Pay and contributions

Information about calculating member pay, protection of pay and contribution tiers.

Pay

What counts as pensionable pay

Pensionable earnings are determined by the member's employment or engagement terms.

Certain earnings are included or excluded for a member who is employed by:

an NHS organisation
a GP surgery
a non-GP provider
a direction body
an independent provider

For these members, their pensionable earnings include:

salary
wages
fees

Their pensionable earnings exclude:

bonuses
payments to cover expenses
payments for overtime in excess of full time equivalent hours
non-consolidated pay awards or increases

There is specific guidance for members who are engaged as:

general medical practitioners
non GP providers
general dental practitioners

Their pensionable earnings are explained in:

the GP providers and non GP providers certificate of pensionable income and other GP pension forms on our information for practitioners and non-GP providers page
the guide for NHS general dental practitioners (PDF: 348B)

Their pensionable earnings exclude non-NHS income.

You can contact us if you have any queries about pensionable pay, or performance related pay or bonuses.

1995 Section

Find out more about pensionable pay for 1995 Section members:

Total pensionable pay periods (PDF: 67.1KB)Notional Whole Time Pensionable Pay (PDF: 150KB)Earnings Cap (PDF: 203KB)How to calculate a composite Total Pensionable Pay (PDF: 136KB)

2008 Section

Find out more about pensionable pay for 2008 Section members:

Total reckonable pay (PDF: 235KB)You can get more information about the 2008 Section Earnings Cap in our Earnings Cap guidance (PDF: 203KB)

Protection of pay

Our Protection of Pay and Voluntary Protection of Pay document (Word: 249KB) has further information about:

Protection of Pay (1995/2008 Scheme)
Voluntary Protection of Pay (1995 Section only)

If you have any enquires you can use the request to protect Pensionable Pay (SM R9 EA) form (Word: 255KB)

Deemed pay

Deemed pay is pay that would have been paid to a member, if they had not been absent from duty.

You can find out more information in the deemed pay factsheet (PDF: 87.9KB).

Final salary linking

Final salary linking - guide for employers (PDF 564KB)

Pensionable overtime for part-time NHS staff

Additional hours worked up to whole time equivalent (WTE) are automatically pensionable for part-time NHS staff at their standard rate of pay.

This means that all NHS employers must write to affected NHS Pension Scheme members before 1 October 2025.

The NHSBSA has published updated guidance about the changes to the 2015 NHS Pension Scheme regulations for part-time NHS staff.

Most NHS employers have correctly treated additional hours for part-time NHS staff as pensionable pay. In this case the NHS Pension Scheme member should have paid the right amount in contributions, and their additional hours will be reflected in their final pension.

Who is affected by the changes

Active, deferred and pensioner members who:

worked part-time since 1 April 2015
worked additional hours between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2024
have not had those additional hours treated as pensionable

Any overtime above WTE remains non pensionable for part-time and full-time staff.

What employers need to do

Employers must write to all affected staff by 1 October 2025 to confirm:

the employee and employer contributions payable
pensionable pay
membership in respect of the contributions

You need to give affected Scheme members the option to pay the difference in pension contributions. This means they'll add additional hours to their pensionable service.

They’ll have 3 months to decide.

An employer can extend this this timescale if a Scheme member needs extra time to make their decision. The final closing date for all elections is 1 July 2026.

Tools and support

In the coming weeks, we’ll publish additional information on our website including guidance for employers and Scheme members, and a toolkit of letter templates that you can use to contact your staff who are affected by the changes.

Visit the NHS Pensions Employer Toolkit to access the toolkit.

Contributions

Member contributions changed on 1 April 2024 - the tier ranges were revised from 1 April 2025 in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The tier range may be altered again depending upon any changes to the Agenda for Change pay ranges for England.

Member contributions from 1 April 2025

Pensionable pay range from 1 April 2025	Contribution rates from 1 April 2025, based on actual annual pensionable pay
Up to £13,259	5.2%
£13,260 to £27,288	6.5%
£27,289 to £33,247	8.3%
£33,248 to £49,913	9.8%
£49,914 to £63,994	10.7%
£63,995 and above	12.5%

The contributions paid are based on the member’s actual annual pensionable pay. This means that from 1 April 2025 some members may move to a lower contribution rate. When the Agenda for Change pay award for England is announced and comes into effect later in the year, it could be backdated, and they could receive 'back pay'. Any increase in their actual annual pensionable pay may push them into the next pay range. If this happens, arrears of contributions will be payable.

You can contact us if you have any queries about contributions.

Factsheets

Visit the employer information page for guidance on the changes to member contributions introduced from 1 April 2024.

Read the factsheets for other contribution guidance you may need:
Outstanding contributions factsheet (PDF: 38.9KB)Call up of Reservists (PDF: 108KB)

Archived contributions