NHS midwife salary UK 2026/27: £32,073 to £129,783

The midwifery profiles and their bands

The suite labels its profiles by band rather than by job title, so the last column says what each post does, in the first line of its own job statement.

Profile	Band	Salary in England	What the post does
Midwifery 4	4	£28,392 – £31,157	Assists the midwife in providing physical, social and psychological support to clients, newborns and their families
Midwifery 5	5	£32,073 – £39,043	Provides care to women, birthing people, newborn infants and families throughout pre-pregnancy, birth, post-partum and the early weeks of life
Midwifery 6	6	£39,959 – £48,117	Provides a full range of advice and care to women, birthing people, newborn infants and families throughout pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and the early weeks of life
Midwifery 7i	7	£49,387 – £56,515	Provides specialist midwifery care for a specific group of clients or defined area of activity e.g. drug dependent, socially excluded, special needs, bereavement, diabetes, screening
Midwifery 7ii	7	£49,387 – £56,515	Undertakes or co-ordinates formal midwifery research, education, and practice development activities
Midwifery 7iii	7	£49,387 – £56,515	Day to day management of a defined area or section of the service e.g. ante natal/post-natal, obstetric theatre, community, perinatal mental health, bereavement care
Midwifery 8a-b	8a to 8b	£57,528 – £77,368	Provide professional advice and specialist knowledge to clients, carers and colleagues
Midwifery 8c-9	8c to 9	£79,504 – £129,783	Provide professional advice and specialist knowledge to clients, carers and colleagues

Basic pay in England, 2026/27. Where one profile covers several bands, its pay is shown across all of them, bottom step to top.

Band 4 is not a midwife

The Midwifery 4 profile “assists the midwife” and works under the midwife’s supervision; it is the support role, and it pays £28,392 to £31,157. Registered midwifery begins at band 5, so the step from support to midwife is a new post and a new profile, worth £3,681 at the first step.

Band 5 and band 6

The Midwifery 5 profile is the only one whose job statement names preceptorship — the supported first period after registration — and it works “autonomously within guidelines”. The Midwifery 6 profile provides “a full range of advice and care” and mentors less experienced midwives. Band 6 starts at £39,959, £7,886 above band 5’s first step. How and when a post moves from one to the other is your employer’s to set; the profiles describe the two jobs, not a timetable.

Three ways to band 7

Band 7 holds three midwifery profiles, and they are different careers rather than grades of one:

Midwifery 7i (score 481–511) — Provides specialist midwifery care for a specific group of clients or defined area of activity e.g. drug dependent, socially excluded, special needs, bereavement, diabetes, screening.
Midwifery 7ii (score 473–502) — Undertakes or co-ordinates formal midwifery research, education, and practice development activities.
Midwifery 7iii (score 475–520) — Day to day management of a defined area or section of the service e.g. ante natal/post-natal, obstetric theatre, community, perinatal mental health, bereavement care.

All pay £49,387 to £56,515. Their score ranges overlap, and none is paid more than another. Band 7 step by step.

The top of midwifery spans bands

Midwifery 8a-b is published against bands 8a to 8b, so it pays £57,528 to £77,368 depending on where the post is evaluated. Midwifery 8c-9 is published against bands 8c to 9, so it pays £79,504 to £129,783 depending on where the post is evaluated. A profile that covers several bands does not tell them apart, and no profile this site holds is specific to one band above 8a, so those bands have no page of their own and sit on the full pay scale.

Questions people ask

What is a band 5 midwife’s salary?

£32,073 to £39,043 in England 2026/27, on the Midwifery 5 profile. Every band 5 step.

What is a midwife’s pay rate, or wage, in the UK?

An NHS midwife’s pay comes from the band as a yearly salary, set separately by each of the four nations; this page shows England’s. Of the four, only the circulars for Scotland print hourly rates. For England, Wales and Northern Ireland the band pages divide the salary by a standard week’s hours, and label that figure as derived. Independent and agency midwives are paid outside Agenda for Change. The other nations’ scales: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

Beyond the salary

Births do not keep office hours, and a midwife on a rota is paid enhancements for the nights, weekends and bank holidays worked. Community on-call has no national rate in England — it has been agreed locally since 2011 — so this site holds no figure for it. Unsocial hours by nation, the London supplement and take-home pay. Midwives’ own maternity terms are on NHS maternity pay. The profiles are quoted from National profiles for midwifery — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles, NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group (published by NHS Employers); see the methodology and the source register.