NHS Pay Calculator 2026/27

NHS Pay Calculator 2026/27

This NHS pay calculator shows your annual, monthly, weekly and hourly gross basic pay on the Agenda for Change pay scales in force from 1 April 2026. Choose your nation, band, pay point and weekly hours. It covers England, Scotland and Wales, and it shows the working behind every figure.

This page is independent. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NHS. It gives general information and is not financial or tax advice. Your payslip and your employer’s payroll team are the authority on your own pay.

How this pay calculator for NHS staff works

People who look for a pay calculator NHS staff can use usually want to check one of two things: what a band pays, or what their own hours come to. The calculator uses the published pay scales and four steps.

• Annual pay. The full-time salary for your band and pay point, multiplied by your contracted hours and divided by the full-time hours. Full time is 37.5 hours a week in England and Wales and 36 hours a week in Scotland.
• Monthly pay. Annual pay divided by 12.
• Weekly pay. Annual pay divided by 52.14, which is 365 days divided by 7.
• NHS hourly rate. The full-time salary divided by 52.14 and then by the full-time hours. The result matches the hourly rates NHS Employers publishes for England.

Basic pay does not include unsocial hours payments, overtime, on-call payments or recruitment and retention premia. Bank and agency rates are also separate.

Worked example: NHS band 5 pay at the entry point

A newly registered nurse in England starts on band 5 at the entry point and works full time outside London.

• Annual: £32,073.00
• Monthly: £32,073 / 12 = £2,672.75
• Weekly: £32,073 / 52.14 = £615.10
• Hourly: £32,073 / 52.14 / 37.5 = £16.40
• Next pay step: the intermediate point, £34,592, after two years in the band

On 30 hours a week the same nurse earns £32,073 x 30 / 37.5 = £25,658.40 a year, or £2,138.20 a month. Enter these details above and the calculator gives the same figures.

High Cost Area Supplement

Staff in England who work in inner London, outer London or the fringe zone get a High Cost Area Supplement on top of basic pay. It is a percentage of basic salary with a minimum and a maximum. It is pensionable, and it is not counted as basic pay when overtime or unsocial hours payments are worked out.

For part-time staff the calculator works out the full-time supplement and then reduces it in line with contracted hours. Payroll systems can round differently by a few pence.

Your next pay step and the date rule

In England your pay step date is the anniversary of the date you started in your current band. If you are promoted, the date resets to the day you start in the new band. You become eligible for the next step after the number of years shown in the table below. Progression is not automatic. Your appraisal must have been completed in the last 12 months, your statutory and mandatory training must be complete, and there must be no formal capability process or live disciplinary sanction. Wales and Scotland have their own progression arrangements, so the calculator shows the years needed and you should confirm the conditions with your employer.

NHS annual leave

This page does not include an NHS annual leave calculator, but the entitlement is simple to check. Under the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, full-time staff get 27 days of annual leave on appointment, 29 days after five years of service and 33 days after ten years, plus 8 public holidays. Part-time staff get the same entitlement pro rata, and leave is worked out in hours where shifts are not 7.5 hours long.

NHS take home pay calculator: what the estimate includes

For England and Wales the results include an estimate of take-home pay, so the page also works as an NHS take home pay calculator for full-time and part-time staff. It takes off NHS Pension Scheme contributions, income tax and National Insurance. If you came here for an NHS take home pay calculator part time figure, enter your contracted hours and the estimate uses your actual part-time pay, which is also what your pension contribution rate is based on.

The estimate assumes the standard 1257L tax code, one job, no student loan, no salary sacrifice and that you are a member of the pension scheme. Pension contributions are taken before income tax. No take-home estimate is shown for Scotland because Scottish income tax rates are different.

Tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027: personal allowance £12,570, basic rate 20% on the next £37,700, higher rate 40% up to £125,140, additional rate 45% above that. The allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of income over £100,000. Employee National Insurance is 8% on earnings from £12,570 to £50,270 a year and 2% above.

