How NHS Jobs Are Banded: the Job Evaluation Scheme Explained

Last updated: 18 October 2026 · Scheme mechanics from the NHS Job Evaluation Handbook; salary figures from the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

What the job evaluation scheme is

The NHS Job Evaluation Scheme arrived with Agenda for Change in 2004 and has underpinned NHS pay ever since. Before it, different staff groups sat on different pay scales with different rules, and two people doing work of equal value could be paid quite differently depending on which scale they happened to be on. The scheme replaced that patchwork with one national system built around a single principle: equal pay for work of equal value.

The mechanics are deliberately impersonal. The scheme evaluates the post, not the person doing it. Your qualifications, your years of service and your performance do not earn the job extra points; what earns points is what the job itself demands. A Band 5 staff nurse post is a Band 5 post whether it is filled by someone in their first year or someone with twenty years of experience. When the post holder leaves, the post keeps its band. This is the single most misunderstood fact about NHS banding, and it explains why you cannot be "promoted in post" simply by doing your current job well: a higher band needs a different, more demanding post.

Job evaluation is also the reason a Band 5 nurse in Newcastle and a Band 5 physiotherapist in Plymouth start on the same basic salary. Once the scheme has placed a post in a band, the pay for that band is set nationally for everyone. In England in 2026/27, for instance, every Band 5 post pays between £32,073 and £39,043 a year full-time, regardless of profession, trust or department. The scheme decides which band; the annual pay award decides what each band is worth.

The 16 factors every job is scored on

Each post is assessed against 16 factors. Every factor has a set of defined levels, and each level carries a points value. The assessor picks the level that best describes the post, and the points are added up across all 16 factors to give the job's total score, sometimes called its job weight. The factors fall into three broad groups:

Notice what is not on the list: there is no factor for how hard you personally work, how long you have been qualified, or how well your last appraisal went. The scheme is measuring the demands of the job as designed, which is why two people can do the same post to very different standards and still be on the same band.

How points turn into a pay band

Once the 16 factors are scored, the points are totalled and the total is read off against the national band thresholds published in the NHS Job Evaluation Handbook. The thresholds are fixed: they do not vary between trusts, professions or nations.

A worked example makes the mechanics concrete. Suppose a clinical support post scores 200 points across the 16 factors. That total falls in the 161 to 215 range, so the post is Band 2, and in England in 2026/27 it pays the Band 2 spot rate of £25,272 full-time. Suppose a senior specialist post scores 575 points. That sits in the 540 to 584 range, so the post is Band 8a, paying £57,528 to £64,750. Now imagine the Band 2 post takes on substantially more responsibility, perhaps regular supervision of other staff and accountability for a small budget, and a re-evaluation scores it at 280 points. The post has crossed into the 271 to 325 range and becomes Band 4, worth £28,392 to £31,157. A few extra factors tipping the total over a threshold is exactly how re-banding happens in practice.

Source: NHS Job Evaluation Handbook (PDF), chapter 8, job evaluation band ranges.

The two routes to a band: matching or local evaluation

Evaluating every one of the hundreds of thousands of AfC posts from scratch would be unworkable, so the system offers two routes.

Route 1: job matching to a national profile

Most posts take this route. NHS Employers publishes a large library of national job profiles: benchmark descriptions of common NHS jobs that have already been evaluated to a band, with a written rationale explaining how the 16 factors scored. A local post is compared against the profiles using its job description, person specification and oral information from the manager and post holder. If it matches a profile closely enough, it takes that profile's band. This is why standard posts, a Band 5 staff nurse or a Band 2 porter, are banded quickly and consistently: the national evaluation has already been done once, and every trust reuses it.

Profiles are not job descriptions and were never meant to replace them. They describe the evaluated demands of a type of job, and local job descriptions still spell out what a particular post involves day to day. When a local post has genuinely grown beyond its matched profile, that is a signal it may need the second route.

Route 2: local evaluation from scratch

When no national profile fits, the post is evaluated locally, factor by factor. The post holder and manager complete a Job Analysis Questionnaire, a detailed structured account of what the job actually demands under each of the 16 factors. A trained local panel then scores the questionnaire against the national factor definitions and totals the points to find the band. Because this route builds the score from evidence rather than borrowing it from a profile, the quality of the questionnaire matters enormously: vague or understated answers score fewer points than a precise account of the job's real demands.

Who does the evaluating

Evaluation is done locally by each trust or health board, but to national rules. The scoring is carried out by a panel of trained evaluators, normally four people, with equal representation from the management side and the staff side. Panel members are trained in the scheme's factor definitions and scoring conventions, and they evaluate the written evidence rather than interviewing the post holder for likeability.

Consistency is policed in two ways. Nationally, the profiles act as anchors: local panels check their evaluations against the profile library to make sure similar jobs are landing in similar bands. Locally, trusts run consistency checking, where a sample of evaluations is reviewed to catch panels drifting high or low. The partnership model, management and staff side evaluating together, is itself a safeguard: neither side can quietly nudge scores in its favour.

When a job gets re-evaluated, and how to ask

Bands are not frozen for life. The trigger for a fresh look is always the same: the job itself must have changed substantially since it was last evaluated or matched. Typical triggers include taking on line management of staff, new accountability for budgets or services, a step up in clinical autonomy, or a restructure that merges extra duties into the post. Simply being busy, doing your existing duties well, or feeling underpaid for the market does not meet the test, because none of those changes what the post demands on paper.

