NHS Night Shift Pay 2026/27: What a Night Is Worth, Hour by Hour

Last updated: 6 November 2026 · Figures verified against the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

What counts as night pay?

Night pay in the NHS is not a separate allowance or a bonus. It is the unsocial-hours enhancement in Section 2 of the Agenda for Change handbook, paid on top of your basic hourly rate for hours worked inside an unsocial window. The handbook defines three unsocial periods: weekday nights from 8pm to 6am, Monday to Friday; Saturdays, all hours from midnight to midnight; and Sundays and public holidays, all hours from midnight to midnight. Every hour you work inside one of those windows attracts the enhancement for that window, and every hour outside them is paid at plain time. The enhancement is calculated on your full-time equivalent basic hourly rate, then pro-rated for part-time staff, and it is paid when and as the hours are worked, which means it appears on the payslip for the month the shifts were worked, not averaged across the year.

Two points about the definition matter more than they first appear. First, the night window is fixed at 8pm to 6am, and it does not move to match your shift pattern. A shift from 7pm to 7am and a shift from 9pm to 5am both contain hours outside the window, and those hours are paid at plain time even though they feel like night work. Second, the night rate and the Saturday rate are the same percentage at every band, which is why this page and the weekend pay rates guide share one table: a Tuesday night and a Saturday afternoon are paid at the same enhanced hourly rate. The full rules, including the overtime interaction and the Annex 5 alternative for ambulance staff, are set out in our unsocial hours and overtime guide, and this page is the night-only companion to it, with the hourly rate for every band and pay step and the worked examples for typical night rotas.

One warning belongs at the top of any page about these figures. Several third-party calculator sites still quote the pre-September-2018 Section 2 rates for Bands 1 to 3, which were 50% and 100% for Band 1, 44% and 88% for Band 2, and 37% and 74% for Band 3. Those rates were superseded by the 2018 Agenda for Change framework agreement and are wrong for 2026/27. The percentages on this page are the current rates, verified against the NHS Employers unsocial-hours page, which reproduces Section 2 Table 2 of the handbook and was last reviewed for accuracy in September 2025. If your payslip shows a different rate, check your trust's local policy against the handbook, because the national rates below are the starting point, not a guarantee for every locally agreed arrangement.

The night enhancement percentages

The enhancement percentage depends on your pay band, and the pattern is deliberately tilted towards the lower bands. Band 2, where healthcare assistants, porters and many support staff sit, gets the largest percentage uplift, and the percentage falls as the band rises, settling at a flat 30% for every band from Band 4 to Band 9. Band 1, which is closed to new entrants, keeps the highest percentage of all, but very few staff remain on Band 1 in 2026/27.

The night percentage is the same as the Saturday percentage at every band, and that is the single most useful fact on this page for anyone planning a rota. A Band 2 healthcare assistant earns 41% extra on a Tuesday night and 41% extra on a Saturday afternoon, so the two shifts are interchangeable in pay terms, and the choice between them is about rest and family life, not money. The Sunday percentage is roughly double the night percentage at every band, which is why a Saturday night shift that runs past midnight into Sunday is worth more than a weekday night of the same length. At Band 5 the Sunday premium over the night rate is 30% of basic pay, £4.91 an hour at entry and £5.99 an hour at the top of the band, and the weekend-nights section below works through the three midnight crossings in full.

The percentages have applied consistently across recent pay years and are confirmed for 2026/27. They apply to the 3.3% Agenda for Change award effective 1 April 2026, announced on 12 February 2026 and paid on time in April salaries in England and Wales. Because the enhancement is a percentage of basic pay, the award lifted night hourly rates by the same 3.3% as basic pay: a Band 5 nurse at the top of the band earned £25.10 for a night hour in 2025/26, at the old top rate of £19.31, and earns £25.94 in 2026/27. The 2026/27 pay rise guide sets out the award in full.

Night hourly rates by band and pay step

The table below gives the night hourly rate for every band and pay step in England in 2026/27, with the plain hourly rate alongside it so the two can be compared at a glance. Hourly rates are calculated as annual salary divided by 52.2 weeks divided by 37.5 hours, the standard NHS full-time formula. Band 2 is a single spot rate, so it has one row. Bands 3 and 4 have two pay steps, entry and top. Bands 5 to 9 have three, entry, intermediate and top. Band 1 has no row in this table, because the band is closed to new entrants and the verified data file holds no Band 1 salary for 2026/27, so no hourly figure can be stated without guessing.

