NHS Pro-Rata Salary and FTE Calculator

For Agenda for Change staff working part-time, and anyone thinking of reducing hours. Enter your band, pay point and hours to see your actual salary, the pension tier you will pay, your take-home and your leave in hours. 2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Scotland.

Short answer

Your part-time salary is the full-time salary for your pay point multiplied by your hours divided by the full-time week (37.5 in England and Wales, 36 in Scotland). On Band 5 point 1 in England, 22.5 hours is 0.6 FTE and £19,244 a year, with take-home of about £1,365 a month. Your NHS Pension tier is set by that actual pay (6.5%), not by the full-time figure (8.3%), and annual leave and public holidays come to 159 hours.

Your pay point and hours

Where you work

Northern Ireland has its own scale and pension tiers and is not covered.

Pay band

Pay point

Contracted hours a week

Or FTE (full-time = 1)

Full time here is 37.5 hours. Hours above that are overtime, not salary.

London high cost area supplement

Added to the full-time salary, then pro-rated to your hours. Check how your payroll treats it.

Length of NHS service (for leave)

Hours in your normal shift

Student loan

I pay into the NHS Pension

England, Band 5, point 1 (entry), 30 hours (80% FTE)

Your salary a year

£25,658

Take-home a month

£1,722

Gross a month

£2,138

Annual leave and public holidays

210.75 h

Full-time on this point is £32,073. At 30 hours you are paid 80% of that, £25,658, at the same hourly rate of £16.40.

Pension tier: set by your actual pay

Your pensionable pay is £25,658, so your NHS Pension rate is 6.5%. If the tier were set from full-time pay (£32,073) it would be 8.3%. That was the rule before 1 October 2022; since then the tier follows the pay you actually receive, so working part-time can put you in a lower tier.

Your take-home at 30 hours, against full time

Pay and deductions at your hours and at full-time hours
	Your hours (a year)	Full time (a year)
Gross pay	£25,658	£32,073
NHS Pension	-£1,668 (6.5%)	-£2,662 (8.3%)
Income tax	-£2,284	-£3,368
National Insurance	-£1,047	-£1,560
Take-home a year	£20,659	£24,483
Take-home a month	£1,722	£2,040
Take-home a week	£397	£471

Standard tax code, 2026/27 rates, no other income. Take-home is worked out on your part-time pay; a smaller salary can mean less tax and a lower pension rate, so take-home falls by less than your hours do. Here it is 84% of the full-time figure for 80% of the hours.

Your pro-rata annual leave

Annual leave and public holidays at your hours and full time
	Your hours	Full time
Annual leave (27 days full time)	162 hours	202.5 hours
General public holidays (8 days full time)	48.75 hours	60 hours
Total	210.75 hours	262.5 hours
In 7.5-hour shifts	28.1 shifts	35 shifts

Leave is the full-time days times a standard day (7.5 hours) times your FTE. Public holidays are pro-rated and rounded up to the nearest half day of your own shift (Handbook Section 13). Local rules on carry-over and how your trust records leave vary: the annual leave calculator goes further.

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What part-time pay looks like at one pay point

Band 5 point 1 in England is £32,073 for a 37.5-hour week, which is £16.40 an hour. This table is the calculator's own arithmetic with no London supplement and no student loan, for four common patterns.

Hours a week	FTE	Salary	Pension rate	Take-home a month	Leave and public holidays
37.5	1	£32,073	8.3%	£2,040	262.5 hours
30	0.8	£25,658	6.5%	£1,722	210.75 hours
22.5	0.6	£19,244	6.5%	£1,365	159 hours
18.75	0.5	£16,037	6.5%	£1,186	131.25 hours

Two things stand out. Going from 37.5 to 30 hours cuts the salary by £6,415 a year but take-home by only £3,823, because tax, National Insurance and the pension all fall with it. And the pension rate drops from 8.3% to 6.5% between 37.5 and 30 hours, because the tier follows your actual pay.

Pension tier on part-time pay

The NHS Pension Scheme in England and Wales has six contribution tiers from 1 April 2026, from 5.2% on pensionable pay up to £13,259 to 12.5% above £67,668. NHSBSA says your rate is "based on your actual annual pensionable pay" and NHS Employers says the same. Until 1 October 2022 the scheme used the whole-time equivalent, which is why older advice, and many colleagues, still say part-timers pay the full-time rate. The government's response to the member contributions consultation records the switch to actual earnings on that date. In Scotland, the Scottish Public Pensions Agency's circular 2026/03 tells employers to use actual pensionable earnings, not whole-time equivalent, and sets nine tiers from 5.7% to 12.7%. The Scottish rule differs in one way that matters: members who were in the scheme last year are placed using last year's earnings, while new starters and anyone whose pay changes use this year's.

The tier applies to all of your pensionable pay, not just the part above a threshold. That is why a small change in hours near a threshold can change your rate: the calculator shows both the tier on your actual pay and the tier full-time pay would give. Additional hours worked by part-time staff up to their whole-time equivalent are pensionable (NHSBSA, from 1 April 2025); hours beyond whole time are not.

