23.2% on top, rather than England’s 23.7%.

Lowering your rate, and what opting out costs

Your own contributions cannot be paid by salary sacrifice. Other salary sacrifice schemes, such as a lease car, reduce your pensionable pay, which can drop you a tier, but they also reduce the pension you build. The NHS salary sacrifice calculator shows both sides.

Opting out stops your deduction, but your employer’s 23.7% stops too. For a Band 5 at entry that is £7,601 a year of employer money given up to save £2,130 of take-home. If you are thinking about it to get through a tight year, see whether the NHS pension is worth it first.

What this means for your payslip

Most full-time staff on Bands 5 to 7 pay 8.3% or 9.8% in 2026/27, and the real cost after tax relief is about four-fifths of the figure on your payslip. If your pensionable pay sits just above a line in the table above, you may be taking home less than someone earning slightly less than you. Put your hours and extras into the NHS pay calculator to see which tier you land in.