Employee contribution tiers (England, from 1 April 2026)
The employer contributes 23.7% of pensionable pay. NHS Employers states that the pay thresholds were not amended again in 2026/27, because the 3.3% pay award was below the 3.8% CPI used to index them.
| Actual annual pensionable pay | Your contribution |
|---|---|
| £0 to £13,259 | 5.2% |
| £13,260 to £28,854 | 6.5% |
| £28,855 to £35,155 | 8.3% |
| £35,156 to £52,778 | 9.8% |
| £52,779 to £67,668 | 10.7% |
| £67,669 and above | 12.5% |
How the tier is applied
Once your pensionable pay puts you in a tier, that rate applies to all of your pensionable pay, not just the part above the threshold. Moving from one tier to the next can therefore make a small difference to take-home pay.
Tiers are based on your actual pensionable pay, so part-time staff are placed according to what they actually earn, not the full-time equivalent.
What it really costs you
A full-time Band 5 employee at the entry point pays 8.3% of £32,073, which is £2,662.06 a year. Because pension contributions are taken before income tax, a basic-rate taxpayer saves 20% of that, so the real cost is closer to £2,129.65 a year.
Scotland
Scotland publishes its own contribution bandings. We have not yet verified them, so our Scottish figures use the England tiers as an estimate and say so.
Sources
Related
This is general information, not payroll or financial advice. See the terms.