NHS Pay Calculator

Your NHS pay at a glance

Where your NHS pay goes

This shows how your estimated gross NHS pay divides between take-home pay and each deduction.

• Take-home pay
• Income Tax
• National Insurance
• NHS Pension

What Agenda for Change is

Agenda for Change is the national pay and grading system for most NHS staff in England, covering nurses, healthcare assistants, allied health professionals, administrative and clerical staff, scientists and many other roles. It does not cover doctors, dentists or Very Senior Managers, who have separate pay arrangements.

NHS Bands explained

Agenda for Change groups roles into bands, from Band 2 to Band 9, reflecting the level of responsibility, skill and experience required. Band 1 is closed to new entrants. Higher bands generally mean greater responsibility and higher pay.

Pay points and progression

Within most bands, staff progress through pay points over time, normally entry, then intermediate, then top, though Band 2 has a single pay point and Bands 3 and 4 have only entry and top. This calculator only ever offers the pay points that genuinely exist for the band you select.

NHS full-time and part-time pay

Standard Agenda for Change full-time hours are 37.5 a week. Part-time pay is calculated proportionally: your full-time equivalent (FTE) percentage is your contracted hours divided by 37.5, and your actual basic salary is your full-time equivalent salary multiplied by that percentage.

NHS Pension employee contributions

Most NHS staff are automatically enrolled in the NHS Pension Scheme. Your contribution rate depends on your actual annual pensionable pay, which is your basic salary plus High Cost Area Supplement if applicable, not your full-time equivalent salary. This matters for part-time staff: your contribution tier is based on what you actually earn, so working part-time can place you in a lower tier than a full-time colleague on the same band and point.

NHS Pension contributions are deducted from your pay before Income Tax is calculated, so you automatically receive tax relief at your own rate through payroll. They are not deducted before National Insurance or student loan calculations, which are based on your full gross pay.

HCAS and London weighting

The High Cost Area Supplement (HCAS), also called London weighting, is an additional payment for staff working in or near London, calculated as a percentage of basic salary, subject to a minimum and maximum payment for each zone. HCAS is pensionable and is taxed and subject to National Insurance in the same way as basic salary. For part-time staff, HCAS is pro-rated in the same way as basic salary.

Income Tax and National Insurance

Income Tax and employee National Insurance are calculated using the same rates and thresholds that apply to any employee in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Income Tax is charged on your pay after your NHS Pension contribution; National Insurance is charged on your full gross pay before any pension deduction.

Student loans

Student loan and Postgraduate Loan repayments are calculated on your full gross pay, in the same way as National Insurance, not on your pay after pension contributions. You can have an undergraduate plan and a Postgraduate Loan at the same time; the two repayments are calculated separately and added together.

Why actual payslips can differ from this estimate

This calculator provides an annual estimate. Your actual payslip can differ because of your specific tax code, local trust arrangements, prior-period payroll adjustments and back pay, overtime, unsocial-hours enhancements, on-call payments, recruitment and retention premia, benefits in kind, salary sacrifice schemes, or other individual deductions, none of which are modelled here.

What this calculator does not include

• Doctors, dentists or Very Senior Managers
• Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland pay and tax rules
• Bank-only or agency workers
• Overtime
• Unsocial-hours enhancements
• On-call payments
• Recruitment and retention premia
• Salary sacrifice arrangements
• Pension contributions or student loan calculated on Scottish Income Tax bands

Worked example: Band 5, full-time

A full-time Band 5 member of staff at the entry point, 2026/27, England, no HCAS, in the NHS Pension Scheme, no student loan.

Explore NHS pay by band

UK tax guides for skilled migrants

If you are moving to the UK from another country to work in healthcare, these guides use this calculator alongside the Salary and Self-Employed Tax calculators to explain UK take-home pay by country.