Read the table from the bottom up and the story of the NHS pay scale is visible in one column. A night hour is worth £18.20 at Band 2 and £86.19 at the top of Band 9, a range of nearly five to one for the same hour of the night. The jumps that matter most in practice are the ones inside a single career: a Band 5 nurse moving from entry to the top of the band sees a night hour rise from £21.29 to £25.94, and a Band 6 nurse moving to Band 7 sees a night hour rise from £31.95 at the top of Band 6 to £32.80 at the entry point of Band 7, a small step, because the bands overlap at the boundary. The hourly rate calculator will convert any annual salary on this site into an hourly rate, with the overtime and unsocial-hours equivalents, for a different contracted-hours pattern.

London weighting is paid on top of basic pay for the hours worked, and it is calculated on basic pay, not on the enhanced rate, so a London Band 5 nurse at the top of the band earns the same £25.94 night hourly rate as a colleague outside London, plus High Cost Area Supplement on the basic pay for those hours. The supplement does not multiply the enhancement. The London weighting (HCAS) guide sets out the 2026/27 rates, 20% of basic pay in inner London within a £5,794 minimum and £8,746 maximum, 15% in outer London within £4,870 and £6,137, and 5% in the fringe zone within £1,346 and £2,270.

The 6am problem: hours after 6am are plain time

Most NHS night shifts are 12 hours long, and the standard 12-hour night runs from 8pm to 8am or from 7.30pm to 7.30am. Neither of those shifts sits entirely inside the 8pm to 6am window, and that is the detail that catches most people out. The window is 10 hours long, so a 12-hour night shift always has 2 hours outside it, and those 2 hours are paid at plain time. On an 8pm to 8am shift the plain hours are the 2 hours from 6am to 8am, and on a 7.30pm to 7.30am shift the plain hours are the half hour before 8pm and the hour and a half after 6am. The split is the same either way: 10 enhanced hours and 2 plain hours.

At Band 5 entry, the difference is worth knowing exactly. Ten enhanced hours are worth 10 multiplied by £16.38 multiplied by 1.30, which is £212.94, and 2 plain hours at £16.38 are worth £32.76, so the shift is worth £245.70 in total. If all 12 hours were enhanced, the shift would be worth £255.53, so the 2 plain hours cost £9.83 against the all-enhanced figure. The same shift in plain time, with no enhancement at all, would be worth £196.56, so the night enhancement adds £49.14. Shorter night shifts can sit entirely inside the window: an 8-hour shift from 10pm to 6am is fully enhanced, and at Band 2 that shift is worth £145.62 against £103.28 plain, an extra £42.34. A 7.5-hour shift from 9pm to 4.30am is also fully enhanced, and at Band 3 entry it is worth £133.25 against £98.70 plain, an extra £34.55. When you check a night shift on your payslip, count the hours inside the window first, then the hours outside it, and apply the right rate to each part.

One more boundary deserves a mention. A long day shift that ends at 8pm, such as 8am to 8pm, contains no night hours at all, because the window starts at 8pm and the shift ends at the boundary. A shift that ends at 9pm contains one night hour, and a shift that starts at 7pm contains one plain hour before the window opens. The boundary is exact, and rota systems that round a 7.30pm start to 8pm will overstate the enhancement, while systems that round a 6am finish to 7am will understate it, so the start and finish times on the rota are worth checking against the payslip.

Worked examples: what a night rota is actually worth

Percentages are abstract until they are turned into pounds for a real shift. The examples below use 2026/27 England rates, and each one shows the plain-time comparison, because the enhancement is only meaningful against what the same hours would have paid on a weekday. Shift totals are calculated from the unrounded hourly rate, hours multiplied by basic hourly pay multiplied by one plus the enhancement, then rounded to the nearest penny, which is why a total can differ by a penny or two from the rounded hourly rate multiplied by the hours.

Example 1: Band 2 healthcare assistant, 8-hour night, 10pm to 6am. Basic hourly rate £12.91. Night enhancement for Band 2 is time plus 41%. The whole shift sits inside the window, so it is worth 8 multiplied by £12.91 multiplied by 1.41, which is £145.62. The same 8 hours in plain time would be worth £103.28, so the night enhancement adds £42.34 to the shift. This is the most common night shift pattern for support staff, and the enhancement is worth more than £40 for a single night.

