NHS pension contributions
Your contribution rate is a percentage set by which pay band you fall in. Which band that is depends on a detail that catches a lot of people out, and it matters most if you work part time.
Updated for 2026/27Pay circular effective 1 April 2026 - 31 March 2027
The contribution tiers
Members of the NHS Pension Scheme pay a percentage of pensionable pay, set by which pay range they fall in. The ranges are reviewed each April.
| Annual pensionable pay | 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% |
Figures above from: NHS Business Services Authority — member contribution rates from 1 April 2026. Effective from 2026-04-01. This site is not affiliated with the NHS, NHS Employers or the NHS Business Services Authority.
The ranges are inclusive at both ends: the top of one tier and the bottom of the next are a pound apart, so a salary exactly on a boundary is in the lower tier.
The detail that catches people out
Your tier is set by actual annual pensionable pay — what you are actually paid — not by the full-time salary of your band.
For anyone full-time the distinction never arises. For anyone part-time it changes the answer. A Band 7 at the entry step is a £49,387 full-time salary, which sits in the 9.8% tier. The same person at half time is paid £24,694, which sits in the 6.5% tier — so they pay £1,605.08 a year, not the £2,419.96 that pro-rating the full-time rate would suggest.
Additional hours worked up to whole-time equivalent are pensionable for part-time staff, so they raise actual pensionable pay and can move you up a tier.
What the same salary paid in earlier years
The pay ranges move each April with the Consumer Prices Index, except for the lowest tier, which is held to protect members who may not earn enough to benefit from tax relief on their contributions. Because the ranges move and pay moves separately, an unchanged salary can change tier from one year to the next.
| Scheme year | Rate on £49,387 |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2026 - 31 March 2027 | 9.8% |
| 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026 | 9.8% |
| 1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025 | 10.7% |
Figures above from: NHS Business Services Authority — contribution rates for 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27. Effective from 2026-04-01. This site is not affiliated with the NHS, NHS Employers or the NHS Business Services Authority.
How it interacts with tax
NHS pension contributions come out of pay before income tax and after National Insurance. So being in the scheme reduces your income tax bill but not your National Insurance — which is why the take-home figures on this site show a lower tax line for a member than for a non-member on the same gross, with the National Insurance line identical.