- Agenda for Change staff employed by the NHS in England, Scotland or Wales, or by Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland: nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, healthcare assistants, and admin, estates and support staff. Each nation has its own page, because each sets its own pay scales. Doctors and dentists have their own contracts and calculators, and very senior managers are not on Agenda for Change.
- As a percentage on top of your hourly basic pay (Section 2). Saturdays and weeknights (8pm to 6am) pay one rate, Sundays and public holidays a higher one: band 1 47% and 94%, band 2 41% and 83%, band 3 35% and 69%, bands 4 to 9 30% and 60%. Scotland pays bands 1 to 3 more. If more than half a weekday shift falls between 8pm and 6am, all of it is paid at that rate.
- Hours over 37.5 a week, for bands 1 to 7 (Section 3): time and a half (1.5 times your hourly rate), or double time on a general public holiday. Part-time staff are paid their normal rate until they pass 37.5 hours. Bands 8a to 9 are not paid overtime. In Scotland the full-time week is 36 hours and every band is paid overtime.
- If you work in or around London you are paid a percentage of your basic pay (including any long-term recruitment and retention premium) on top, between a minimum and a maximum (Section 4 and Annex 9): Inner London 20% (£5,794 to £8,746), Outer London 15% (£4,870 to £6,137) and the fringe 5% (£1,346 to £2,270). For most bands the minimum or the maximum applies rather than the percentage. It counts towards your pension, but not towards your unsocial hours or overtime rates.
- Each band has two or three pay step points, and you become eligible for the next one after a set number of years: two years at band 5's entry point, for example, and two more at its intermediate point (Annex 2). Moving up depends on a pay step review, so it is not automatic with time. Band 5 runs from £32,073 to £39,043.
- Because that is what HSC staff are being paid. The Department of Health has promised the 2026/27 award of 3.3%, but no 2026/27 pay circular has been issued, so the Northern Ireland page uses the 2025/26 scales. Tax, National Insurance, student loans and pension are the 2026/27 figures. The award is expected to be backdated to April.
- Yes. Scotland has its own pay scales (the Scottish Government's circular PCS(AFC)2026/1), with band 5 starting at £34,544, and a 36-hour full-time week, so the same salary is a higher hourly rate. Unsocial hours pay more for bands 1 to 3, every band is paid overtime, there is no high cost area supplement, and Scottish income tax and the Scottish pension scheme apply.
- Yes. Wales sets its own scales, and for 2026/27 they are higher than England's at every band: band 5 starts at £32,557 in Wales and £32,073 in England (the Welsh Government's Pay Letter AfC(W) 02/2026). Unsocial hours, overtime, the pay step structure and the pension scheme are the same as England's, and there is no high cost area supplement. Welsh income tax rates are the same as England's this year.
- Your rate depends on your actual pensionable pay, not your band's full-time salary, so part-time staff pay the rate for what they really earn. Basic pay, unsocial hours and the high cost area supplement count; overtime above full-time hours does not. England and Wales use the NHS Pension Scheme's rates, Northern Ireland the HSC Pension Scheme's and Scotland the NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland)'s, each with its own tiers.
- Pay scales: NHS Employers for England, and each nation's own pay circular or pay letter for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Unsocial hours, overtime and the London supplement: the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, and Scotland's own copy. Tax, National Insurance and student loans: GOV.UK and HMRC. Pensions: each scheme's own published rates. These are the 2026/27 figures, refreshed each April.
- Real payslips depend on in-year tax code changes, the hours you actually worked in each pay period, mid-month start dates, salary sacrifice, and anything your employer pays locally, none of which the calculator can see. Treat it as a planning aid, not a payslip checker.
- No. Doctor Devify Ltd is not authorised by the FCA to give financial, tax or pension advice. The calculator is a planning aid. For tailored advice, speak to a chartered accountant or FCA-regulated independent financial adviser.
- Scroll to the bottom of the calculator and tap 'Spot a mistake? Let us know'. Tell us what's currently shown, what it should be, and ideally a source URL.
- Dr Dev Gakhar (Doctor Devify), an NHS resident doctor and content creator.
