NHS Band 5 salary 2026/27: £32,073–£39,043 and hourly rate

The pay points

Step	2026/27	2025/26	Hourly	Time to next step
Entry	£32,073	£31,049	£16.40	2 years
Intermediate	£34,592	£33,487	£17.69	2 years
Top	£39,043	£37,796	£19.97	—

Hourly figures are derived — how, and why they are not published.

What work sits in band 5

12 published profiles score into band 5 from the occupational therapy and radiography and ambulance service and nursing and physiotherapy and midwifery job families — these are the profiles a occupational therapist’s or radiographer’s or ambulance service worker’s or nurse’s or physiotherapist’s or midwife’s post is matched to. A post is banded by matching it to one of these, not by its job title, which is why two jobs with the same title can sit in different bands.

Occupational Therapy Technical Instructor Higher Level

Job evaluation score 327–346

Designs, plans and delivers a range of prescribed therapeutic programmes to individuals or groups of patients/clients within an overall care package
Assess, evaluates and reports on patient/client responses to prescribed therapeutic programmes
Maintains caseload of patients/clients in community or in-patient settings

Radiographer (Diagnostic)

Job evaluation score 327–364

Assesses own workload of patients/clients, sets imaging parameters; maintains associated records
May supervise Support Workers/Assistants(s)/students working with post holder
May participate in departmental research

Call handler supervisor

Job evaluation score 328–335

Line manage a team of call handlers
Compile data and reports to ensure and demonstrate that performance objectives areachieved
Provides a front-line service answering emergency and urgent care calls
Provides clinical triage advice and inputs key information into computerised system; provides emergency condition related advice from protocols.

Nursing: 5

Job evaluation score 328–383

Provides nursing assessment of patients/clients.
Plans, develops and/or implements and evaluates programmes of care in a range of settings.
Provides clinical supervision to other staff, students.
May be responsible for work allocation and checking of tasks of support staff and/or less experienced staff.
Provides health promotion information, advice.

Occupational Therapist

Job evaluation score 330–366

Assesses & treats own caseload of patients/clients for professional occupational therapy service in a variety of settings
Provides occupational therapy advice to other disciplines
May participate in departmental research

Dispatcher – Higher level

Job evaluation score 333–338

Ensures dynamic response for the effective deployment and efficient management of emergency and/or non-emergency vehicles and referrals to appropriate services.
Ensures KPIs for vehicle response are met.
Responsible for operational procedures, planning and allocation of work (e.g. meal breaks and shift timings of road crew staff).
Supervises and trains less experienced staff in own work area.

Radiographer (Therapeutic)

Job evaluation score 334–364

Assesses own workload of patients/clients, makes pre-treatment calculations and checks; maintains associated records
May supervise Support Workers/Assistant(s)/students working with post holder
May participate in departmental research

Duty/Shift Officer – Control Centre

Job evaluation score 341–391

Ensure the effective organisation of the shift and deployment of resources, having oversight of planned and spontaneous events, managing the impact on resources or the continuity of business as usual within the shift.
Ensure compliance, quality and performance standards are met.
Manages/supervises control centre staff and expenses

Physiotherapist

Job evaluation score 343–387

Assesses & treats own caseload of patients/clients & maintains associated records
May supervise support workers/students working with postholder

Ambulance Practitioner Higher level

Job evaluation score 345–357

Responds to emergencies, urgent, and routine calls; delivers treatment, which may include drug therapies.
Undertakes emergency driving; lifts and carries patients.
May be lead practitioner on a vehicle, within their scope of practice.
Provides clinical supervision to other staff

Midwifery 5

Job evaluation score 354–392

Provides care to women, birthing people, newborn infants and families throughout pre-pregnancy, birth, post-partum and the early weeks of life
Participates in developmental activities/preceptorship
Works autonomously within guidelines and sphere of professional practice

Paramedic Entry Level

Job evaluation score 376–388

During the period of consolidated learning post registration, works under the clinical supervision of an experienced paramedic, seeking advice and support when required,
Responds to emergencies, urgent and routine calls; provides clinical interventions, including drug therapies at scene; may work as sole practitioner; may administer medication within PGD (Patient Group Directive) guidelines.
Undertakes emergency driving.