Part-time annual leave in hours

Full-time leave under Agenda for Change is 27 days on appointment, 29 after five years and 33 after ten, plus 8 general public holidays (Handbook Section 13, Table 6). A part-time employee gets the same entitlement pro rata. The calculator expresses it in hours using the standard day (7.5 hours, or 7.2 in Scotland), multiplies by your FTE, and rounds public holidays up to the nearest half day of your own shift, as paragraph 13.6 requires. At 0.6 FTE that is 121.5 hours of leave and 37.5 hours of public holidays. For leave accrual over a leave year, joiners, leavers and maternity leave, use the annual leave calculator.

Scotland: the 36-hour week

From 1 April 2026 full-time hours for Agenda for Change staff in NHS Scotland are 36 a week, so FTE is hours divided by 36 and a standard day is 7.2 hours. Part-time hours are reduced pro rata, by the Scottish Government's formula of current hours divided by 37 times 36 (so 21.6 hours replaces 22.2), without loss of earnings. At 0.6 FTE on Band 5 point 1 in Scotland the salary is £20,726, the pension rate on that actual pay is 6.4% (against 8.7% on full-time pay), and annual leave and public holidays come to 152.64 hours. See the Scotland pay scales guide.

How we calculate: method, assumptions and sources

ℹMethod and limits

Salary. Pay points from the 2026/27 scales for England (NHS Employers), Wales (Welsh Government AfC(W) 02/2026 and the June 2026 Band 3 correction) and Scotland (Scottish Government). Part-time salary is full-time salary times hours over the full-time week (37.5, or 36 in Scotland), rounded to the penny.

Take-home. 2026/27 income tax (Scottish bands for Scotland), employee National Insurance, student loan thresholds and NHS Pension tiers, using the same engine as the NHS Pay Calculator. Standard tax code, no other income. Scotland uses the Scottish pension tiers on your actual pay.

Leave. Handbook Section 13 as implemented in the site's annual leave engine.

Not covered. Northern Ireland, pay protection, recruitment and retention premia, unsocial hours and overtime, salary sacrifice schemes and how your own employer annualises variable pay for pension tiers. Employers can differ on small points, so check your payslip and your payroll team. FrontlinePay is independent and not affiliated with the NHS. This is guidance, not financial advice.

For a single pay point see Band 5 take-home pay and the other band pages from the hourly rates table. Part-time pension rules are in part-time NHS pension explained.

Frequently asked questions

How do I work out my part-time NHS salary? +

Divide your contracted hours by the full-time week (37.5 in England and Wales, 36 in Scotland) to get your FTE, then multiply the full-time salary for your pay point by it. For Band 5 point 1 in England (£32,073), 22.5 hours is 0.6 FTE and £19,244 a year. Your hourly rate stays £16.40.

Is my NHS Pension tier based on my full-time equivalent pay? +

No. Since 1 October 2022 the tier is set by your actual annual pensionable pay, not your whole-time equivalent. NHSBSA and NHS Employers both say the rates are based on actual annual pensionable pay, and the Scottish circular says the same for Scotland. For Band 5 point 1 at 22.5 hours that means 6.5% on £19,244 rather than the 8.3% full-time pay would give.

Does part-time NHS work pay less tax and National Insurance? +

Yes, because both are worked out on what you are paid. At 0.6 FTE on Band 5 point 1 in England you pay £1,085 income tax and £534 National Insurance a year, against £3,368 and £1,560 full time. That is why take-home falls by less than your hours: £1,365 a month is 67% of the full-time £2,040 for 60% of the hours.

How is part-time annual leave worked out in the NHS? +

Full-time Agenda for Change leave is 27, 29 or 33 days depending on service (plus 8 public holidays). For part-time staff it is those days, in hours, multiplied by your FTE. At 0.6 FTE with under five years' service that is 121.5 hours of leave plus 37.5 hours of public holidays, 159 hours in all. Public holidays are pro-rated and rounded up to the nearest half day (Handbook Section 13, paragraph 13.6).

What happens to part-time hours in Scotland now the week is 36 hours? +

NHS Scotland's full-time week fell from 37 to 36 hours on 1 April 2026 without loss of pay, and part-time hours reduce pro rata: the Scottish Government's formula is current hours divided by 37 times 36. A 22.2-hour contract becomes 21.6 hours. If you keep your old hours by agreement, you are paid the higher hourly rate (PCS(AFC)2025/8, Annex C). Choose Scotland in the calculator and enter your new hours.

Are my extra hours pensionable if I work part-time? +

NHSBSA says additional hours worked by part-time staff up to their whole-time equivalent are automatically pensionable (from 1 April 2025), while hours above whole-time equivalent stay non-pensionable. The calculator works on your contracted hours; extra hours up to full time would add to your pay and pensionable pay on the days you work them.

Does the High Cost Area Supplement change if I work part-time? +

The calculator adds the supplement to the full-time salary and then applies your FTE, which is how the pay calculator on this site treats it. The Handbook (Section 4) sets the supplement as a percentage with a minimum and maximum payment and does not spell out the part-time treatment, so check your payslip or payroll team if the London figure matters to you.

Related tools and guides

NHS Pay Calculator

Take-home pay by band, point, hours and London zone.

NHS Annual Leave Calculator

Leave accrual, joiners, leavers and maternity leave.

Part-Time NHS Pension Explained

How part-time pay and hours affect your pension.

NHS Pension Contribution Rates 2026/27

Every tier in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

NHS Flexible Working Request Pack

If you want to reduce your hours, build the request.

NHS Hourly Pay Rates by Band 2026/27

Hourly rates for every band and point.