Last updated 19 June 2026
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How Much NHS Pension Will I Get?
In brief: In the 2015 scheme you build 1/54 of your pay as pension each year, and the pot is uplifted every year on top. After 20 years on a salary near £48,000 that’s roughly £20,600 a year, in today’s money. The table below shows the figure by band; your own depends on your pay and your years.
In the 2015 scheme you build about 1/54 of your pay as pension for each year you work, so what you’ll get comes down to your pay and your years.
Below is that figure by band, then how it’s worked out. The numbers are a rough guide to help you plan. For the exact figure on your record, NHSBSA is the authority, and we link you there at the end.
Your pension after 10, 20 or 30 years
Work for 20 years and you’ve banked about 20 of those yearly slices. Here’s what that builds at the top of three common bands.
| Band | After 10 years | After 20 years | After 30 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 5£39,043 pay | £7,739/yr≈ £645/mo | £16,719/yr≈ £1,393/mo | £27,143/yr≈ £2,262/mo |
| Band 6£48,117 pay | £9,538/yr≈ £795/mo | £20,604/yr≈ £1,717/mo | £33,451/yr≈ £2,788/mo |
| Band 7£56,515 pay | £11,203/yr≈ £934/mo | £24,201/yr≈ £2,017/mo | £39,289/yr≈ £3,274/mo |
Pay figures are the top of each band for England, 2026/27, from NHS Employers. Pension built up = each year’s pay ÷ 54, grown by the scheme’s revaluation (1.5% a year above inflation) and shown in today’s money.
These are broad-brush figures, in today’s money. They include the scheme’s yearly uplift (see below), which is why a long career adds up to more than pay ÷ 54 × years on its own. They assume your pay stays near the top of the band, and they’re the pension before you swap any of it for a tax-free lump sum, and before any cut for retiring early.
See it in your own numbers
Our calculator for Agenda for Change staff builds your pension year by year and lets you move your retirement age to see the figure change — alongside your tax, NI and take-home pay.
Open the calculatorHow the figure is built
The NHS pension isn’t a pot of money. It’s a promise of income for life, built up a slice at a time. The 2015 scheme is a career average scheme: each year you bank 1/54 of that year’s pensionable pay as yearly pension, and the slices add up.
Worked example Earn £48,000 in a year and you bank:£48,000 ÷ 54 = £889 of yearly pensionBank a slice like that every year for 20 years and, with the yearly uplift compounding on top, you’ve built about £20,600 a year in today’s money — more than the £889 × 20 the slices alone would give.
That uplift is the part people miss. Each slice is revalued every year you’re an active member — by CPI plus 1.5% — so a slice you banked early keeps growing right up to retirement, without you paying in any more. It’s why the figures above come out higher than a plain “pay ÷ 54 × years” sum.
How the uplift compounds
Take a Band 5 over 30 years. Without the yearly uplift, that pension works out at about £1,800 a month. With it, the same 30 years is worth about £2,260 a month — roughly £450 more, every month, and not a penny of it from extra contributions.
That extra is the uplift compounding. Each slice is revalued every year you stay in the scheme, and the slices you banked early have the longest to grow. So the pension grows on the pension, not just on your pay, and the later years of a career quietly add the most.
Compounding like this is sometimes called the eighth wonder of the world — a line usually pinned on Einstein, though there’s no good evidence he ever said it. Whoever did, the NHS scheme builds it in: the longer you’re a member, the harder each early slice works; they have longer to compound.
Is there an average NHS pension?
People often search for the average NHS pension per month, hoping for one number. There isn’t one that means much. What you get tracks two things: your band and the years you put in.
The table above gives the honest version. A long career on a middle band lands somewhere around £1,700 to £2,800 a month in today’s money. Fewer years, or a lower band, and it’s less; a higher band, more. Your own figure is the one worth knowing, and the calculator works it out from your pay.
Taking it earlier or later
The figures above are the pension you’ve built up. When you take it changes what you’re paid. The 2015 scheme’s normal pension age tracks your State Pension age. Take your pension before then and it’s reduced — an actuarial reduction, because it’ll be paid for longer. Take it later and it’s increased.
You can also swap some yearly pension for a tax-free lump sum at retirement — commutation. That lowers the yearly figure. Both levers are worth modelling, which our NHS pension calculator does live.
Getting your real number
The figures here are a guide, not your record. For the exact pension built up in your name, NHSBSA holds it. Two places show it:
- Your statement. Your Total Reward Statement and annual benefit statement set out the pension built up so far.
- An estimate. You can ask NHSBSA for an estimate at a retirement age you choose.
To see how your pension sits alongside your pay, tax and take-home, try our NHS pension calculator. It’s an estimate to help you plan, not financial advice — for a decision that turns on the figure, speak to a regulated adviser.