NHS Agenda for Change · England · 2026/27
NHS Band 8a salary
£57,528.00 to £64,750.00 a year, 5 years from bottom to top. Up £1,838.00 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 | £57,528.00 | £55,690.00 | £29.42 | 2 years |
| Intermediate | £60,417.00 | £58,487.00 | £30.90 | 3 years |
| Top | £64,750.00 | £62,682.00 | £33.11 | — |
Hourly figures are derived — how, and why they are not published.
What work sits in band 8a
4 published profiles score into band 8a from the physiotherapy and nursing job families — a post is banded by matching it to one of these, not by its job title.
Physiotherapist Principal
Job evaluation score 542–578
- Assesses & treats own specialist caseload of patients/clients
- Acts as clinical physiotherapy lead for a specialist area of work e.g. ortho-arthritis, back problems, respiratory conditions; professional or managerial lead for a team of staff
- Lead in the development of own specialist service, for example, orthopaedic triage service; is key contributor to development of new specialist multidisciplinary services e.g. stroke rehabilitation Leads clinical audit undertakes research
Nursing: 8a
Job evaluation score 546–576
- Provide clinical and operational leadership for a defined service/department.
- Lead on ensuring consistent delivery of evidence based, safe and effective nursing care.
- Provide highly specialised advice to nursing teams, wider professional colleagues e.g. social care, therapies, to ensure high standards of direct care delivery.
- Take a key role in service review and/or development and implementation of policies, procedures and guidelines.
- May provide specialist education and training to own profession and/or multidisciplinary staff.
Nursing: 8a-c
Job evaluation score 549–650
Published as band 8a-c — one profile covering more than one band.
- Provides expert professional advice to patients, carers and colleagues
- Undertakes research in a specialist area
- Provides education and training to other staff, students
Physiotherapy Consultant
Job evaluation score 563–629
Published as band 8(a)(b) — one profile covering more than one band.
- Assesses & treats own specialist caseload of patients/clients
- Acts as clinical physiotherapy lead for specialist service e.g. neuro- rehabilitation, MS, oncology, pain management
- Responsible for clinical governance; provides expert physiotherapy advice within the organisation and externally
- Undertakes research
Quoted from National profiles for physiotherapy — NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group national job profiles; National profiles for nursing — 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 8a 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% | £38.25 | £43.04 |
| Sundays and public holidays | +60% | £47.07 | £52.98 |
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 8a actually gets is not simply the percentage.
| Zone | Rate | At the entry step | At the top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner London | 20% | £8,746.00 (the maximum) | £8,746.00 (the maximum) |
| Outer London | 15% | £6,137.00 (the maximum) | £6,137.00 (the maximum) |
| Fringe London | 5% | £2,270.00 (the maximum) | £2,270.00 (the maximum) |
At band 8a the straight 20% would exceed the maximum, so inner London pay is capped at £8,746.00 — worth proportionally less here than lower down the scale.
What band 8a 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 8a comes out at:
| Step | Gross | Hourly | Pension tier | Take-home | A month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | £57,528 | £29.42 | 10.7% | £40,230.94 | £3,352.58 |
| Intermediate | £60,417 | £30.90 | 10.7% | £41,721.03 | £3,476.75 |
| Top | £64,750 | £33.11 | 10.7% | £43,956.01 | £3,663 |
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 8a 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 | £57,528 | £64,750 | 3 | 37.5h | £29.42 |
| Scotland | £65,125 | £70,303 | 2 | 36h | £34.69 |
| Wales | £58,379 | £65,723 | 3 | 37.5h | £29.86 |
| Northern Ireland 2025/26 — no newer award | £55,690 | £62,682 | 3 | 37.5h | £28.48 |
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 | £28,764 | 6.5% | £22,734.43 | £1,894.54 | 79% |
| 22.5a lower pension tier | £34,516.80 | 8.3% | £26,080.29 | £2,173.36 | 75.6% |
| 30a lower pension tier | £46,022.40 | 9.8% | £33,048 | £2,754 | 71.8% |
| 37.5 — full time | £57,528 | 10.7% | £40,230.94 | £3,352.58 | 69.9% |
Entry step, England, in the pension scheme. Enter your own hours.
The step before and after
Below this sits band 7. The next band up is band 8b, 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 6Band 7Band 8bBand 8cBand 8dBand 9
Sources for the band 8a 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