Example 2: Band 5 nurse, entry point, 12-hour night, Tuesday 8pm to 8am. Basic hourly rate £16.38. Night enhancement for Bands 4 to 9 is time plus 30%. Ten hours fall inside the window and 2 hours fall outside it, so the shift is worth 10 multiplied by £16.38 multiplied by 1.30, which is £212.94, plus 2 multiplied by £16.38, which is £32.76, a total of £245.70. The same 12 hours in plain time would be worth £196.56, so the night enhancement adds £49.14. This is the standard 12-hour night shift, and it is the figure most Band 5 nurses should recognise from their own payslips.

Example 3: Band 5 nurse, top of band, 12-hour night. Basic hourly rate £19.95. Ten enhanced hours are worth 10 multiplied by £19.95 multiplied by 1.30, which is £259.35, and 2 plain hours at £19.95 are worth £39.90, a total of £299.25. The same 12 hours in plain time would be worth £239.40, so the night enhancement adds £59.85. A Band 5 nurse at the top of the band earns £53.55 more than a Band 5 nurse at the entry point for the same night shift, purely from the pay step.

Example 4: Band 6 nurse, top of band, 12-hour night. Basic hourly rate £24.58. Ten enhanced hours are worth 10 multiplied by £24.58 multiplied by 1.30, which is £319.54, and 2 plain hours at £24.58 are worth £49.16, a total of £368.70. The same 12 hours in plain time would be worth £294.96, so the night enhancement adds £73.74. At this level a single night is worth more than three quarters of a plain-time working week of 37.5 hours at Band 2, which would be £484.13, and the enhancement alone is close to a day's basic pay at Band 5 entry.

Example 5: Band 5 nurse, entry point, four 12-hour nights in a month. Each night is worth £245.70, so four nights are worth £982.80. The same 48 hours in plain time would be worth £786.24, so the night enhancement adds £196.56 in the month. Some months have five night shifts on a rota, which lifts the figure further, and some have none at all if leave falls across them, which is why the monthly figure is an illustration, not a promise. The Band 5 pay guide sets out the full Band 5 picture, and the Band 6 pay guide covers the next rung, where the same night is worth more at every step.

Example 6: Band 7 nurse, entry point, 10-hour night, 9pm to 7am. Basic hourly rate £25.23. Nine hours fall inside the window and 1 hour, from 6am to 7am, falls outside it, so the shift is worth 9 multiplied by £25.23 multiplied by 1.30, which is £295.19, plus 1 multiplied by £25.23, a total of £320.42. The same 10 hours in plain time would be worth £252.30, so the night enhancement adds £68.12. Shorter night shifts that end closer to 6am lose less to the plain hours, which is one reason some staff prefer 10-hour nights to 12-hour ones.

Nights that cross midnight into the weekend

Night shifts follow the same percentages as Saturdays, because the weekday night window, 8pm to 6am, carries the Saturday percentage at every band. The complication comes only when a shift crosses midnight, because the rate follows the clock: hours before midnight take the rate for the day they fall in, and hours after midnight take the next day's rate. Three crossings matter, and they are worth very different amounts.

Friday night into Saturday. A night shift from 8pm Friday to 8am Saturday is paid at the night percentage for all 12 hours, because the Saturday rate is the same percentage as the night rate at every band. The 4 hours before midnight are Friday night hours, the 6 hours from midnight to 6am are Saturday hours at the same percentage, and the 2 hours from 6am to 8am are Saturday hours, which are enhanced all day. At Band 5 entry the shift is worth 12 multiplied by £16.38 multiplied by 1.30, which is £255.53. That is £9.83 more than a weekday 12-hour night, because the 2 hours after 6am are enhanced on a Saturday and plain on a weekday.

Saturday night into Sunday. A night shift from 8pm Saturday to 8am Sunday is paid at the Saturday rate for the 4 hours before midnight and the Sunday rate for the 8 hours after it. At Band 5 entry the Saturday part is worth £85.18 and the Sunday part is worth £209.66, a total of £294.84, against £196.56 for 12 plain hours. This is the best-paid night shift in the week, and the Sunday hours are the reason: 8 hours at time plus 60% are worth £209.66 on their own, more than a full plain-time day. At Band 7 entry the same shift is worth £454.14, 4 hours at £32.80, worth £131.20, and 8 hours at £40.37, worth £322.94.

Sunday night into Monday. A night shift from 8pm Sunday to 8am Monday is paid at the Sunday rate for the 4 hours before midnight, the night rate for the 6 hours from midnight to 6am, and plain time for the 2 hours from 6am to 8am. At Band 5 entry the Sunday part is worth £104.83, the night part is worth £127.76, and the plain part is worth £32.76, a total of £265.36, against £196.56 for 12 plain hours. The Sunday night into Monday is worth less than the Saturday night into Sunday, because only 4 of its hours attract the Sunday rate, but it is still worth £19.66 more than a weekday night.

