NHS & HSC pension schemes · 2026/27 · all four nations
NHS pension contributions
What comes off your pay for the pension, and on what. Three separate schemes cover the four nations, and they do not agree — Scotland runs nine tiers where England and Wales run six, and Northern Ireland charges more than England on bands that are identical to the pound. Every rate below is the published one, not a derived one.
- England & Wales, 2026/27 5.2% – 12.5% 6 tiers — the rate is set by what you earn
- Charged on All of it The whole of pensionable pay, not the slice above a threshold
- Scotland 9 tiers And two tables — most members are assessed on last year’s pay
The one thing most people get wrong
The rate is charged on the whole of your pensionable pay, not on the part above a threshold. Income tax and National Insurance work the other way round — each rate applies only to the slice of income inside its own band — and it is natural to assume the pension does the same. It does not.
Regulation 30(3) of the 2015 Regulations sets one rate, chosen by the band your earnings fall into, and charges it on the earnings. So crossing a threshold by a single pound moves your whole salary up a tier. That is a real cliff in the scheme rather than a rounding artefact, and it is why a pay rise can occasionally leave someone slightly worse off in the month it lands.
NHS pension contribution rates 2026/27
NHS Pension Scheme (England and Wales)
All members. Regulation 30(3) sets the table for members under paragraph 2 of Schedule 11 and 30(3A) sets one for members under paragraph 2A or 3 — and the two tables are IDENTICAL. Unlike Scotland, England and Wales use the same bands for continuing members and for those whose pay changed during the year; only the earnings assessed differ.
| Pensionable earnings | Contribution rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £13,259 | 5.2% |
| £13,260 to £28,854 | 6.5% |
| £28,855 to £35,155 | 8.3% |
| £35,156 to £52,778 | 9.8% |
| £52,779 to £67,668 | 10.7% |
| £67,669 and above | 12.5% |
Assessed on the previous scheme year’s pensionable earnings. Charged on the whole of pensionable pay.
NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland) — Table 1, continuing members
Members in pensionable employment on the last day of the previous scheme year and the first day of the current one. Their rate is assessed on the pensionable earnings they actually received in 2025/26 — not on what they earn now (circular 2026/03, paragraph 2.2).
| Pensionable earnings | Contribution rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £13,330 | 5.7% |
| £13,331 to £27,940 | 6.4% |
| £27,941 to £33,062 | 7.0% |
| £33,063 to £41,482 | 8.7% |
| £41,483 to £43,502 | 9.8% |
| £43,503 to £52,879 | 10.5% |
| £52,880 to £57,223 | 11.2% |
| £57,224 to £80,025 | 11.6% |
| £80,026 and above | 12.7% |
Assessed on the previous scheme year’s pensionable earnings. Charged on the whole of pensionable pay.
NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland) — Table 2, members whose pay changed
Any member who starts a new job, or whose annual rate of pensionable pay changes during the current scheme year. Their earnings are annualised to a full year and assessed against this table (circular 2026/03, paragraphs 2.3 and 2.4).
| Pensionable earnings | Contribution rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £13,330 | 5.7% |
| £13,331 to £28,987 | 6.4% |
| £28,988 to £34,302 | 7.0% |
| £34,303 to £43,038 | 8.7% |
| £43,039 to £45,134 | 9.8% |
| £45,135 to £54,862 | 10.5% |
| £54,863 to £59,369 | 11.2% |
| £59,370 to £83,026 | 11.6% |
| £83,027 and above | 12.7% |
Assessed on the current year’s pensionable earnings. Charged on the whole of pensionable pay.
HSC Pension Scheme (Northern Ireland)
All members. HSC Pension Service: "The rules in respect of tiered contributions apply to all members of the HSC Pension Scheme." Practitioners pay on total annual practitioner pensionable earnings and are not modelled here.
| Pensionable earnings | Contribution rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £13,259 | 5.2% |
| £13,260 to £28,854 | 6.7% |
| £28,855 to £35,155 | 8.5% |
| £35,156 to £52,778 | 10.0% |
| £52,779 to £67,668 | 10.9% |
| £67,669 and above | 12.7% |
Assessed on the current year’s pensionable earnings. Charged on the whole of pensionable pay.
Northern Ireland charges more on identical bands
The HSC scheme uses the same six pensionable salary ranges as England and Wales — the same figures, to the pound — and charges a higher rate in every tier but the first. Two identical tables with different percentages is exactly the case where reading the wrong nation’s column produces a number that looks entirely plausible and no arithmetic check will catch.
| Pensionable earnings | England & Wales | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £13,259 | 5.2% | 5.2% |
| £13,260 to £28,854 | 6.5% | 6.7% higher |
| £28,855 to £35,155 | 8.3% | 8.5% higher |
| £35,156 to £52,778 | 9.8% | 10.0% higher |
| £52,779 to £67,668 | 10.7% | 10.9% higher |
| £67,669 and above | 12.5% | 12.7% higher |
Scotland publishes two tables, and the difference matters
Circular 2026/03 sets out two. If you were in pensionable employment on the last day of the previous scheme year and the first day of this one, your rate is assessed on the pensionable earnings you actually received in 2025/26 — not on what you earn now. Anyone who started a new job, or whose annual rate of pensionable pay changed during the year, is annualised and assessed against the second, wider table instead.
