NHS Agenda for Change · England · 2026/27
NHS Band 6 salary
£39,959.00 to £48,117.00 a year, 5 years from bottom to top. Up £1,277.00 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 | £39,959.00 | £38,682.00 | £20.44 | 2 years |
| Intermediate | £42,170.00 | £40,823.00 | £21.57 | 3 years |
| Top | £48,117.00 | £46,580.00 | £24.61 | — |
Hourly figures are derived — how, and why they are not published.
What work sits in band 6
4 published profiles score into band 6 from the nursing and physiotherapy job families — a post is banded by matching it to one of these, not by its job title.
Nursing: 6i
Job evaluation score 398–461
- Assesses patients with complex needs/conditions
- Plans, implements and evaluates care. This may be carried out in a specialist area; use specialist nursing skills
- May develop specialist programmes for patients with complex needs/conditions
- Provides day-to-day supervision and/or clinical supervision to others
- May be responsible for a caseload e.g.in the community
Physiotherapy Specialist (Experienced Rotational)
Job evaluation score 399–445
- Assesses & treats own workload of patients/clients & maintains associated records
- As experienced practitioner, rotates between specialist areas every 6 months: (profile does not apply to Physiotherapists undertaking immediate post-registration short rotations)
- Supervises less experienced Physiotherapists/ Assistants/ students working with PH
- May participate in departmental research
Nursing: 6ii
Job evaluation score 410–458
- Assesses patients, plans, implements care, provides advice; maintains associated records.
- Provides clinical and managerial support to registered and non- registered staff and students in a range of settings.
- Responsible for work allocation and checking of tasks of support staff and/or less experienced staff.
- May ensure effective running of team in a range of settings in the absence of the relevant manager.
Physiotherapy Specialist
Job evaluation score 417–465
- Assesses & treats own specialist caseload of patients/clients & maintains associated records
- Supervises, trains, assesses less experienced physiotherapists, assesses students working with postholder
- May participate in research activities
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
Bands 4 to 9 share one unsocial hours rate, so this is the same for band 6 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 | Uplift | Hourly at the entry step | At the top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, and weekdays 8pm–6am | +30% | £26.57 | £31.99 |
| Sundays and public holidays | +60% | £32.70 | £39.38 |
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 6 actually gets is not simply the percentage.
| Zone | Rate | At the entry step | At the top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner London | 20% | £7,991.80 | £8,746.00 (the maximum) |
| Outer London | 15% | £5,993.85 | £6,137.00 (the maximum) |
| Fringe London | 5% | £1,997.95 | £2,270.00 (the maximum) |
At band 6 the straight 20% falls between the minimum and the maximum, so it is paid in full.
What band 6 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 6 comes out at:
| Step | Gross | Hourly | Pension tier | Take-home | A month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | £39,959 | £20.44 | 9.8% | £29,157.82 | £2,429.82 |
| Intermediate | £42,170 | £21.57 | 9.8% | £30,576.39 | £2,548.03 |
| Top | £48,117 | £24.61 | 9.8% | £34,391.94 | £2,866 |
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 6 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 | £39,959 | £48,117 | 3 | 37.5h | £20.44 |
| Scotland | £43,231 | £52,679 | 3 | 36h | £23.03 |
| Wales | £40,559 | £48,841 | 3 | 37.5h | £20.74 |
| Northern Ireland 2025/26 — no newer award | £38,682 | £46,580 | 3 | 37.5h | £19.78 |
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 | £19,979.50 | 6.5% | £16,866.34 | £1,405.53 | 84.4% |
| 22.5a lower pension tier | £23,975.40 | 6.5% | £19,535.60 | £1,627.97 | 81.5% |
| 30a lower pension tier | £31,967.20 | 8.3% | £24,413.90 | £2,034.49 | 76.4% |
| 37.5 — full time | £39,959 | 9.8% | £29,157.82 | £2,429.82 | 73% |
Entry step, England, in the pension scheme. Enter your own hours.
The step before and after
Below this sits band 5. The next band up is band 7, 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 2Band 3Band 4Band 5Band 7Band 8aBand 8bBand 8cBand 8dBand 9
Sources for the band 6 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