The midnight split is the detail most often missed on a payslip check, and it is the first thing to verify if a night shift looks underpaid: count the hours on each side of midnight separately, apply the right percentage to each side, and compare the total with the payslip line. If the trust pays the whole shift at one rate, ask payroll which convention they apply, because local practice on split shifts varies, and the handbook's day definitions are the reference point, not a guarantee of how every trust codes its rotas.

Nights and overtime: you cannot claim both

The rule that causes the most confusion on night pay is the simplest one in the handbook: overtime and the unsocial-hours enhancement cannot both be claimed for the same hours. Overtime is hours above 37.5 a week, paid at time and a half for Bands 1 to 7, and double time on bank holidays, while Bands 8 and 9 receive time off in lieu only. Night hours inside your contracted 37.5 hours attract the enhancement. Night hours above 37.5 hours attract overtime instead, and the enhancement drops away for those hours.

Take a Band 5 nurse at the entry point who works 45 hours in a week, including a 7.5-hour night shift, and whose contracted hours are 37.5. The night shift falls above the 37.5-hour threshold, so those 7.5 hours are paid at time and a half, £24.57 an hour, £184.28 for the shift, and not at the night-enhanced rate of £21.29 an hour, £159.71 for the shift. The difference is £24.57 for that shift, and it surprises people, because the night rate looks like it should stack on top of the overtime rate. The reason is that the two enhancements are alternatives, not additions, and the overtime rate is the one that applies once the week passes 37.5 hours. The same nurse working the same night shift inside a 37.5-hour week would receive the full £159.71. For a 12-hour night above the threshold, the overtime figure is £294.84 against £245.70 inside the threshold, a difference of £49.14. Staff may elect time off in lieu instead of overtime pay, and the overtime calculator will work out both options for any rota. The full overtime rules are in the unsocial hours and overtime guide.

The position reverses on a Sunday, where the Sunday enhancement of 60% beats time and a half, which is why the same rule feels generous on a Sunday and mean on a Tuesday. A Band 5 nurse at entry working a 12-hour Sunday above 37.5 hours would be paid £294.84 at time and a half, against £383.04 at the Sunday enhancement rate inside a 37.5-hour week, so the Sunday shift loses £88.20 when it falls above the threshold. That is the largest single overtime trap on the site, and it is the reason regular Sunday workers should check where their Sunday shifts fall in the weekly total. The weekend pay rates guide works through the Sunday comparison in full.

Part-time staff and night pay

Part-time staff are paid night enhancements at exactly the same hourly rates as full-time colleagues on the same band and pay step, because the enhancement is an hourly rate, not a full-time salary figure. A part-time Band 5 nurse at the entry point earns £21.29 for a night hour, the same as a full-time Band 5 nurse at the same step, and a 12-hour night shift is worth £245.70 for both of them. The part-time difference is only in how many hours count as overtime: hours above contracted hours up to 37.5 a week are paid at plain time plus any unsocial enhancement that applies, and overtime rates apply only above 37.5 hours.

Take a 0.6 whole-time-equivalent Band 5 nurse contracted for 22.5 hours a week, who picks up a night shift on top of a normal week. The night hours are paid at the enhanced rate, £21.29 an hour, because they fall inside the unsocial window and below the 37.5-hour threshold, even though they are above the contracted 22.5 hours. If the same nurse worked enough extra hours to pass 37.5 in the week, the hours above 37.5 would switch to time and a half, and the enhancement would drop away for those hours, exactly as it does for full-time staff. The part-time pay guide sets out the pro-rata maths in full, and the part-time pay calculator will work out the exact figure for any whole-time-equivalent fraction.

How night pay shows on your payslip

Night enhancements usually appear as a separate line on the payslip, labelled as unsocial hours, enhancement, or night pay, depending on the trust's payroll system, with the hours and the rate shown alongside the basic pay line. The enhancement is pensionable, so it counts towards your NHS pension, and it is subject to income tax and National Insurance in the normal way, which means the gross figures on this page are not the amounts that land in the bank. A Band 5 nurse at the top of the band earning an extra £59.85 gross for a 12-hour night shift keeps about £37 of it after basic-rate tax, National Insurance and pension, depending on the pension tier and any student loan, and the payslip guide explains how to read each line.

