NHS Band 6 Take-Home Pay 2026/27 After Tax and Pension

Band 6 is where specialist nurses, senior physiotherapists, senior occupational therapists, team leaders and many ambulance paramedics sit. In England it runs from £39,959 to £48,117, and a full-time employee takes home about £2,430 a month at point 1, £2,548 at point 2 and £2,866 at the top, after income tax, National Insurance and the NHS Pension.

Band 6 is the band where the pension is steady and the tax picture changes depending on where you work. In England every Band 6 point is in the same 9.8% pension tier, and all of the pay is taxed at the basic rate. In Scotland the top point crosses into the 42% tax band. Point 2 follows after two years in the band and the top point after three more (Handbook, Annex 2). Paramedics regraded to the Band 6 profile in ambulance trusts in England keep their own pay step date rather than resetting it (Annex 23, paragraph 7). The pay points themselves are on the Band 6 salary page.

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 6 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 6 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 6 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 6 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 6 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 6 runs from £43,231 to £52,679, with point 2 after two years in the band and the top point in year 6 (Scotland Section 1, Table 1a). The top point is the one to look at. After the 10.5% pension, taxable pay is £47,148, and £3,486 of that is above the £43,662 line where the 42% rate begins. At the same taxable pay the England and Wales rates would charge £869 less than Scotland's £7,784.

The first step is the odd one: point 1 to point 2 adds £159 a month gross but only £80 net, because the pension moves from 9.8% to 10.5%. The top point then adds £629 gross and £345 net. Scottish-educated staff are on Plan 4, which repays £849.24 to £1,699.56 a year across the band.

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 6 point, so the table above holds whichever applies to you.

Your NHS Pension tier at Band 6

All three England points, £39,959, £42,170 and £48,117, fall in the 9.8% tier, which covers pensionable pay from £35,156 to £52,778. So a pay step at Band 6 never changes your pension rate: you pay the same 9.8% on a bigger figure. Wales' points (£40,559, £42,805 and £48,841) are in the same tier.

That changes with extra pensionable pay. London supplements and heavy unsocial hours can take you over £52,778, where the rate becomes 10.7%: Inner London at the top point does exactly that (£56,863). In Scotland the pension is 9.8% at point 1, then 10.5% at points 2 and 3.

• England and Wales, on basic pay: point 1: 9.8%; point 2: 9.8%; point 3: 9.8%.
• Scotland: point 1: 9.8%; point 2: 10.5%; point 3: 10.5%.

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

At the top of Band 6 in England the pension takes £4,715, leaving £43,402 of taxable pay, which is £6,868 short of the £50,270 line where 40% tax starts. So all of England's Band 6 is taxed at 20%, and the pension deduction keeps you comfortably under the higher-rate threshold. Income tax at the top point is £6,166 and National Insurance £2,844.

An extra pound of pay leaves 64p at any England point in the band. A Plan 2 borrower, which includes many who studied in England from September 2012 to July 2023, leaves 55p, and repays £951.66 to £1,685.88 a year (£79 to £140 a month) across the band. A Plan 5 borrower repays £1,346.31 to £2,080.53, and a Plan 1 borrower £1,175.31 to £1,909.53.

Because the pension stays at 9.8% throughout England's band, each pay step keeps a steady share: the top point adds £496 a month gross over point 2 and £318 net, which is 64.2%.

Band 6 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).

Band 6 is where the maximum payments start to cap the High Cost Area Supplement. At point 1 Inner London pays 20% (£7,992) and Outer London 15% (£5,994), and at point 2 Outer London already reaches its maximum of £6,137. At the top point Inner London reaches its maximum of £8,746 and the Fringe its maximum of £2,270.

Inner London at the top point takes gross pay to £56,863, which moves the pension to 10.7%, and the taxable pay after pension to £50,779. That is £509 over the £50,270 line, so this is the first point in the band where a small slice is taxed at 40%. Of £729 a month gross, you keep £458.

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 6

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 6 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, £23.03 an hour, +£49.75 for a Saturday or night shift and +£99.49 for a Sunday or bank holiday shift; point 2, £24.04 an hour, +£51.94 for a Saturday or night shift and +£103.87 for a Sunday or bank holiday shift; point 3, £28.06 an hour, +£60.62 for a Saturday or night shift and +£121.23 for a Sunday or bank holiday shift.

If your Band 6 post is rota-based, weekend and night shifts carry the enhancement; if it is a weekday-only post you may receive none. The enhancement is paid on basic pay, not on a London supplement.

Unsocial hours are pensionable, and at Band 6 the 9.8% tier ends at £52,778, so a very heavy pattern is needed in England before the rate moves up. Overtime for Band 6 is paid at time and a half over 37.5 hours a week (Section 3), and is not part of this table.

An illustration: on point 1 in England, 3 Saturday or night shifts and 1 Sunday or bank holiday shift a month (7.5 hours each, all in the enhanced period) add £230 a month before deductions. After tax, National Insurance and pension that is about £148 a month more in your pocket . The same pattern in Scotland (7.2 hours each) adds £249 gross and about £136 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 3, Plan 2

A senior physiotherapist at the top of Band 6 in England, repaying a Plan 2 loan. The £48,117 salary leaves taxable pay £6,868 under the 40% threshold, so tax is all at 20% and the student loan is a flat 9% above £29,385.

Opting out of the pension would raise this month's take-home to about £3,040, 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.