Last updated 27 March 2026
NHS Take-Home Pay Calculators Compared
Over one million NHS staff are paid through Agenda for Change bands, and many use online calculators to estimate their take-home pay before accepting a new role, changing hours, or planning around a student loan. Getting the number wrong can mean budgeting against a figure that is hundreds of pounds off.
NHS pay is harder to calculate than a standard salary because pension contributions are tiered by actual pay, part-time hours change the tier, and the pension method (NET pay vs salary sacrifice) affects both NI and student loan figures. Most general calculators do not handle these rules at all, and even NHS-specific ones get them wrong in places.
This comparison tests seven NHS calculators against five payroll scenarios, checking whether each one gets the pension tier right, handles part-time adjustments, and produces figures that match independently calculated reference values.
Disclosure: This review is produced by Casomo UK, which runs one of the calculators in this comparison. The same test cases and rules were applied to all entries including ours. All data and methods are shared so readers can check the findings.
At a Glance
A high-level view of how each calculator scores across six areas. Full feature grids and accuracy tables are in the dataset.
- Accuracy — how close results are to values calculated from HMRC tax rates, NI thresholds, and NHSBSA pension tiers
- Pension — correct tiers, methods (NET pay, salary sacrifice), and manual override options
- Features — range of inputs: tax year, part-time hours, overtime, tax code
- Student Loans — coverage of Plans 1, 2, 4, 5, and Postgraduate
- Privacy — third-party scripts, session replay, consent banners
- Usability — breakdowns, rates shown, documented assumptions, ads
| Accuracy | Pension | Features | Student Loans | Privacy | Usability | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHS THP | ||||||
| Nursing Notes | ||||||
| NHS Salary | ||||||
| NHS Pay Band | ||||||
| My Pay Calc | ||||||
| Nurses.co.uk | ||||||
| Casomo |
Calculator Reviews
NHS THP
NHS THP is a standalone pay calculator site built specifically for AfC staff. It offers band and step point selection, HCAS, overtime, and all five student loan plans. Accuracy is good where the tax year is supported.
The main concern is privacy. The site loads Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Google Ads, and Microsoft Clarity without a consent banner. Clarity records form inputs by default, which means salary data could be captured by a third party.
Strengths
- All five student loan plans
- Band selection with HCAS
- Salary sacrifice option
- Overtime input
Weaknesses
- No input validation on part-time hours or tax code
- Facebook Pixel, Clarity session replay, no consent banner
- Only covers 2026/27
Best for: Full-time AfC staff who need HCAS and student loan support for 2026/27.
Nursing Notes
Nursing Notes is a news site for nurses that includes a pay calculator. It covers band selection, unsocial hours, and part-time adjustments with proper input validation.
The gap is student loans: it offers no support at all for any plan. If you have a student loan, your take-home figure will be wrong. It also only supports 2025/26 and does not let you switch between monthly and annual views.
Strengths
- Band and step point selection
- Unsocial hours input
- Part-time hours validated
Weaknesses
- No student loan support at all
- No monthly/annual toggle
- Covers 2025/26 only
- Google Analytics and ads without consent
Best for: Quick check of a standard band salary with no student loan.
NHS Salary
NHS Salary Calculator is an independent site focused on NHS pay. Unlike most NHS calculators it takes a manual gross salary rather than a band selection, making it suited to staff who know their exact pay. It also supports secondary income, which no other calculator here offers.
However, it has a calculation error: student loan is subtracted from gross before income tax, which overstates take-home pay. This error only shows when a student loan is active, but it means the result is wrong for anyone with a loan.
Strengths
- Manual salary entry (not just bands)
- All five student loan plans
- Secondary income support
Weaknesses
- Subtracts student loan before tax (incorrect)
- Salary sacrifice pension does not update
- Facebook Pixel, no consent banner
- Covers 2025/26 only
Best for: Manual salary entry with secondary income, but avoid it for student loan cases.
