NHS Resident Doctor
Pay Scales 2026/27

What the 2026 contract pays on top of basic

The 2026 contract pays by the hours you actually work, from the rota, rather than by a band. This page keeps to what each element pays; the full terms are in the 2026 terms and conditions, which the sources at the foot of the page lead to. The 2002 contract does this differently, through a banding supplement, in its own section below.

Additional hours

Basic pay covers an average of 40 hours a week. Every hour above that on average is paid as an additional hour, and pay is calculated across your rota slot so the monthly figure is consistent.

BMA, contract reform for resident doctors in Wales.

Unsocial hours

Plain time is 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday. Every hour worked outside it, and on a bank holiday, is paid at 1.5x the basic hourly rate. Nights and weekends are paid through this one rate rather than separate allowances.

BMA, contract reform for resident doctors in Wales.

On-call

For non-resident on-call, available from home, you are paid 50% of the basic hourly rate for every hour you are available, and the hours you actually work are topped up to the full rate for that time. Work more than 75% of an on-call shift and it is paid as a full shift.

BMA, contract reform for resident doctors in Wales.

Less than full time

Pay follows the hours in your own rota: basic pay for the hours you are rostered, and the additional, unsocial and on-call hours above at the same rates as a full-time doctor, rather than a percentage of a full-time salary.

BMA, contract reform for resident doctors in Wales.

The 2002 contract

The contract most specialty registrars in Wales are still paid on in 2026/27, until their cohort moves. It closed to new entrants in August 2026 and its pay keeps being uplifted each year until nobody is on it. It pays a basic salary from the scale below, then one banding supplement on top for the hours and intensity of the rota, rather than paying each hour as the 2026 contract does.

Basic pay, 2002 contract

Annual basic pay for a full-time post from 1 April 2026, with the 3.5% uplift. Every grade the circular prints is here, each with its own scale and its own pay scale code: three points at foundation, six on a core training or fixed term registrar post, seven in dental core training, ten on the full pathway. You move up a point each year.

BMA, pay scales for resident doctors in Wales.

Banding supplement

The rota is paid through one supplement on top of basic pay, from 20% to 100% of basic. The band is set by the hours the rota averages and how antisocially they fall. A post at 40 hours or fewer a week is unbanded, with 5% for a foundation year 1 post and nothing for any other grade.

BMA, how pay banding works.

Less than full time, 2002 contract

Basic pay is a fraction of the full-time figure at the same point, in five categories: F5 at 50%, F6 at 60%, F7 at 70%, F8 at 80%, F9 at 90%. The rota is then paid through its own set of bands, a percentage of that reduced basic, with 5% for an unbanded foundation year 1 post.

BMA, how pay banding works.