Quoted from National profiles for occupational therapy — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles; National profiles for diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles; National profiles for ambulance service — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles; 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; National profiles for midwifery — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles.

The same jobs at every band they reach, on one page each: ambulance service pay, midwifery pay, nursing pay, physiotherapy pay and radiography pay.

What changes between band 4 and band 5

A occupational therapist’s post moves up when the job evaluation score does, not when enough time has passed. In the occupational therapy family the highest band 4 profile (Occupational Therapy Technician) tops out at 292, and the lowest here (Occupational Therapy Technical Instructor Higher Level) starts at 327 — the band boundary sits in that gap. Crossing it means the work described at band 4 has changed.

A radiographer’s post moves up when the job evaluation score does, not when enough time has passed. In the radiography family the highest band 4 profile (Assistant Practitioner (Radiography)) tops out at 303, and the lowest here (Radiographer (Diagnostic)) starts at 327 — the band boundary sits in that gap. Crossing it means the work described at band 4 has changed.

A ambulance service worker’s post moves up when the job evaluation score does, not when enough time has passed. In the ambulance service family the highest band 4 profile (Call handler higher level) tops out at 321, and the lowest here (Call handler supervisor) starts at 328 — the band boundary sits in that gap. Crossing it means the work described at band 4 has changed.

A nurse’s post moves up when the job evaluation score does, not when enough time has passed. In the nursing family the highest band 4 profile (Nursing: 4ii) tops out at 323, and the lowest here (Nursing: 5) starts at 328 — the band boundary sits in that gap. Crossing it means the work described at band 4 has changed.

A midwife’s post moves up when the job evaluation score does, not when enough time has passed. In the midwifery family the highest band 4 profile (Midwifery 4) tops out at 323, and the lowest here (Midwifery 5) starts at 354 — the band boundary sits in that gap. Crossing it means the work described at band 4 has changed.

Nights, weekends and bank holidays

Bands 4 to 9 share one unsocial hours rate, so this is the same for band 5 as for any band above 3. All four nations’ rates, and the rules for which hours qualify. Work out the take-home on this band.

When	Enhancement	Hourly at the entry step	At the top
Saturday, and weekdays 8pm–6am	+30%	£21.32	£25.96
Sundays and public holidays	+60%	£26.24	£31.95

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 5 actually gets is not simply the percentage.

Zone	Rate	At the entry step	At the top
Inner London	20%	£6,414.60	£7,808.60
Outer London	15%	£4,870.00 (the minimum)	£5,856.45
Fringe London	5%	£1,603.65	£1,952.15

At band 5 the straight 20% falls between the minimum and the maximum, so it is paid in full.

What band 5 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 5 comes out at:

Step	Gross	Hourly	Pension tier	Take-home	A month
Entry	£32,073	£16.40	8.3%	£24,482.99	£2,040.25
Intermediate	£34,592	£17.69	8.3%	£26,129.45	£2,177.45
Top	£39,043	£19.97	9.8%	£28,570.03	£2,380.84

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.

Moving up a step crosses a pension tier

Going from intermediate to top raises gross pay by £4,451 — but it also moves you from the 8.3% pension tier to the 9.8% one. The scheme charges that rate on your whole pensionable pay, not just the part above the threshold, so your contribution rises by £955.07 and you keep £2,440.58 of the £4,451 rise.

That is a real feature of the scheme rather than a rounding artefact, and it is why the calculator shows the tier it used.

Band 5 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	£32,073	£39,043	3	37.5h	£16.40
Scotland	£34,544	£43,039	3	36h	£18.40
Wales	£32,557	£39,631	3	37.5h	£16.65
Northern Ireland 2025/26 — no newer award	£31,049	£37,796	3	37.5h	£15.88

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	£16,036.50	6.5%	£14,232.46	£1,186.04	88.8%
22.5a lower pension tier	£19,243.80	6.5%	£16,374.96	£1,364.58	85.1%
30a lower pension tier	£25,658.40	6.5%	£20,659.84	£1,721.65	80.5%
37.5 — full time	£32,073	8.3%	£24,482.99	£2,040.25	76.3%

Entry step, England, in the pension scheme. Enter your own hours.

The step before and after

Below this sits band 4. The next band up is band 6, 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 2 Band 3 Band 4 Band 6 Band 7 Band 8a

All bands in one table · Methodology · Sources