NHS Pay Band
NHS Pay Band is an independent site that shows AfC pay bands alongside a basic take-home estimate. However, it uses flat rates of 20% tax, 8% NI, and 8% pension applied to full gross with no personal allowance, no tax bands, and no NI thresholds. This understates take-home pay by roughly £4,000 for a Band 5 and gets worse at higher bands.
The student loan option is a single checkbox with no plan selection, despite the FAQ suggesting plans are available. The site also loads Clarity session replay without consent.
Strengths
- Band and step point with HCAS
- Covers 2025/26 and 2026/27
- Assumptions documented
Weaknesses
- Flat-rate calculation (20% tax, 8% NI, 8% pension)
- No personal allowance, bands, or thresholds
- Student loan checkbox with no plan selection
- Clarity session replay, no consent banner
Best for: Rough estimate only. Do not rely on the figures.
My Pay Calc
My Pay Calc is a general UK salary site with a dedicated NHS section. It is one of the more feature-rich NHS calculators, with band selection, unsocial hours, and an effective rate display. Accuracy is good for straightforward cases.
The student loan implementation lets all plans be selected at once with no validation, which is not how student loan repayments work. There is also no way to opt out of pension or override the rate manually.
Strengths
- Band selection with unsocial hours
- Monthly/annual toggle
- Effective rate shown
- Covers 2026/27
Weaknesses
- All student loan plans selectable at once
- No pension opt-out or manual override
- Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, no consent
- Only covers 2026/27
Best for: Quick 2026/27 estimate with unsocial hours, if you do not need student loan accuracy.
Nurses.co.uk
Nurses.co.uk is a nursing community site with a built-in pay calculator. It covers band and step point selection and produces accurate results for basic cases.
Like Nursing Notes, it has no student loan support. It also loads Hotjar session replay without a consent banner, which could capture form inputs including salary data.
Strengths
- Band and step point selection
- Covers 2026/27
- Ad-free
Weaknesses
- No student loan support
- No monthly/annual toggle
- Hotjar session replay, no consent banner
- No pension opt-out or override
Best for: Simple band lookup for 2026/27 with no deductions beyond pension.
Casomo
Casomo is our own calculator, built as a web app with no ads or tracking. It takes a manual gross salary rather than a band selection and supports NET pay, salary sacrifice, and custom percentage pension inputs, plus all five student loan plans.
It is the only calculator in this comparison with no analytics, no ad scripts, no session replay, and no cookies. It also shows effective and marginal tax rates and supports export/print.
Strengths
- All five student loan plans
- Three pension methods (NET, sacrifice, manual %)
- No third-party scripts or tracking
- Effective and marginal rates shown
- Export/print support
Weaknesses
- Manual salary entry only (no band selector)
- Covers 2025/26 only
Best for: Staff who want accurate figures, pension flexibility, and no tracking.
NHS Pension Tiers
Your contribution rate depends on your actual pensionable pay. Part-time staff pay the rate matching their actual pay, not the full-time equivalent. See the NHS pension scheme guide for the full tier tables.
Key Findings
- Most calculators match reference values for simple full-time cases
- NHS Pay Band uses flat rates with no personal allowance — figures are significantly wrong
- NHS Salary deducts student loan before tax, overstating take-home for loan holders
- Tax year coverage varies: no single year is supported by all seven
- Four calculators support all five student loan plans; two offer none
- Six of seven load third-party tracking; three load session replay; none show consent banners
- Casomo is the only calculator with no third-party scripts
How We Tested
Each calculator was tested with five payroll scenarios chosen to isolate common variables: a baseline full-time Band 5, a higher band that shifts the pension tier, a salary crossing the upper earnings limit, a part-time case, and a case with a Plan 2 student loan.
Results were compared against reference values calculated from HMRC tax rates, NI thresholds, and NHSBSA pension tiers. Where results were unexpected, client-side code was inspected. Third-party scripts were identified via HTML source inspection.
All test data, reference values, feature grids, and accuracy tables are published in the artefacts repository.