NHS Agenda for Change · England · 2026/27
NHS Band 2 salary
A single rate of £25,272.00 a year. Up £807.00 on last year under the 3.3% award, which the four nations did not match.
The pay points
| Step | 2026/27 | 2025/26 | Hourly | Time to next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | £25,272.00 | £24,465.00 | £12.92 | 2 years |
| Top | £25,272.00 | £24,465.00 | £12.92 | — |
Hourly figures are derived — how, and why they are not published.
What work sits in band 2
2 published profiles score into band 2 from the nursing and physiotherapy job families — a post is banded by matching it to one of these, not by its job title.
Nursing: 2
Job evaluation score 179–212
- Undertakes personal care duties for patients in the community, in hospital or other settings
- Supports patients / clients with toileting, bathing, dressing and meals
- Records patient information
Clinical Support Worker (Physiotherapy)
Job evaluation score 187–209
- Assists the physiotherapist in carrying out delegated physiotherapy duties.
- Assists in the administration and clerical duties of the department
Quoted from National profiles for nursing — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles; National profiles for physiotherapy — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles.
Nights, weekends and bank holidays
Band 2 has its own unsocial hours rate — bands 1, 2 and 3 are each paid differently, and more than bands 4 and above. All four nations’ rates, and the rules for which hours qualify. Work out the take-home on this band.
| When | Uplift | Hourly at the entry step | At the top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, and weekdays 8pm–6am | +41% | £18.22 | £18.22 |
| Sundays and public holidays | +83% | £23.64 | £23.64 |
Which hours qualify, and the rules that decide it — including what is excluded and how the other nations differ.
If you work in or near London
A percentage of basic salary, but with a floor and a ceiling — so what band 2 actually gets is not simply the percentage.
| Zone | Rate | At the entry step | At the top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner London | 20% | £5,794.00 (the minimum) | £5,794.00 (the minimum) |
| Outer London | 15% | £4,870.00 (the minimum) | £4,870.00 (the minimum) |
| Fringe London | 5% | £1,346.00 (the minimum) | £1,346.00 (the minimum) |
At band 2 the straight 20% would come to less than the minimum, so inner London pay is lifted to £5,794.00 — worth proportionally more here than further up the scale.
What band 2 actually pays after deductions
The gross figure is not what reaches your bank. Run through income tax, National Insurance and the pension contribution for an England member in the scheme, each step of band 2 comes out at:
| Step | Gross | Hourly | Pension tier | Take-home | A month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | £25,272 | £12.92 | 6.5% | £20,401.78 | £1,700.15 |
| Top | £25,272 | £12.92 | 6.5% | £20,401.78 | £1,700.15 |
England, in the pension scheme, standard tax code, no student loan and no salary sacrifice. Unsocial hours and overtime are paid on top of these figures and are not in them. An estimate from published rates, not a payslip and not financial advice — check it against your own before acting on it. Change any assumption, or pick another nation.
Band 2 in the other nations
The four nations set their own Agenda for Change rates, and this year they set four different ones. One of them has not made an award yet, so its figures are the previous year’s — the table says which.
| Nation | Entry | Top | Steps | Week | Hourly at entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | £25,272 | — | 2 | 37.5h | £12.92 |
| Scotland | £26,696 | £28,988 | 2 | 36h | £14.22 |
| Wales | £26,300 | — | 2 | 37.5h | £13.45 |
| Northern Ireland 2025/26 — no newer award | £24,465 | — | 1 | 37.5h | £12.51 |
Hourly rates are not comparable across the row without reading the week column: Scotland works 36 hours where the others work 37.5, so the same salary buys a higher hourly rate there.
If you work part time
What you keep does not scale with your hours. The pension tier is set by your actual pensionable pay too, so some part-time hours fall into a lower tier and pay a lower percentage as well as a smaller amount.
| Hours a week | Gross | Pension tier | Take-home | A month | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18.8a lower pension tier | £12,636 | 5.2% | £11,974.13 | £997.84 | 94.8% |
| 22.5 | £15,163.20 | 6.5% | £13,649.07 | £1,137.42 | 90% |
| 30 | £20,217.60 | 6.5% | £17,025.49 | £1,418.79 | 84.2% |
| 37.5 — full time | £25,272 | 6.5% | £20,401.78 | £1,700.15 | 80.7% |
Entry step, England, in the pension scheme. Enter your own hours.
The step before and after
Below this sits band 1. The next band up is band 3, which most people reach by applying for a different post rather than by progression — the steps within a band are time-served, but moving between bands is not.
Other bands
Band 1Band 3Band 4Band 5Band 6Band 7Band 8aBand 8bBand 8cBand 8dBand 9
Sources for the band 2 figures
- 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 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