NHS Band 5 Take-Home Pay 2026/27 After Tax and Pension

Band 5 is the first registered salary for most nurses, midwives, paramedics, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and radiographers. In England it runs from £32,073 to £39,043 across three points, and a full-time employee takes home about £2,040 a month at point 1, £2,177 at point 2 and £2,381 at the top, after income tax, National Insurance and the NHS Pension and with no student loan.

Most people joining the NHS are expected to start at the bottom of the band (Handbook, Annex 23, paragraph 11), so point 1 is the figure to plan around. Point 2 follows after two years and the top after two more (Handbook, Annex 2), on your pay step date. This page is about what you keep: with a student loan, the same salary can leave you with £2,020 (Plan 2) or £1,987 (Plan 5) a month at point 1, and our Band 5 salary page covers the pay points themselves.

This page answers "what lands in my bank account", not "what is the salary". For the pay points themselves, hourly rates and who works at this band, see the Band 5 salary page. Every figure here is for a full-time employee on a standard tax code with no other income, using the 2026/27 tax year, and is explained in how we calculated this. FrontlinePay is independent and not affiliated with the NHS.

Band 5 take-home pay in England, 2026/27

England's table applies to Agenda for Change staff paid on the England pay scale. The pension tier is the one the NHS Pension Scheme in England and Wales applies to your basic pay. All figures are a year unless marked.

Income tax is worked out after the pension has come off (the pension comes out of pay before tax, but not before National Insurance). The monthly figure is the annual figure divided by 12 and the weekly figure divides by 52, so a real payslip will differ by small amounts depending on pay dates, 4-week and 5-week months and your tax code.

Band 5 take-home with a student loan

A student loan repayment is 9% of your pay above the plan's threshold (£26,900 for Plan 1, £29,385 for Plan 2, £25,000 for Plan 5 and £33,795 for Plan 4 in 2026/27), taken through payroll in addition to the deductions above. The table shows monthly take-home after the loan, with the monthly repayment in brackets. Postgraduate loans are separate (6% above £21,000) and are not shown.

Which plan you are on depends on where and when you started your course, not on where you work now. Gov.uk puts English undergraduates who started on or after 1 August 2023 on Plan 5, English students from 1 September 2012 to 31 July 2023 and Welsh students from 1 September 2012 on Plan 2, anyone from Northern Ireland on Plan 1 (as are English and Welsh students from before September 2012), and Scottish students on Plan 4. Your student loan statement or payslip shows your plan; the gov.uk plan checker is the official source.

Band 5 take-home pay in Wales

Wales has its own 2026/27 pay scale, taxed at the same rates as England, with the same NHS Pension tiers. Welsh figures are monthly take-home after tax, National Insurance and pension.

Wales does not pay the High Cost Area Supplement, which is an England-only payment. Northern Ireland has its own pay scale and its own pension tiers, so it is not covered by these tables: see NHS Northern Ireland pay 2026/27.

Band 5 take-home pay in Scotland

Scotland is different in three ways at once, and this table uses all three: its own pay scale, Scottish income tax rates (19%, 20%, 21%, 42%), and the nine-tier NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland). It also pays on a 36-hour full-time week from 1 April 2026, which raises the hourly rate but not the annual salary.

Scotland's Band 5 runs from £34,544 to £43,039, about £2,471 above England at point 1, and £127 a month more in take-home. Point 2 follows after two years in the band and the top point after four (Scotland Section 1, Table 1a puts them in years 3 and 5). At the same taxable pay, Scottish rates charge £20 less than England's at point 1, £2 more at point 2 and £53 more at the top, where the 21% rate applies to more of your pay.

Scottish-educated nurses are on Plan 4 (threshold £33,795), so their loan starts at £67.41 a year at point 1 and rises to £831.96 at the top. Borrowers from the rest of the UK working in Scotland repay on their own plan at the rates in the table.

Scotland's two pension tables (one for members already in the scheme last year, one for new starters and anyone whose pay changes) give the same rate at every Band 5 point, so the table above holds whichever applies to you.

Your NHS Pension tier at Band 5

The England and Wales tiers charge 8.3% on pay from £28,855 to £35,155 and 9.8% on pay from £35,156 to £52,778. Band 5's first two points (£32,073 and £34,592) are in the lower tier and the top point (£39,043) is in the higher. Because the rate applies to your whole pay, the top point costs £586 a year, £49 a month, more than the lower rate would have.

In Wales the second point (£35,114) is just £41 under the £35,155 line, and the top point (£39,631) is over it. In Scotland the first two points are at 8.7% and the top point at 9.8%. These rates are charged on your actual pensionable pay, which includes unsocial hours payments and any High Cost Area Supplement.

• England and Wales, on basic pay: point 1: 8.3%; point 2: 8.3%; point 3: 9.8%.
• Scotland: point 1: 8.7%; point 2: 8.7%; point 3: 9.8%.

Your whole pensionable pay is charged at the rate for the tier it falls in, not just the part above the line. The tier is set by your actual annual pensionable pay, not by the full-time equivalent, which matters for part-timers: see the NHS pro-rata salary calculator. Pensionable pay includes unsocial hours payments and the High Cost Area Supplement, so either can move you up a tier.

