NHS Resident Doctor
Pay Scales 2026/27
Rules last checked
Basic pay, full time, 2026/27
Annual basic pay for a 40-hour week at each of the ten nodal points, effective from 1 April 2026. Less than full time is paid pro rata to the hours worked. For your own figure with your rota on top, use the Pay Calculator.
| Grade | Nodal point | Basic pay against the top of the scale | Annual basic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation year 1 (FY1) | 1 | £41,226 | |
| Foundation year 2 (FY2) | 2 | £47,610 | |
| ST1 or CT1 | 3a | £55,355 | |
| ST2 or CT2 | 3b | £55,355 | |
| ST3 or CT3 | 4a | £67,325 | |
| ST4 or CT4 | 4b | £67,998 | |
| ST5 | 4c | £67,998 | |
| ST6 | 5a | £76,582 | |
| ST7 | 5b | £77,348 | |
| ST8 | 5c | £77,348 |
BMA, pay scales for resident doctors in England.
What is paid on top of basic
The 2016 contract adds these to basic pay according to the rota you actually work. This page keeps to what each one pays; the conditions are in the circular and the terms and conditions at the foot of the page. To see where each of them lands on your payslip, open the Interactive Payslip.
Night work
An enhancement of 37% of the hourly basic rate on every hour worked between 21:00 and 07:00, on any day of the week. A shift that starts between 20:00 and 23:59 and lasts at least eight hours is enhanced for every hour up to 10:00, and a shift that ends between 00:00 and 04:00 is enhanced from its first hour.
BMA handbook, hours that attract a pay enhancement.
Weekends
A percentage of basic pay, from 3% to 15%, for working weekends at a frequency of 1 in 8 or more across the rota cycle. A weekend counts if a shift begins on the Saturday or the Sunday, and the band your rota falls in decides the rate. The Pay Calculator turns the percentage into the sum for your nodal point.
| 1 in 2 | 15% | |
| <1 in 2 - 1 in 3 | 10% | |
| <1 in 3 - 1 in 4 | 7.5% | |
| <1 in 4 - 1 in 5 | 6% | |
| <1 in 5 - 1 in 6 | 5% | |
| <1 in 6 - 1 in 7 | 4% | |
| <1 in 7 - 1 in 8 | 3% | |
| <1 in 8 (no allowance) | 0% |
BMA handbook, weekend allowance; the bands are the circular’s, Annex A section 1.
On-call
An availability allowance of 8% of basic for being on a non-resident on-call rota, available from home, which is worked from ST3 or CT3 upwards. The circular prints it as a sum for each of those nodal points. Resident on-call is worked time, paid as hours and as night hours where they fall in the enhanced window, so it earns nothing extra here.
| Grade | Nodal point | Allowance against the top of the scale | A year |
|---|---|---|---|
| ST3 or CT3 | 4a | £5,386 | |
| ST4 or CT4 | 4b | £5,440 | |
| ST5 | 4c | £5,440 | |
| ST6 | 5a | £6,127 | |
| ST7 | 5b | £6,188 | |
| ST8 | 5c | £6,188 |
BMA handbook, on-call availability allowance; the sums are the circular’s, Annex A section 1.
Less than full time
Basic pay is pro rata to the hours in your work schedule, and the weekend and on-call allowances are scaled by how much of the full-time rota you carry. On top of that, every doctor training less than full time on the 2016 contract receives a flat allowance of £1,000 a year, paid monthly and not reduced by the percentage worked. A doctor still receiving the older £1,500 transitional allowance keeps that instead until it ends, then moves to the £1,000.
BMA handbook, LTFT allowance; the transitional allowance is the circular’s, Annex A section 1.
Flexible pay premia
A fixed annual sum for the training programmes the circular names, paid on top of everything above until you leave the programme, pro rata for less than full time. Taxable, and not pensionable.
| Premium | Who | A year |
|---|---|---|
| Psychiatry, core training | Psychiatry core trainees | £4,679 |
| Psychiatry, higher training | 3-year programme | £4,679 |
| Psychiatry, higher training | 4-year programme | £3,509 |
| Emergency Medicine | ST4 and above, by programme length | See below |
| Histopathology | ST1 and above | £5,614 |
| General Practice registrar enhancement | ST1 to ST4, during general practice placements | £11,508 |
| Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, dual qualification | ST3 and above, by programme length | See below |
| Academia | Schedule 2, paragraphs 36 to 41 | £5,614 |
Where the premium depends on the length of the full-time training programme, it is one of these.
| Programme | Premium against the highest | A year |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | £9,357 | |
| 4 years | £7,018 | |
| 5 years | £5,614 | |
| 6 years | £4,679 | |
| 7 years | £4,010 | |
| 8 years | £3,509 |
Circular (M&D) 1/2026 R2, Annex A section 1, flexible pay premia, Tables 1 and 2.
Additional hours
Basic pay covers an average of 40 hours a week. Every hour above that on average is paid at the basic hourly rate as an additional hour, on top of any night enhancement the hour also earns.
BMA handbook, additional hours.
London weighting
A flat £2,162 a year for a post at a designated London trust, pro rata for less than full time.
Circular (M&D) 1/2026 R2, Annex A section 10, London weighting.
If you want the whole of resident doctor pay explained in one sitting, from the payslip to the pension, join the waiting list for the finances crash course.
Sources
- BMA, pay scales for resident doctors in England, basic pay at each nodal point, kept current by the BMA.
- BMA, resident doctors' handbook on the 2016 contract, how each element on top of basic is paid, in the BMA's words.
- NHS Employers, Pay and Conditions Circular (M&D) 1/2026 R2, the sums the circular sets for the year, which the BMA pages do not carry.
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