Last updated 18 May 2026
NHS Take-Home Pay Calculators Compared
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 you can check the findings.
You check your take-home pay before accepting a new band, changing hours, or planning around a student loan. Getting the number wrong can mean budgeting against a figure that is hundreds of pounds off.
We tested seven NHS calculators to understand what they handle well and where they fall short. We build NHS pay tools ourselves. This comparison was part of that work, finding out which features matter and what the current state of accuracy looks like.
NHS pay is harder to calculate than a standard salary. Pension contributions are tiered by actual pay, part-time hours change the tier, and the pension method affects both NI and student loan figures. Most general calculators do not handle these rules at all. Even NHS-specific ones get them wrong in places.
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.
All test data, reference values, feature grids, and accuracy tables are published in the full dataset.
| 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
Best for: Full-time AfC staff who need HCAS and student loan support for 2026/27.
- All five student loan plans
- Band selection with HCAS
- Salary sacrifice option
- Overtime input
- No input validation on part-time hours or tax code
- Facebook Pixel, Clarity session replay, no consent banner
- Only covers 2026/27
Nursing Notes
nursingnotes.co.ukBest for: Quick check of a standard band salary with no student loan.
- Band and step point selection
- Unsocial hours input
- Part-time hours validated
- No student loan support at all
- No monthly/annual toggle
- Covers 2025/26 only
- Google Analytics and ads without consent
NHS Salary
nhssalarycalculator.comBest for: Manual salary entry with secondary income, but avoid it for student loan cases.
- Manual salary entry (not just bands)
- All five student loan plans
- Secondary income support
- Subtracts student loan before tax (incorrect)
- Salary sacrifice pension does not update
- Facebook Pixel, no consent banner
- Covers 2025/26 only
NHS Pay Band
nhspayband.co.ukBest for: Rough estimate only. Do not rely on the figures.
- Band and step point with HCAS
- Covers 2025/26 and 2026/27
- Assumptions documented
- 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
My Pay Calc
mypaycalculator.co.ukBest for: Quick 2026/27 estimate with unsocial hours, if you do not need student loan accuracy.
- Band selection with unsocial hours
- Monthly/annual toggle
- Effective rate shown
- Covers 2026/27
- All student loan plans selectable at once
- No pension opt-out or manual override
- Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, no consent
- Only covers 2026/27
Nurses.co.uk
nurses.co.ukBest for: Simple band lookup for 2026/27 with no deductions beyond pension.
- Band and step point selection
- Covers 2026/27
- Ad-free
- No student loan support
- No monthly/annual toggle
- Hotjar session replay, no consent banner
- No pension opt-out or override
Casomo
/calculatorBest for: Staff who want accurate figures, pension modelling, and no tracking.
- 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
- Manual salary entry only (no band selector)
- Covers 2025/26 only
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
Privacy: Session replay tools like Clarity and Hotjar record form inputs by default, which means salary figures could be captured by third parties without consent. Six of the seven calculators load third-party tracking scripts. Casomo is the only one with no third-party scripts at all.