NHS maternity pay, week by week
The NHS occupational scheme and Statutory Maternity Pay run on different timetables and interact differently in each phase — subtracted in the first block, added and then capped in the second. This works the whole entitlement out one week at a time.
Updated for 2026/27Pay circular effective 1 April 2026 - 31 March 2027
Two schemes, running at once
An NHS employee on maternity leave is paid under two schemes at the same time. Statutory Maternity Pay is the legal minimum every qualifying employee in Great Britain receives. The NHS occupational scheme, in Section 15 of the handbook, pays more than that — but it does not pay it on top. In the first block the statutory payment is subtracted from what the employer pays; in the second it is added and then capped.
The two schemes also run on different clocks. The occupational scheme covers 52 weeks in four phases; the statutory scheme runs 39 weeks in two. The boundaries do not line up, which is why the only honest way to show this is a week at a time.
The occupational scheme, phase by phase
| Weeks | What you receive |
|---|---|
| 8 weeks | Full pay (statutory pay counts towards it) |
| 18 weeks | Half pay plus statutory pay, capped at full pay |
| 13 weeks | Statutory pay only |
| 13 weeks | Unpaid |
Figures above from: NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, Section 15, §15.21. Effective from 2026-04-01. This site is not affiliated with the NHS, NHS Employers or the NHS Business Services Authority.
The statutory scheme underneath it pays 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then the lower of £194.32 a week and 90% of average weekly earnings for a further 33 weeks.
Figures above from: GOV.UK — Maternity pay and leave: Pay (Statutory Maternity Pay). Effective from 2026-04-01. This site is not affiliated with the NHS, NHS Employers or the NHS Business Services Authority.
Worked through: Band 6, entry step
On £39,959 a year — £768.44 a week — the full 52 weeks look like this. The statutory column is what the statutory scheme pays that week; the occupational column is what the employer adds on top of it; the total is what reaches you.
| Week | Statutory | Occupational | Total that week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £691.60 | £76.84 | £768.44 |
| 2 | £691.60 | £76.84 | £768.44 |
| 3 | £691.60 | £76.84 | £768.44 |
| 4 | £691.60 | £76.84 | £768.44 |
| 5 | £691.60 | £76.84 | £768.44 |
| 6 | £691.60 | £76.84 | £768.44 |
| 7 | £194.32 | £574.12 | £768.44 |
| 8 | £194.32 | £574.12 | £768.44 |
| 9 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 10 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 11 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 12 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 13 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 14 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 15 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 16 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 17 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 18 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 19 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 20 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 21 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 22 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 23 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 24 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 25 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 26 | £194.32 | £384.22 | £578.54 |
| 27 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 28 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 29 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 30 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 31 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 32 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 33 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 34 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 35 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 36 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 37 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 38 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 39 | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32 |
| 40 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 41 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 42 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 43 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 44 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 45 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 46 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 47 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 48 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 49 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 50 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 51 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 52 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| Total | £10,562.16 | £8,525.24 | £19,087.40 |
Notice what happens at week 6 and week 7. Your total is unchanged — it is still full pay — but the split between the two columns moves sharply, because the statutory scheme drops from 90% of earnings to a flat weekly rate while the occupational scheme tops the difference back up. Nothing about that is visible in either scheme described on its own.
The cap, and who it actually affects
The half-pay phase is capped: half pay plus statutory pay cannot exceed full pay. For a full-time member of staff on the current England scale that cap can never bind — it would require an annual salary below about £20,209, and the lowest point on the scale is above that. It binds only for part-time staff, whose full pay is lower while the statutory flat rate is not.
On the Band 6 example above the cap binds in none of the 52 weeks.
Qualifying, and what is not modelled
The occupational scheme requires 12 months of continuous NHS service measured at the start of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth, notice in writing before the end of the 15th week before, and an intention to return to NHS employment for at least 3 months. Without that service you may still qualify for the statutory scheme.
Full pay here is calculated on average weekly earnings under the statutory rules, which include unsocial hours payments. Where a pay award or a step increase lands before or during the leave, the handbook requires the calculation to be reworked — this page assumes steady pay and does not model those events. Adoption pay follows the same four phases against Statutory Adoption Pay.
One reading is recorded rather than hidden: the cap is applied here week by week. A payroll reading that applied it across the whole 18-week block would differ where earnings vary within the period.