NHS Agenda for Change · take-home pay · 2026/27
NHS pay calculator
What actually reaches your bank, after income tax, National Insurance and pension — for whichever of the four nations you work in. Every deduction is shown with what it was charged on and at what rate, so you can check it against your payslip rather than take our word for it.
Estimated take-home pay
Take-home a year, after tax, National Insurance and pension
£24,482.99
about £2,040.25 a month, from £32,073 gross
| Deduction | Charged on | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pension — NHS Pension Scheme (England and Wales) | £32,073 | 8.3% | −£2,662.06 |
| Income tax — Basic rate | £16,840.94 | 20% | −£3,368.19 |
| National Insurance — Main rate | £19,497 | 8% | −£1,559.76 |
| Take-home | £24,482.99 |
What this assumes
- The pension rate is charged on the whole of your pensionable pay, not just the part above a threshold — so crossing a tier costs a whole band. You are in the 8.3% tier.
- Income tax uses the UK bands and the standard personal allowance of £12,570.
- National Insurance is worked out on the monthly basis it is really charged on, using the monthly thresholds rather than the annual ones — they differ, and payroll uses the monthly. If your pay varies month to month it will still differ, because a big month costs more NI than the same money spread evenly.
This is an estimate from published rates, not a payslip and not financial advice. It ignores student loan repayments, salary sacrifice, a non-standard tax code, benefits in kind and anything else specific to you. Before acting on it — a mortgage application, a decision about hours, leaving or joining the pension scheme — check the figure against your own payslip and take professional advice.
What common bands take home
Entry step, in the pension scheme, on each nation’s own pay scale — so these are not one salary taxed four ways, they are what the same job actually pays in each nation. The percentage is how much of the gross you keep.
| Band | Nation | Gross | Take-home | A month | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 2 | England | £25,272 | £20,401.78 | £1,700.15 | 80.7% |
| Scotland | £26,696 | £21,414.08 | £1,784.51 | 80.2% | |
| Wales | £26,300 | £21,088.52 | £1,757.38 | 80.2% | |
| Northern Ireland (2025/26 — no newer award) | £24,465 | £19,823.55 | £1,651.96 | 81% | |
| Band 3 | England | £25,760 | £20,727.80 | £1,727.32 | 80.5% |
| Scotland | £29,103 | £22,884.14 | £1,907.01 | 78.6% | |
| Wales | £26,300 | £21,088.52 | £1,757.38 | 80.2% | |
| Northern Ireland (2025/26 — no newer award) | £24,937 | £20,138.06 | £1,678.17 | 80.8% | |
| Band 5 | England | £32,073 | £24,482.99 | £2,040.25 | 76.3% |
| Scotland | £34,544 | £26,007.08 | £2,167.26 | 75.3% | |
| Wales | £32,557 | £24,799.30 | £2,066.61 | 76.2% | |
| Northern Ireland (2025/26 — no newer award) | £31,049 | £23,764.06 | £1,980.34 | 76.5% | |
| Band 6 | England | £39,959 | £29,157.82 | £2,429.82 | 73% |
| Scotland | £43,231 | £31,202.03 | £2,600.17 | 72.2% | |
| Wales | £40,559 | £29,542.78 | £2,461.90 | 72.8% | |
| Northern Ireland (2025/26 — no newer award) | £38,682 | £28,276.56 | £2,356.38 | 73.1% | |
| Band 7 | England | £49,387 | £35,206.74 | £2,933.90 | 71.3% |
| Scotland | £52,845 | £36,382.83 | £3,031.90 | 68.8% | |
| Wales | £50,129 | £35,682.89 | £2,973.57 | 71.2% | |
| Northern Ireland (2025/26 — no newer award) | £47,810 | £34,118.52 | £2,843.21 | 71.4% |
Scotland pays more gross and taxes more of it, so the two partly cancel — which is why comparing gross salaries across nations misleads in both directions.
What this year’s rise is actually worth
An England band 5 at the entry step went from £31,049 to £32,073 — a gross rise of £1,024. After income tax, National Insurance and the extra pension contribution on the higher salary, what actually arrives is £669.25, or 65.4% of it.
That is not a criticism of the award, it is just arithmetic: a rise is taxed at your marginal rate, not your average one, so the headline percentage always overstates what reaches your bank. It overstates it more for anyone whose rise crosses a pension tier, because the new rate then applies to their whole salary rather than to the rise. The rise itself, nation by nation.
Why your payslip will not match this exactly
It will be close on basic pay and usually out by a little. The common reasons, roughly in order of how often they bite:
- Your tax code is not the standard one. A previous underpayment, a company benefit or a second job all change it, and the code is what your employer actually applies.
- You are paid monthly, and tax is cumulative. Income tax evens out across the year; a month with extra hours is taxed against the year to date, not on its own.
- National Insurance is not cumulative. It is charged on each pay period separately, so a big month costs more NI than the same money spread evenly. The figure above already uses the monthly thresholds rather than the annual ones — they are not the same, and 12 × £1,048 is £12,576 rather than £12,570 — but it still assumes twelve equal months.
- Unsocial hours, overtime and bank shifts. Unsocial hours are pensionable and taxed; overtime generally is not pensionable. Neither is in the figure above unless you added it to the salary.
- Salary sacrifice for a lease car, cycle scheme or childcare reduces your taxable pay, and often your pensionable pay with it.
- Student loan repayments come out after tax at 9% above a threshold that depends on your plan.
If you work part time
Enter what you are actually paid, not the full-time rate. Everything scales from there — but not evenly. The personal allowance and the National Insurance threshold are fixed amounts, so a half-time salary keeps a larger share of itself than a full-time one does. Pension is the exception: the tier is set by your actual pensionable pay, so part-time staff often sit in a lower tier and pay a lower percentage as well as a smaller amount.
What it does not know about you
It applies the published rates to the salary you type. It cannot know about a student loan, salary sacrifice for a car or childcare, a tax code that is not the standard one, benefits in kind, unsocial hours or overtime you actually worked, or a second job. Each of those moves the figure, some of them by a lot.
Two things are worth understanding rather than just reading off: the pension rate applies to your whole pensionable pay, not just the part above a threshold, so a pay rise that crosses a tier can cost more than the rise is worth. And National Insurance is really charged per pay period, not across the year, so if your pay varies — bank shifts, overtime, an arrears payment — your actual NI will not match an annual figure.
Why the nation matters
Scotland has six income tax bands where the rest of the UK has three, and its higher rate starts about £6,600 earlier. Its pension scheme has nine tiers rather than six, and for most members the tier is set by last year's earnings. Northern Ireland uses exactly the same pension bands as England and Wales but charges more in five of the six. Wales shares England's tax and pension but pays different salaries. A calculator that asks only for a salary is answering for England.
See the pay bands, this year's rise in each nation, the methodology and the source register.
Pay scales behind the example
- 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