NHS Agenda for Change · take-home pay · 2026/27
NHS pay calculator
An England band 5 on the entry step takes home £2,040.25 a month after tax, National Insurance and pension. Pick your own band, nation and hours below, and the answer changes as you go. Every deduction is shown, so you can check it against your payslip.
2026/27 rates · verified2026 — the documents
Estimated take-home pay
A worked example, not your figures. Change any answer in the form and this becomes your own.
Take-home a month, after tax, National Insurance, pension
£2,040.25
about £24,482.99 a year, from £32,073 gross
You keep 76.3% of your gross pay. Deductions take 23.7%.
Take-home £2,040.25Pension £221.84Income tax £280.68National Insurance £129.98
| Deduction | Charged on | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pension — NHS Pension Scheme (England and Wales) | £32,073 | 8.3% | −£221.84 |
| Income tax — Basic rate | £16,840.94 | 20% | −£280.68 |
| National Insurance — Main rate | £19,497 | 8% | −£129.98 |
| Take-home | £2,040.25 |
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.
- In England your tier is set by last year's pensionable pay — £31,049 — and then charged on this year's.
- 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 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.
NHS take-home pay calculator — https://workterms.co.uk/nhs/pay-calculator · figures produced 9 October 2026 · rule nhs-net@1.1.0 · an estimate from published pay circulars and HMRC tables, not a payslip, not a statement from any employer, and not advice. Corrections: hello@workterms.co.uk
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, and what this does not know about you
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.
- You did not pick your student loan plan. The figure includes a repayment only if you tell it which plan you are on. Undergraduate plans take 9% of gross above the plan’s own threshold and the postgraduate loan takes 6%, and somebody repaying both pays both.
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, and to the pension and student loan answers you give it. It cannot know about 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.
Questions people ask
How much tax and National Insurance does a band 5 pay?
An England band 5 on the entry step pays £3,368.19 income tax and £1,559.76 National Insurance a year — £280.68 and £129.98 a month — plus £2,662.06 a year into the pension. Pick another band above and the card shows yours.
Is the NHS pension taken off before tax?
Yes. It comes off before income tax is worked out, so it lowers your tax, but it does not lower your National Insurance. The working in the card shows each deduction and what it was charged on.
Does it work for part-time staff?
Yes. Pick your band and step, then enter your contracted hours. Your pay is worked out on your nation’s own full-time week: 37.5 hours in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 36 hours in Scotland.
Does it include unsocial hours and London weighting?
Yes, once you pick a band. Enter the hours you work on Saturdays and nights, and on Sundays and public holidays, and they are added at your band’s rates. London weighting is offered where it is published, which is England only. Tax, National Insurance and pension then follow from the total.
Why does this not match my payslip?
It will be close on basic pay and usually out by a little: a different tax code, overtime, salary sacrifice or a month with extra hours all change it. The section above, “Why your payslip will not match this exactly”, goes through each one.
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 3 documents · last 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
- 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