Published 8 July 2026
NHS Consultant Pay
Gross / yr
£113,565–£150,569
Take-home / yr
£67,908–£80,608
These are the latest published 2026/27 figures, including the 3.5% DDRB award applied from 1 April 2026.
| Role | Threshold | Gross salary | Net take-home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consultant | Threshold 1 | £113,565 | £67,908 |
| Consultant | Threshold 2a | £120,249 | £70,240 |
| Consultant | Threshold 2b | £123,672 | £71,369 |
| Consultant | Threshold 3 | £135,645 | £75,176 |
| Consultant | Threshold 4 | £150,569 | £80,608 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Basic pay buys a standard job plan of about ten programmed activities (PAs) a week, and a lot sits on top: additional PAs beyond ten are each paid at roughly a tenth of your basic salary; an on-call rota adds an availability supplement set by your on-call category; national Clinical Impact Awards (£20,000 to £40,000) or local awards reward sustained contribution; and extra or waiting-list work is often paid on the BMA rate card. Working less than full time scales your basic pro-rata to your PAs. None of these are in the figures above.
Two reduce take-home at consultant pay, and neither shows in the figures above. Above £100,000 your personal allowance is withdrawn under the personal-allowance taper, an effective rate of about 60% on that band. And pension growth above the annual allowance in a year is taxed, which can affect senior doctors.
Yes. Each nation sets its own consultant scale in its own pay circular. England and Wales use the 2003 consultant contract; Scotland and Northern Ireland the 2004 contract.
No. NHS Employers publishes the official consultant scales, but no NHS or government body runs a calculator. This page is the quick estimate straight from the published scales; open the our calculator for a detailed answer.