If you believe your post has genuinely grown, the practical route is:

1. Document the change. Compare your current duties with the job description and person specification the post was last evaluated against. List what is new, and which of the 16 factors the new duties would score under.
2. Talk to your line manager. Re-evaluation requests normally go through management to the trust's job evaluation lead, and a manager who agrees the job has changed makes the process far smoother.
3. Get staff-side support. Your union representative or staff-side colleague can advise on the local process, help frame the evidence, and sit on or observe the process under the partnership arrangements.
4. Expect a re-match first. The panel will usually try matching the changed post to a national profile before doing a full local evaluation. Either way, the post is scored from scratch on the current duties.

Be clear-eyed about the outcome. A re-evaluation confirms the correct band for the job as it now stands, whichever band that is. Most requests follow jobs that have grown, but the panel scores the evidence in front of it, not your hopes for it. A well-documented case built around the 16 factors is far stronger than a general argument that the band "feels wrong".

What job evaluation does not decide

The scheme's power stops at the band boundary. Everything below is decided elsewhere, and confusing the two is a common source of frustration:

• How much each band pays. The annual pay award, recommended by the NHS Pay Review Body and decided by government, sets the cash value of every band. Job evaluation cannot raise Band 5 pay; it can only decide that your post is or is not Band 5.
• Progression within the band. Moving from the entry step to the top of your band follows the national pay step rules, which are about appraisal and statutory training, not re-evaluation.
• Overtime and unsocial hours. The overtime and unsocial hours enhancements are separate national terms. A higher band does not automatically mean better enhancement rates; in fact the Section 2 percentages are highest at the lower bands.
• London weighting. High cost area supplements depend on where the post is based, not on its evaluation score.
• Pension, leave and other terms. The NHS pension, annual leave and sick pay apply across bands under their own rules. Your band feeds into your pensionable pay, but the evaluation panel does not set pension terms.
• Medical and dental jobs. Doctors, dentists and very senior managers sit outside Agenda for Change and outside the scheme altogether.

One related point on negotiation: because bands belong to posts and are set by national evaluation, there is very little room to negotiate your band when you are offered an NHS job. Our guide to whether you can negotiate NHS salary explains what is actually movable, usually your starting pay step within the band, rather than the band itself.

Why two similar jobs can sit in different bands

This is the question that brings most people to this page, and the scheme gives a structured answer. First, the scheme scores duties, not titles. Two "senior administrators" can have genuinely different jobs if one manages staff and a budget while the other does not. Second, matching is only as good as the evidence: a post matched to a profile years ago may no longer resemble that profile if duties have drifted. Third, local evaluation involves judgement. Two trained panels scoring the same questionnaire should land close together, but factor levels have boundaries and borderline calls happen, which is why consistency checking exists.

What the scheme rules out is the easy explanations. A manager cannot simply award a higher band to keep someone, and a trust cannot quietly pay one department more than another for the same work: the national factors and thresholds are the same everywhere. If you suspect your post is under-banded, the remedy the system offers is the re-evaluation route described above, built on evidence about the job, not comparisons with colleagues.

Frequently asked questions

Does job evaluation decide how much I am paid?

Only indirectly. Job evaluation decides which pay band your post sits in; the actual salary for that band is set nationally each year through the pay award. In 2026/27, for example, a Band 5 post in England pays between £32,073 and £39,043 a year full-time. Job evaluation cannot change those figures, it only determines which band's figures apply to your job.

Can I appeal my job's band if I think it is wrong?

There is no personal appeal against a banding you simply disagree with. What you can do is request a re-evaluation of the post if the job itself has changed substantially since it was last evaluated. Speak to your line manager and your trust's job evaluation lead, and ask your staff-side representative or union for support in preparing the case. The post is then re-matched or re-evaluated from scratch.

Why is a similar job at another trust on a higher band?

Because evaluation scores the post, not the job title. Two posts with similar titles can carry genuinely different levels of responsibility, autonomy, knowledge or effort, and the 16-factor scoring will reflect that. Differences can also come from posts being matched to different national profiles, or one trust's post having been locally evaluated while another was matched. If your own duties have grown, a re-evaluation of your post is the route to challenge it, not your colleague's banding.

Do doctors go through NHS job evaluation?

No. Medical and dental staff sit outside Agenda for Change entirely and are not banded by the job evaluation scheme. They have their own separate pay scales for foundation doctors, specialty trainees, SAS doctors, consultants and GPs. The scheme covers Agenda for Change posts only, from Band 1 to Band 9.

Is the job evaluation scheme the same across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

The Agenda for Change job evaluation scheme is the shared national framework used by AfC employers. Scotland negotiates its own pay deals and some terms separately, but its posts are evaluated under the same kind of scheme. In practice evaluation is always done locally by each trust or health board's own panel, using the national factors and national profiles, so the mechanics you experience are the same wherever you work.

Does job evaluation affect my pension, overtime or unsocial hours pay?

Job evaluation does not set any of these directly. Your band determines your basic salary, and basic salary is what pension contributions and pensionable pay are calculated from, so banding reaches your pension indirectly. Overtime rates, unsocial hours enhancements, high cost area supplements and annual leave are separate national Agenda for Change terms that apply according to your band and hours, and none of them is decided by the evaluation panel.

How long does it take to get a job evaluated?

It depends on the route and on your trust. Matching a post to an existing national profile is usually the quicker process once the job description and paperwork are ready. A full local evaluation, where a panel scores the post factor by factor, takes longer because it needs a completed Job Analysis Questionnaire and a convened panel. Every trust publishes its own local timetable, so ask your job evaluation lead or staff-side representative what to expect where you work.

If I am promoted, does my new job get re-evaluated?

No. When you are promoted you move into a different post, and that post already has a band from when it was evaluated or matched. Bands belong to posts, not to people: your old post keeps its band after you leave it, and your new post's band is unchanged by who fills it. A re-evaluation is only triggered when the content of a post itself changes substantially.