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 you can see that figure for your band, then how it’s worked out. The numbers are a rough guide to help you plan. For the exact figure on your record, the NHSBSA member hub is the authority.
How much NHS pension will I get after 10, 20 or 30 years?
Pick your band and the chart shows what your pension builds to for each year you work, right up to a full career. Click any point on the line to read the figure at that many years, and switch between a yearly and a monthly amount. The shaded gap shows how much of it comes from the scheme’s yearly revaluation, on top of what your years alone would give.
The 2015 NHS pension is a CARE scheme (Career Average Revalued Earnings). The dashed line is the career-average accrual (each year’s pay ÷ 54); the solid line adds the yearly revaluation (CPI + 1.5%), in today’s money. The shaded gap is what revaluation is worth. Top of Band 5, England 2026/27, before any lump sum or early-retirement reduction.
Sources: NHS Employers pay scales 2026/27 · NHSBSA: 2015 scheme revaluation
| Years worked | Career-averaged (per year) | Revalued (per year) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | £3,615/yr | £3,727/yr |
| 10 | £7,230/yr | £7,739/yr |
| 15 | £10,845/yr | £12,062/yr |
| 20 | £14,460/yr | £16,719/yr |
| 25 | £18,075/yr | £21,738/yr |
| 30 | £21,691/yr | £27,143/yr |
| 35 | £25,306/yr | £32,965/yr |
| 40 | £28,921/yr | £39,237/yr |
These are broad-brush figures, in today’s money. They include the scheme’s yearly uplift, the gap between the two lines on the chart, which is why a long career adds up to more than just your career-averaged pay. 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.
The NHS scheme builds this compounding in: the longer you’re a member, the harder each early slice works, because it has 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 chart 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 comes from your pay and your years, and our NHS pension 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. Our NHS pension calculator models both levers 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.