Tax, National Insurance and student loans at this pay

Band 5 is entirely in the basic-rate band in England. At point 1 the pension takes £2,662, income tax £3,368 and National Insurance £1,560, together £7,590 of £32,073. An extra pound from enhancements or overtime leaves about 65p at points 1 and 2 and 64p at the top point, where the pension is 9.8%.

The student loan is the deduction that varies most at this band, and the plan depends on when and where you studied, not on the NHS. Gov.uk puts English undergraduates who started a course on or after 1 August 2023 on Plan 5, and those who started between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023 on Plan 2. A three-year degree begun in the 2023 autumn intake finishes in 2026, so people qualifying now include the first Plan 5 borrowers. At point 1 a Plan 2 borrower repays £241.92 a year (£20 a month), and a Plan 5 borrower repays £636.57 (£53 a month), which is £394.65 a year more on the same salary because the Plan 5 threshold is £25,000 rather than £29,385. Welsh students from 2012 are on Plan 2, and Scottish students on Plan 4.

The two steps up the band are worth different amounts. Point 1 to point 2 adds £210 a month gross and £137 net, because the pension stays at 8.3%. Point 2 to the top adds £371 gross but £203 net, because the pension moves to 9.8% on all of your pay (see the pension section).

Band 5 in London: HCAS and what it does to take-home

The High Cost Area Supplement is a percentage of basic pay with a minimum and a maximum payment, paid in England only: Inner London 20% (minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746), Outer London 15% (£4,870 to £6,137) and the Fringe 5% (£1,346 to £2,270). It is pensionable, so it is added to your pay before the pension tier is read. The table shows each zone at each point, with the take-home gain compared with the same point outside London (no student loan).

At Band 5 point 1 the three London zones work differently. Inner London pays 20% of basic (£6,415); Outer London pays its minimum of £4,870, because 15% of £32,073 is just under it; and the Fringe pays 5% (£1,604). Inner and Outer London both take total pay over £35,155, so the pension moves from 8.3% to 9.8%.

That is why Inner London's £535 a month gross is worth £311 after deductions, and Outer London's £406 is worth £228. The Fringe at point 1 stays in the 8.3% tier and keeps £87 of £134; at point 2 the Fringe's £1,730 pushes you into the higher tier and keeps £58 of £144.

Which zone you are in depends on where the post is based, using the 2005 Primary Care Trust boundaries set out in Annex 8 of the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook. See London weighting vs HCAS explained and the HCAS zone explainer.

What unsocial hours add at Band 5

If you work Saturdays, nights (8pm to 6am on weekdays), Sundays or public holidays, you are paid an enhancement on top of the basic hourly rate. The Handbook (Section 2, Table 2) sets Band 5 at time plus 30% for Saturdays and weekday 8pm to 6am, and time plus 60% for Sundays and public holidays in England and Wales. Scotland's Section 2 uses the same percentages for this band. Only one rate applies to each hour, and the enhancement is worked out on basic pay, not HCAS (Section 2, paragraphs 2.8 and 2.12). Unsocial hours payments are pensionable (paragraph 2.14), so they also count toward your pension tier.

In Scotland the hourly rate is worked out on a 36-hour week, so a standard shift is 7.2 hours: point 1, £18.40 an hour, +£39.75 for a Saturday or night shift and +£79.50 for a Sunday or bank holiday shift; point 2, £19.66 an hour, +£42.47 for a Saturday or night shift and +£84.95 for a Sunday or bank holiday shift; point 3, £22.93 an hour, +£49.52 for a Saturday or night shift and +£99.05 for a Sunday or bank holiday shift.

Enhancements are paid on basic pay only, so a London supplement does not increase them, and part-time staff are eligible for them too (Section 2, paragraph 2.17). Because they are pensionable, enough of them can move your whole pay into a higher pension tier.

Our illustration adds £295 a month before deductions and £157 after them at point 1, and moves the pension from 8.3% to 9.8%. How your trust treats variable pay when it sets your tier is a matter for your payroll team.

An illustration: on point 1 in England, 4 Saturday or night shifts and 2 Sunday or bank holiday shifts a month (7.5 hours each, all in the enhanced period) add £295 a month before deductions. After tax, National Insurance and pension that is about £157 a month more in your pocket , and the extra pay lifts your pension to 9.8% from 8.3%. The same pattern in Scotland (7.2 hours each) adds £318 gross and about £204 net a month. Your own rota will differ: enter it in the unsocial hours calculator. This assumes the same extra every month for a year; real payslips tax each month cumulatively.

Worked example: England, point 1, Inner London, Plan 5

A newly qualified nurse starting at point 1 in Inner London, on Plan 5 from a degree begun in 2023. The High Cost Area Supplement lifts gross pay to £38,488, which is over £35,155, so the pension is 9.8% rather than 8.3%.

Opting out of the pension would raise this month's take-home to about £2,501, but you would give up the pension you are building and your employer's contribution; see the pension opt-out calculator before deciding.

How we calculated this

FrontlinePay is independent and not affiliated with NHS England, NHS Employers or the Department of Health and Social Care. These figures are illustrations for a full-time employee on a standard tax code, not financial advice, and your payslip is the final word.