Agenda for Change · Ambulance service · 2026/27
NHS paramedic salary
A paramedic’s band comes from which of the four national paramedic profiles the post is matched to. A newly registered paramedic is usually on Paramedic Entry Level, band 5; the Paramedic profile itself is band 6, which pays £39,959 to £48,117 in England 2026/27.
- Band 6 paramedic £39,959 First step, rising to £48,117 — England 2026/27
- Newly registered £32,073 Paramedic Entry Level, band 5, first step
- Top of the paramedic ladder £56,515 Top step of band 7
On the road: paramedics and the ambulance crew
Every patient-facing ambulance profile, lowest band first. The band is fixed by the profile a post is matched to through job evaluation, and the score range in the last column is that profile’s. Your trust’s job title may differ: a post that fits none of these is evaluated locally against the same factors.
| Published job title | Band | Salary in England | Job evaluation score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patient Transport Services Patient Carer | 2 | £25,272 | 209 |
| Patient Transport Services Patient Carer, Higher level | 3 | £25,760 – £27,476 | 221–227 |
| Ambulance Practitioner | 4 | £28,392 – £31,157 | 280–301 |
| Ambulance Practitioner Higher level | 5 | £32,073 – £39,043 | 345–357 |
| Paramedic Entry Level | 5 | £32,073 – £39,043 | 376–388 |
| Paramedic | 6 | £39,959 – £48,117 | 400–434 |
| Station/Operational Team Leader | 6 | £39,959 – £48,117 | 411–439 |
| Paramedic Specialist | 7 | £49,387 – £56,515 | 518–537 |
| Paramedic Team Leader | 7 | £49,387 – £56,515 | 473–504 |
| Station/Operations Team Manager | 7 | £49,387 – £56,515 | 483–507 |
Basic salary from the England 2026/27 scale. Unsocial hours, the London supplement and overtime are on top, and tax comes off — see the end of the page.
Why a newly registered paramedic starts at band 5
The Paramedic Entry Level profile describes the first period after registration. Its job statement opens “During the period of consolidated learning post registration”, and the post works under the clinical supervision of an experienced paramedic. It is band 5, which pays £32,073 to £39,043.
The Paramedic profile is band 6. Its first step, £39,959, is £7,886 above the first step of the entry grade, and the move between them is a change of profile rather than a step up the same band. The national profiles do not say how long the consolidation period lasts; your employer sets that.
Specialist or team leader: one band, different scores
Two paramedic profiles sit at band 7, and they are different jobs:
- Paramedic Specialist (score 518–537) — Provides specialist paramedic clinical interventions and advice, including a broad range of drug therapies and procedures; may work as sole practitioner; administers medication within broader PGD (Patient Group Directive) guidelines.
- Paramedic Team Leader (score 473–504) — Responds to emergencies, urgent and routine calls; provides advanced clinical interventions, including drug therapies at scene; may work as sole practitioner; may administer medication within PGD (Patient Group Directive) guidelines.
Their score ranges do not even overlap, and both are matched to band 7, so the two pay the same £49,387 to £56,515. On this scale, deeper clinical work and leading a crew are worth the same money. Band 7 step by step.
Not every ambulance clinician is a paramedic
The crew that arrives may include an ambulance practitioner — a separate profile from the paramedic ones, which also responds to emergency, urgent and routine calls. The profiles put the role at band 4 (Ambulance Practitioner, £28,392 to £31,157) and band 5 (Ambulance Practitioner Higher level, £32,073 to £39,043). The higher-level practitioner and the newly registered paramedic share band 5, so a move from one of those profiles to the other does not change the band.
In the control room
The same family covers the people who take the 999 call and send the crew. Call handling, dispatch and clinical advice each have their own ladder, from entry level up to the managers of the shift.
| Published job title | Band | Salary in England |
|---|---|---|
| Call handler entry level | 2 | £25,272 |
| Call handler | 3 | £25,760 – £27,476 |
| Dispatcher – entry level | 3 | £25,760 – £27,476 |
| Call handler higher level | 4 | £28,392 – £31,157 |
| Dispatcher | 4 | £28,392 – £31,157 |
| Call handler supervisor | 5 | £32,073 – £39,043 |
| Dispatcher – Higher level | 5 | £32,073 – £39,043 |
| Duty/Shift Officer – Control Centre | 5 | £32,073 – £39,043 |
| Duty Manager | 6 | £39,959 – £48,117 |
| Clinical Advisor | 6 | £39,959 – £48,117 |
| Clinical advice team manager | 7 | £49,387 – £56,515 |
Ambulance unsocial hours are paid a different way
Most NHS staff are paid an enhancement for each unsocial hour actually worked, under Section 2 of the handbook. Ambulance staff can instead be on Annex 5, which turns the average unsocial hours in their rota into a fixed percentage added to basic salary every month, up to a cap. Annex 5 still applies to every ambulance trust in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and to ambulance staff in England employed before 1 September 2018 who have not changed role since. English ambulance staff who started or changed role on or after that date are on Section 2, and English staff still on Annex 5 can choose to move across — but not back.
Annex 5 keeps the enhancement in sick pay, which Section 2 in England does not for most staff since 2018. What Section 2 pays, by nation and how NHS sick pay treats enhancements.
Questions people ask
What is a band 6 paramedic’s salary?
£39,959 to £48,117 in England 2026/27 — the pay of the Paramedic profile. Inside the band, pay rises through its steps: every band 6 step and when it is reached.
How much does a newly qualified paramedic earn?
On the Paramedic Entry Level profile, £32,073 to start, at band 5. The figure is basic pay; a frontline rota adds unsocial hours on top.
What is a paramedic’s pay rate, or wage, in the UK?
An NHS paramedic is paid a yearly salary set by band, and the four nations each publish their own scale. The figures here are England’s. The pay circulars for Scotland also give an hourly figure. For England, Wales and Northern Ireland an hourly wage is worked out from the salary and the working week; the band pages show one, marked as derived — band 6 for a paramedic. Scotland’s week is also shorter, at 36 hours. Private ambulance providers are outside Agenda for Change and set their own pay. The band-by-band rates for each nation: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.
What these figures leave out
Everything here is basic salary before deductions. A London ambulance post adds the high cost area supplement, extra shifts are overtime, and the take-home calculator takes off income tax, National Insurance and the pension. Every title on this page is quoted from National profiles for ambulance service — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles, NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group (published by NHS Employers); how it was read is in the methodology and the source register.
Sources for the paramedic figures 2 documents · last checked Verified
- National profiles for ambulance service — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group (published by NHS Employers) · Effective · checked · independently checked 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