This is the detail a calculator is most likely to get wrong. Ask a Scottish member what they earn today, read it off the current-year table, and a great many of them land in the wrong tier. Both tables are published above, with the rule each one applies to.
What counts as pensionable pay
Not the same as gross pay. Unsocial hours payments are pensionable; overtime generally is not. Contributions are taken under a net-pay arrangement, which means they come out before income tax is worked out — so they reduce your taxable pay, but they do not reduce National Insurance. Your payslip will show the pension line separately from tax and NI.
For what this actually leaves you with, the NHS take-home pay calculator applies these same tables alongside income tax and National Insurance for your nation and band. This page is the reference; that page is the arithmetic.
Assumptions behind these figures
- Tax year 2026/27, rates in force from 1 April 2026.
- Member contributions only. Employer contributions are not a deduction from your pay and are not shown.
- Officer members. Practitioners and non-GP providers are assessed on total annual practitioner earnings and are not modelled here.
- Rates and thresholds are transcribed from the published tables, never calculated from a percentage.
What this page does not do
- It does not estimate what your pension will be worth — no projections, no annual allowance, no lump sums, no early retirement, no McCloud remedy.
- It does not tell you whether to join, leave, or opt out of the scheme, or whether any option suits you. Those are regulated financial advice and this site does not give it.
- It is not a statement of your entitlement. Your employer determines your pensionable pay and your tier.
These are published rates, reproduced with their sources. They are not personal financial advice and are not a substitute for it. For a decision about your pension, speak to a regulated adviser or to your employer’s pensions team; for what the scheme guarantees you, the scheme administrator is the authority.
Sources for the contribution rates 4 documents · last checked Verified
- The National Health Service Pension Scheme Regulations 2015, regulation 30 — Members' contributions: employees The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk) · 2026-27 · Effective · checked · independently checked Also relied on: NHS Pension Scheme member contributions — member contribution rates from 1 April 2026 Verified
- NHS Circular: NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland) 2026/03 — Employee contribution tier bandings from 1 April 2026 Scottish Public Pensions Agency · 2026-27 · Effective · checked · independently checked Verified
- NHS Circular: NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland) 2026/03 — Employee contribution tier bandings from 1 April 2026 Scottish Public Pensions Agency · 2026-27 · Effective · checked · independently checked Verified
- Membership, Contributions & Pay — HSC Pension Scheme Contribution Rates from 1 April 2026 HSC Pension Service, Department of Health (Northern Ireland) · 2026-27 · Effective · checked · independently checked Verified
How we know what the rate is charged on The wording that settles it, for each scheme
- NHS Pension Scheme (England and Wales) The National Health Service Pension Scheme Regulations 2015, regulation 30. Paragraph (2): a member "must make contributions to this scheme … (a) in respect of M's pensionable earnings; (b) at M's contribution rate for the scheme year in question." Paragraph (3): "M's contribution rate … is the percentage specified in column 2 of the following table in respect of the corresponding pensionable earnings band specified in column 1 into which M's pensionable earnings fall." One rate, set by the band the pay falls into, charged on the pensionable earnings — not a rate per slice.
- NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland) — Table 1, continuing members Circular 2026/03 paragraph 2.1: "Members' actual pensionable earnings should be used to assign the contribution tier instead of whole-time equivalent earnings." The earnings assign a tier and the tier carries one percentage rate — the same structure as regulation 30 of the England and Wales Regulations, which states it explicitly. Paragraph 2.4: the full year's earnings "are then used to see if those earnings fall into a different band and therefore a different percentage rate should apply."
- NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland) — Table 2, members whose pay changed Circular 2026/03 paragraph 2.1: "Members' actual pensionable earnings should be used to assign the contribution tier instead of whole-time equivalent earnings." The earnings assign a tier and the tier carries one percentage rate — the same structure as regulation 30 of the England and Wales Regulations, which states it explicitly. Paragraph 2.4: the full year's earnings "are then used to see if those earnings fall into a different band and therefore a different percentage rate should apply."
- HSC Pension Scheme (Northern Ireland) HSC Pension Service: "As a Scheme member you pay a contribution towards your pension based upon your pensionable pay", against a table of "Pensionable salary ranges" each carrying one "Contribution rate". One rate per range, charged on the pensionable pay — the same structure as regulation 30(2)-(3) of the England and Wales Regulations, which states it explicitly, and as SPPA circular 2026/03. The HSC scheme is governed by its own regulations 30(7) and 31(11) of the HSC Pension Scheme Regulations (NI) 2015.