NHS Agenda for Change · Wales · 2026/27
NHS Wales pay scales 2026/27
Wales sets its own Agenda for Change rates. The band structure is the same as England’s, but the money is not — Welsh rates are higher at every band. A 3.3% rise applied from 1 April 2026 — though not to the lowest 4 pay points, which were lifted to a wage floor instead.
| Band | Entry | Intermediate | Top | Years to top | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1 Closed to new entrants. | £26,300 single rate | — | £13.45 | ||
| Band 2 | £26,300 | — | £26,300 | 2 | £13.45 |
| Band 3 | £26,300 | — | £27,890 | 2 | £13.45–£14.26 |
| Band 4 | £28,819 | — | £31,626 | 3 | £14.74–£16.17 |
| Band 5 | £32,557 | £35,114 | £39,631 | 4 | £16.65–£20.27 |
| Band 6 | £40,559 | £42,805 | £48,841 | 5 | £20.74–£24.98 |
| Band 7 | £50,129 | £52,712 | £57,365 | 5 | £25.64–£29.34 |
| Band 8a | £58,379 | £61,317 | £65,723 | 5 | £29.86–£33.61 |
| Band 8b | £67,583 | £71,952 | £78,530 | 5 | £34.56–£40.16 |
| Band 8c | £80,698 | £85,611 | £92,984 | 5 | £41.27–£47.55 |
| Band 8d | £95,773 | £101,643 | £110,448 | 5 | £48.98–£56.48 |
| Band 9 | £114,475 | £121,377 | £131,732 | 5 | £58.54–£67.37 |
Hourly rates are derived — annual pay ÷ 52.143 weeks ÷ the 37.5-hour standard week — because this circular publishes annual salaries only.
The lowest bands did not get the 3.3%
Bands 1, 2, 3 sit at exactly £26,300 — the Living Wage Foundation rate of £13.45 an hour, paid in advance of the award — £13.45 × 37.5 hours × 365/7 weeks is £26,300 a year. Wales paid that uplift on 1 April 2026, the same day as the award, and the circular that set it says it is an advance which “does not form a new baseline from which the pay award will apply”.
So the 3.3% was not added on top for those 4 pay points. They went up by more than 3.3% in total — the floor lifted them further than the percentage would have — but a reader who takes 3.3% and applies it to last year’s figure will get the wrong number for every one of them. Everywhere above the floor, the 3.3% applies normally.
Set by Pay Letter AfC(W) 01/2026, 6 January 2026.
How Wales compares with England
At the entry step of every band, Welsh pay is above the English figure — from £427 more at band 4 to £1,693 more at band 9. Both nations took a 3.3% rise this year, so the gap is longstanding rather than new.
| Band | Wales | England | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1 | £26,300 | £25,272 | +£1,028 |
| Band 2 | £26,300 | £25,272 | +£1,028 |
| Band 3 | £26,300 | £25,760 | +£540 |
| Band 4 | £28,819 | £28,392 | +£427 |
| Band 5 | £32,557 | £32,073 | +£484 |
| Band 6 | £40,559 | £39,959 | +£600 |
| Band 7 | £50,129 | £49,387 | +£742 |
| Band 8a | £58,379 | £57,528 | +£851 |
| Band 8b | £67,583 | £66,582 | +£1,001 |
| Band 8c | £80,698 | £79,504 | +£1,194 |
| Band 8d | £95,773 | £94,356 | +£1,417 |
| Band 9 | £114,475 | £112,782 | +£1,693 |
Entry step only. The England scales, the Scottish scales and the Northern Ireland scales are published in full separately.
Unsocial hours
From the Welsh section of the NHS Terms and Conditions handbook, not the English one. The percentages happen to match England’s at every band the Welsh table lists — but it is the Welsh table that says so.
| Band | Saturday, and weekdays 8pm–6am | Sunday and public holidays |
|---|---|---|
| Band 2 | +41% | +83% |
| Band 3 | +35% | +69% |
| Bands 4–9 | +30% | +60% |
A percentage added to your hourly rate for those hours, on top of basic pay. The Wales table lists no rate for band 1. That is what the document says; no figure has been carried across from another nation to fill it.
How Wales’s rates compare with the other nations, and the rules for which hours qualify.
On-call and sleep-in
Paid on top of basic pay when you are on-call or sleeping in. Wales sets these nationally, and they rise with the pay award.
| Allowance | Rate | Paid per |
|---|---|---|
| Sleeping-in allowance | £44.82 | a night |
| On-call, public holiday | £52.08 | a session |
| On-call, weekday or weekend | £26.05 | a session |
From AfC(W) 02/2026, allowance table. Transcribed as published, never worked out from the award percentage.
What is not on this page
London weighting is not shown for Wales. High Cost Area Supplement is an England payment; the England pages carry it because it is sourced from the handbook’s England section, and nothing equivalent has been sourced for Wales.
Hourly figures are derived — annual pay ÷ 52.143 weeks ÷ the 37.5-hour week — because the Welsh circular publishes annual salaries only. These are basic salaries before income tax, National Insurance and pension.
See the methodology and the source register.
Source for the Welsh figures
- Pay Letter AfC(W) 02/2026 — Agenda for Change pay arrangements 2026/27, Wales, Annex 1 Welsh Government, Health and Social Services Group · 2026-27 · Effective · checked · independently checked Also relied on: NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, version 21 — Section 2 (Wales), Table 2(a): unsocial hours payments Pay Letter AfC(W) 01/2026 — advance uplift to the Living Wage Foundation rate of £13.45 an hour from 1 April 2026 Verified