The 2015 NHS Pension Scheme charges six contribution tiers in 2026/27, from 5.2% to 12.5%

A quiet empty corridor in a British NHS hospital with a row of blue waiting chairs along one wall and daylight through a window at the far end

Regulation 30 of the NHS Pension Scheme Regulations 2015 sets member contributions by tier of pensionable pay, and from 1 April 2026 there are six tiers running from 5.2% to 12.5%. NHS Employers, updating its guidance on 2 March 2026, confirms the thresholds were uplifted by 3.8%, the September 2025 CPI figure, with no further amendment because the 3.3% Agenda for Change award came in below CPI.

The scheme is career average revalued earnings, not final salary. NHSBSA states the accrual rate as 1/54th, and confirms that each year’s earned pension is revalued on 6 April at CPI plus 1.5% while you remain an active member.

The tiers that apply from 1 April 2026

Tier Pensionable pay Contribution rate
1 Up to £13,259 5.2%
2 £13,260 to £28,854 6.5%
3 £28,855 to £35,155 8.3%
4 £35,156 to £52,778 9.8%
5 £52,779 to £67,668 10.7%
6 £67,669 and above 12.5%

NHS Employers, NHS Pension Scheme member contributions, updated 2 March 2026. Rates apply to the whole of pensionable pay, not to the slice above each threshold.

That last sentence carries most of the consequences. These are not marginal bands in the way income tax bands are. Cross a threshold by one pound and the higher rate applies to every pound of pensionable pay.

What each Agenda for Change band pays and accrues

Pay points are the 2026/27 Agenda for Change scales published by NHS Employers on 12 February 2026 and effective from 1 April 2026, after a 3.3% award.

Pay point Pay Tier rate Contribution a year A month Pension earned that year at 1/54th
Band 2 £25,272 6.5% £1,642.68 £136.89 £468.00
Band 4 top £31,157 8.3% £2,586.03 £215.50 £576.98
Band 5 entry £32,073 8.3% £2,662.06 £221.84 £593.94
Band 5 intermediate £34,592 8.3% £2,871.14 £239.26 £640.59
Band 5 top £39,043 9.8% £3,826.21 £318.85 £723.02
Band 6 top £48,117 9.8% £4,715.47 £392.96 £891.06
Band 7 top £56,515 10.7% £6,047.10 £503.93 £1,046.57
Band 8a top £64,750 10.7% £6,928.25 £577.35 £1,199.07

Contributions are the tier rate applied to the full pay point. Accrual is pay divided by 54, the rate confirmed by NHSBSA.

The step between band 5 intermediate and band 5 top

The clearest illustration of the whole-pay structure sits inside a single band. Moving from the intermediate step point of band 5 at £34,592 to the top step point at £39,043 is a rise of £4,451. It also moves the member from tier 3 at 8.3% to tier 4 at 9.8%.

The contribution rises from £2,871.14 to £3,826.21, an increase of £955.07. That is 21.5% of the pay rise, taken by the pension contribution alone, before income tax and national insurance touch it. The same effect occurs at every tier boundary, and the boundaries do not line up with the Agenda for Change step points.

Step chart of the six NHS Pension Scheme 2015 member contribution tiers for 2026/27, running from 5.2% up to 13,259 pounds of pensionable pay to 12.5% above 67,668 pounds

What it costs after tax relief

Contributions are deducted under a net pay arrangement, so relief is given at the member’s marginal rate automatically. That produces an outcome worth stating precisely.

Pay point Gross contribution Relief Net cost Pension bought Net cost per £1 of annual pension
Band 2, £25,272 £1,642.68 £328.54 £1,314.14 £468.00 £2.81
Band 5 top, £39,043 £3,826.21 £765.24 £3,060.97 £723.02 £4.23
Band 6 top, £48,117 £4,715.47 £943.09 £3,772.38 £891.06 £4.23
Band 7 top, £56,515 £6,047.10 £2,418.84 £3,628.26 £1,046.57 £3.47

Relief calculated at the 2026/27 income tax rates, with the higher rate threshold at £50,270.

The band 7 line is the one that looks wrong and is not. A member at the top of band 7 pays a higher gross contribution than a member at the top of band 6, but a lower net cost per pound of pension: £3.47 against £4.23. Pay of £56,515 sits £6,245 above the higher rate threshold, and the contribution of £6,047.10 is smaller than that, so the whole contribution attracts 40% relief. The pension contribution itself pulls taxable pay back down to £50,467.89.

Revaluation is doing more work than the accrual rate

Each year’s earned pension is revalued while you are still in the scheme. The Public Service Pensions Revaluation Order 2026 came into force on 1 April 2026, with article 2 applying to the National Health Service Pension Scheme Regulations 2015 from 6 April 2026. It sets the change in prices at 3.8% and the change in earnings at 4.8%. The 2015 NHS scheme revalues active members at prices plus 1.5%, which gives 5.3% for 2026.

A band 6 member at the top of scale earns £891.06 of pension in 2026/27. Revalued once at 5.3% it becomes £938.28. Held at that rate for ten years it becomes £1,493.44, without a single further contribution. Over a career the revaluation compounds on every separate year’s pot, which is why a CARE scheme with a 1/54th accrual rate is not the poor relation of a 1/80th final salary scheme that it is sometimes assumed to be.

Separately, pensions already in payment and deferred pensions rose by 3.8% from 6 April 2026, the CPI figure alone without the 1.5% addition.

What the employer pays

The employer contribution is 23.7% of pensionable pay. NHS organisations apply 14.38% through payroll, with the remainder met centrally. On band 6 top of scale that is £11,403.73 a year of employer contribution against the member’s £4,715.47.

The counterweight to the whole picture: the tier structure is regressive at the boundaries and the contributions are real money out of a monthly payslip, at a point when the 3.3% award has not kept pace with the 3.8% CPI used to index the thresholds. A member whose pay rose 3.3% while the thresholds rose 3.8% will, in most cases, stay in the same tier. A member who moved up a step point may not.

Frequently asked questions

Do the contribution rates apply to all of my pay or just the part above the threshold? All of it. Unlike income tax, the tier rate applies to the whole of pensionable pay, which is why crossing a threshold can cost a large share of a pay rise.

What is the accrual rate in the 2015 scheme? 1/54th of pensionable pay for each scheme year, confirmed by NHSBSA. On £48,117 that is £891.06 of annual pension earned in the year.

What is the revaluation rate for 2026? 5.3% for active members, being the 3.8% change in prices under the Public Service Pensions Revaluation Order 2026 plus the 1.5% the scheme regulations add.

Did the thresholds change for 2026/27? They were uplifted by 3.8%, the September 2025 CPI figure. No further amendment was made because the 3.3% Agenda for Change award was below CPI.

Updated on 11 September 2026.

Sources

This article sets out how the scheme rules operate. It is not financial advice.…

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