NHS Agenda for Change · 2026/27 award · all four nations
NHS back pay calculator
How much back pay you get turns on one month: the first payslip that showed the new rate. An award that applies from 1 April does not always reach the April payslip, and when it arrives later you are owed the difference for every month in between. Enter your band, your step and the month your payslip first showed the new rate, and this gives you the back pay, that month’s own increase, and the two together — kept apart, so you can find each on your payslip.
Estimated NHS back pay
A worked example, not your figures. Fill in the form and this is replaced by your own.
No back pay — the new rate was in your pay from April 2026
£85.33
That is the monthly increase, not a lump sum. This is a gross estimate. Tax, National Insurance and your pension contribution come off, so what reaches your bank will be lower. This should already have reached your pay.
Your pay rises by £85.33 in every payslip from April 2026 onwards — that part is permanent, not a one-off.
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New rate from April 2026
| Step | Amount | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Band 5, entry step, full-time annual salary, 2025/26 | £31,049.00 | as published: NHS Terms and Conditions 2025 (Agenda for Change) — pay bands and pay points from 1 April 2025, England |
| Band 5, entry step, full-time annual salary, 2026/27 | £32,073.00 | as published: NHS Terms and Conditions 2026 (Agenda for Change) — pay bands and pay points from 1 April 2026, England |
| Full-time annual increase | £1,024.00 | new salary − old salary |
| Your share of full time | — | full time — the 37.5-hour week |
| Monthly increase | £85.33 | annual increase × share ÷ 12, rounded half-up to the penny |
| Months owed before the new rate appeared | — | none — the new rate was in your pay from April 2026, the first month it applies to |
| Back pay (arrears) | £0.00 | annual increase × share × 0 ÷ 12, rounded half-up to the penny |
| Total extra in April 2026 pay | £85.33 | back pay + that month's own increase, in one payslip |
Each step’s arithmetic is set out on the methodology page.
Back pay £0.00 — none owedApril 2026 increase £85.33
Assumptions & limits
- Gross — income tax, National Insurance and pension contributions come off in the month it is paid, so the amount in your account is lower
- England's own pay scale, 2025/26 and 2026/27
- Award effective 1 April 2026
- No back pay: the new rate reached your pay in its first month
- Back pay and the new rate land together in April 2026
- The monthly increase is in every payslip from April 2026 onwards — a permanent rise, not a one-off
- Full-time week taken as 37.5 hours — England's own
- Contracted hours 37.5 a week, the same throughout
- The same band and step from April throughout — a step change during the period is not included
- Payroll cut-offs can move either figure by one pay period
- Each figure is rounded half-up to the penny once. Payroll systems round differently, so a few pence difference from your payslip is normal
- Excludes unsocial hours, overtime, on-call and High Cost Area Supplement — they rose too and carry their own back pay
- Sources: NHS Terms and Conditions 2025 (Agenda for Change) — pay bands and pay points from 1 April 2025, England; NHS Terms and Conditions 2026 (Agenda for Change) — pay bands and pay points from 1 April 2026, England
Is anything owed this year?
Only if the new rate reached your pay after April. If your April payslip already showed it, choose April above: there is no back pay, and the calculator shows the monthly increase alone. Back pay is the gap between the old and the new annual rate for each month before the new rate appeared — not a percentage of a year’s salary.
Northern Ireland has no 2026/27 award held here. With no new rate to compare against there is nothing to work out yet, and the calculator says so rather than borrowing another nation’s. When the circular is published and imported, it works out the back pay to 1 April.
Where each figure is on your payslip
Back pay usually has its own line — often called “arrears” — in the month it is paid. The month’s own increase is not a separate line: it is inside the new basic pay figure, and it repeats in every payslip from then on. The total is what the first payslip carries on top of your old pay. Payroll cut-offs can move either part by one pay period.
All three are gross. Back pay is paid as pay, so income tax, National Insurance and pension contributions come off it in the month it lands — the take-home calculator shows what that leaves.
Two cases it will not work out
Part-time in Scotland. The full-time week there changed from 37 to 36 hours on 1 April 2026, so a part-timer’s share of full time changed between the two years in a way that depends on their own contract. Full-time staff are worked out; part-time staff are told why they are not, rather than given a figure that may be wrong.
The lowest points in Wales. They were moved to a wage floor of £26,300 separately from the award and paid in advance of it. Whether anything is owed on them depends on when that advance reached pay, which no record here states — so those points are refused rather than estimated.
What it leaves out
Unsocial hours, overtime, on-call and the High Cost Area Supplement rose with the award too, and carry their own back pay; they are not included. Neither is a step change during the period, nor anyone who started or left part-way through it. For the award itself in each nation — the percentages, and where a wage floor replaced them — see the NHS pay rise; for every band and step, the pay scales. Council staff on NJC terms have their own backpay calculator.
The pay circulars behind these figures 6 documents · last checked Verified
- NHS Terms and Conditions 2025 (Agenda for Change) — pay bands and pay points from 1 April 2025, England NHS Employers ·2025-26 · Effective · checked · independently checked Verified
- NHS Circular PCS(AFC)2026/1 — Pay and conditions for NHS staff covered by the Agenda for Change agreement (Annex B rates, Annex C full pay journey) Scottish Government, Health Workforce — Culture, Pay and Partnership Division ·2025-26 · Effective · checked · independently checked Also relied on: NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, version 21 — Section 2 (Scotland), Table 2: unsocial hours payments Verified
- Pay Letter AfC(W) 02/2025 — Agenda for Change pay arrangements 2025/26, Wales, Annex 1 Welsh Government, Health and Social Services Group ·2025-26 · Effective · checked · independently checked Also relied on: NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, version 21 — Section 2 (Wales), Table 2(a): unsocial hours payments Verified
- NHS Terms and Conditions 2026 (Agenda for Change) — pay bands and pay points from 1 April 2026, England NHS Employers ·2026-27 · Effective · checked · independently checked Also relied on: NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, version 21 — Section 2 (England), Table 2: unsocial hours payments Pay scales for 2026/27 — High Cost Area Supplement rates, NHS Employers Pay scales for 2026/27 — NHS Employers' HTML publication of the same pay table, used as the corroborating second document Verified
- NHS Circular PCS(AFC)2026/1 — Pay and conditions for NHS staff covered by the Agenda for Change agreement (Annex B rates, Annex C full pay journey) Scottish Government, Health Workforce — Culture, Pay and Partnership Division ·2026-27 · Effective · checked · independently checked Also relied on: NHS Circular PCS(AFC)2025/1 — Reduction of the working week for Agenda for Change staff to 36 hours NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, version 21 — Section 2 (Scotland), Table 2: unsocial hours payments Verified
- Pay Letter AfC(W) 02/2026 — Agenda for Change pay arrangements 2026/27, Wales, Annex 1 Welsh Government, Health and Social Services Group ·2026-27 · Effective · checked · independently checked Also relied on: NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, version 21 — Section 2 (Wales), Table 2(a): unsocial hours payments Pay Letter AfC(W) 01/2026 — advance uplift to the Living Wage Foundation rate of £13.45 an hour from 1 April 2026 Verified