NHS Pay Rise & Back Pay Calculator

What the 3.3% award means for take-home pay

The 2026/27 award raised every Agenda for Change pay point in England by 3.3% from 1 April 2026. The table shows the change at the top of each band in take-home terms, after tax, NI and the NHS Pension contribution, for a full-time employee outside London with no student loan.

How back pay is calculated

When an award is confirmed after 1 April, the new rates are paid going forward and the difference for earlier months is paid as arrears. Back pay is simply the monthly difference in gross pay multiplied by the months owed, plus the uplift on any overtime and unsocial hours payments worked in that period.

Example: a Band 6 at the top point moves from £46,580 to £48,117, a rise of £128.08 a month in gross pay. If 6 months of arrears are paid together, the gross back pay is £769. Pension contributions are deducted from arrears too, because the extra pay is pensionable.

Why your back pay payslip looks heavily taxed

Arrears are added to the pay in the month they are paid. On a cumulative tax code, income tax is usually right over the year because PAYE compares your total pay to date with your allowance and bands to date. National Insurance and student loan repayments are worked out on each month separately, so a large arrears payment in one month can attract more of both than if it had been spread out.

If the lump sum takes that month's pay above £4,189, the part above is charged NI at 2% rather than 8%, which partly offsets the effect for higher bands. Student loan deductions over a whole tax year can be refunded by the Student Loans Company if your annual income ends up below your plan threshold.

Pay award versus pay progression

The annual award and moving up a pay step are separate. The award uplifts every point in the pay scale, while progression moves you from one point to the next after the time in band set out in the pay scales: 2 years in Band 3 (Band 2 now has a single pay point in England), 3 years in Band 4, steps at 2 and 4 years in Band 5, and at 2 and 5 years in Bands 6 to 9.

In a year when you also reach a new step, your increase is the award plus the step. Enter both last year's and this year's points in the calculator to see the full change.

Checking the arrears on your payslip

Arrears are often shown as a separate line, such as "AfC award arrears", and can be split across more than one month. To check them:

• Work out the monthly difference between your old and new basic pay for your band, point and hours.
• Multiply by the number of months since 1 April 2026 that were paid at the old rate.
• Add the uplift on any unsocial hours, overtime or on-call you worked in those months, which is usually listed separately.
• Expect the pension line to rise for that month, because arrears are pensionable.
• If you changed band or hours during the period, the arrears should follow each period's pay, not your current pay.

Bands where frozen tax thresholds bite

Tax thresholds are frozen while pay rises, so a growing share of NHS staff pay higher rates on their award.

• Band 7 at the top point earns £56,515, above the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, so the award there is taxed at 40% plus 2% NI.
• Band 8a at the top point earns £64,750. With Child Benefit, income above £60,000 starts the High Income Child Benefit Charge, although NHS Pension contributions reduce adjusted net income.
• In Scotland, the 42% higher rate starts at £43,663, which already affects the top of Band 6 on Scottish scales (£52,679).