NHS pay bands 2026/27: Agenda for Change pay scales

These are the Agenda for Change pay scales in force from 1 April 2026. People also search for this year’s tool as the NHS pay calculator 26/27. The row for your pay point is highlighted after you use the calculator.

England

Sources: NHS Employers, Pay scales for 2026/27 and the NHS Employers 2026 pay scales poster. The 3.3% award was announced in a written ministerial statement on 12 February 2026.

Scotland

Sources: NHS Scotland circular PCS(AFC)2026/1, dated 23 January 2026, and the Scottish Government NHS pay rates page. The Scottish deal includes an inflation guarantee: if average CPI inflation for January to December 2026 is above 2.75%, a further adjustment is due in March 2027. There is no High Cost Area Supplement in Scotland.

Wales

Sources: NHS Wales pay letter AfC(W) 02/2026, dated 12 February 2026, and the Band 3 correction letter of 1 June 2026, which raised the Band 3 entry point from £26,300 to £26,813. Hourly rates for Wales are calculated on this page and are not from the pay letter. All pay scales on this page were checked against these sources on 8 October 2026.

Northern Ireland is not covered. We could not find published 2026/27 Health and Social Care pay scales on an official source when this page was checked in October 2026, so the calculator leaves Northern Ireland out.

Unsocial hours rates in England

Unsocial hours are paid as a percentage on top of the basic hourly rate. The calculator shows the enhanced hourly rates for your band when you choose England.

Source: NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook. Other sources used on this page: GOV.UK rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, GOV.UK income tax rates and NHS Business Services Authority, cost of being in the scheme.

Questions about NHS pay

What is the NHS band 5 pay for 2026/27?

In England, NHS band 5 pay from 1 April 2026 is £32,073 a year at the entry point, £34,592 at the intermediate point after two years and £39,043 at the top of the band after a further two years. Full time at 37.5 hours a week, the entry point is £2,672.75 a month and £16.40 an hour before deductions. In Wales band 5 runs from £32,557 to £39,631, and in Scotland from £34,544 to £43,039.

How is the NHS hourly rate worked out?

The NHS hourly rate is the full-time annual salary divided by the number of weeks in a year (365 divided by 7, which is 52.14) and then by the full-time weekly hours. Full-time hours are 37.5 a week in England and Wales and 36 a week in Scotland from 1 April 2026. For example, £32,073 divided by 52.14 and then by 37.5 gives £16.40 an hour. This matches the hourly rates published by NHS Employers.

How does the NHS pay calculator work out part-time pay?

Part-time pay is the full-time salary for your pay point multiplied by your contracted hours and divided by the full-time hours. A band 5 nurse at the entry point in England working 30 hours a week earns £32,073 x 30 / 37.5 = £25,658.40 a year, which is £2,138.20 a month. The hourly rate stays the same at £16.40.

How much is the High Cost Area Supplement in 2026/27?

From 1 April 2026 the High Cost Area Supplement in England is 20% of basic salary in inner London (minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746 a year), 15% in outer London (minimum £4,870, maximum £6,137) and 5% in the fringe zone (minimum £1,346, maximum £2,270). It is pensionable. It does not apply in Scotland or Wales.

When do I move to the next pay step?

In England your pay step date is the anniversary of the date you started in your current band. You move up after the number of years shown in the pay scale table, which is two or three years depending on the band and step. Progression is not automatic. Your appraisal and statutory and mandatory training need to be up to date, and there must be no formal capability process or live disciplinary sanction.

Is the take-home pay figure exact?

No. The take-home figure is an estimate for England and Wales. It uses the 2026 to 2027 income tax and National Insurance rates, the standard 1257L tax code and the NHS Pension Scheme member contribution rates from 1 April 2026. It assumes one job, no student loan, no unsocial hours or overtime pay and that you are in the pension scheme. Your payslip will differ if any of these do not apply to you.

Related tools

• NHS annual leave calculator
• Pro rata salary calculator
• Pay rise calculator
• Statutory sick pay calculator