Two checks are worth doing every month. First, count the night hours on the rota and compare them with the enhancement line: a missing night is the most common payslip error in this area, and it is usually a rota coding issue rather than a pay error. Second, check the 6am split on any 12-hour night shift, because a shift paid entirely at the enhanced rate when 2 hours fall outside the window is the second most common error, and it usually favours the employee, which is why payroll corrects it quietly. Staff who regularly work unsocial hours, most commonly ambulance staff, may instead be covered by Annex 5, which pays an averaged annual enhancement rather than shift-by-shift payments, and since 1 September 2018 ambulance staff in England have been able to choose between Annex 5 and Section 2. If your payslip shows a flat unsocial-hours figure every month rather than a varying shift-by-shift amount, you are probably on Annex 5, and the shift-by-shift rates on this page do not apply to you.

Night pay and your pension

Night enhancements are pensionable pay, so the extra money earned on night shifts counts towards your NHS pension, and it is also subject to income tax and National Insurance in the normal way. That has a second effect worth knowing: regular night enhancements can push your pensionable pay over a contribution tier threshold, which changes the percentage deducted from your pay. On the official 2026/27 England and Wales tiers, Band 5 entry basic pay of £32,073 sits in the 8.3% tier, which runs from £28,855 to £35,155, so a Band 5 nurse at entry who regularly works nights can cross into the 9.8% tier on pensionable pay. A Band 5 nurse at the top of the band, on £39,043 basic, already sits in the 9.8% tier, which runs from £35,156 to £52,778, so night enhancements do not change the tier, but they do increase the amount the percentage is applied to. Your payslip, not this page, is the authority for any individual case, and the pension contributions guide sets out the tiers in full.

There is also a longer-term point. Because night enhancements are pensionable, years of regular night working build a larger pension than the same basic pay without nights, which is one of the few compensations for the health effects of night work. The pension is calculated on pensionable pay across the career, so the effect is real but slow, and it is not a reason to chase nights for pension purposes alone. The pension calculator will project a pension from any salary, with or without regular unsocial-hours pay included.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The rates on this page are the England Agenda for Change Section 2 rates for 2026/27. Scotland and Wales operate their own Agenda for Change handbooks, so staff there should check the local handbook for the exact percentages rather than assuming the England figures apply, and this page does not quote percentages for either nation, because they are not verified in the data file this site works from.

Two differences are worth knowing. Scotland awarded 3.75% from 1 April 2026 under a two-year deal and moved to a 36-hour week from April 2026, which changes the hourly maths for Scottish posts, because the same annual salary is divided by fewer hours, so a Scottish hourly rate is higher than the England equivalent for the same annual figure. The verified data file holds a Scotland Band 5 range of £34,494 to £42,977, but no Scotland night percentages and no Scotland Band 5 intermediate step, so no Scotland hourly night rates are quoted here. Wales awarded 3.3%, implemented on 1 April 2026, with a Real Living Wage floor of £13.45 an hour applied to the Band 1, 2 and 3 minimum, and the Welsh Band 2 spot rate is £26,300 a year, but the Welsh scale differs slightly from England and no Wales night percentages are quoted here either. In Northern Ireland, the 3.3% award for 2026/27 is recommended but not yet implemented, so staff there should not budget on the England figures until the award is confirmed. The nation guides are NHS Scotland pay, NHS Wales pay and NHS Northern Ireland pay.

What about weekend days?

Night shifts are paid at the Saturday percentage, so the weekend is the natural next question. Saturday day shifts are paid at the same rate as a weeknight, time plus 41% at Band 2, time plus 35% at Band 3 and time plus 30% at Bands 4 to 9, while Sunday day shifts are paid at the higher Sunday rate, time plus 83% at Band 2, time plus 69% at Band 3 and time plus 60% at Bands 4 to 9. A Band 5 nurse at the top of the band earns £25.94 an hour on a Saturday and £31.92 an hour on a Sunday, against £19.95 in plain time. The weekend pay rates guide gives the Saturday and Sunday hourly rate for every band and pay step, with the worked examples for full weekend rotas, and the unsocial hours and overtime guide sets out the full Section 2 and Section 3 rules that sit behind both pages.

Frequently asked questions

What is NHS night shift pay?

Night shift pay is the Agenda for Change Section 2 unsocial-hours enhancement paid on top of basic hourly pay for hours worked between 8pm and 6am, Monday to Friday. In 2026/27 in England, a night hour is worth basic pay plus 41% at Band 2, plus 35% at Band 3 and plus 30% at Bands 4 to 9. Band 1, closed to new entrants, is paid at time plus 47%. The enhancement applies to every hour worked inside the 8pm to 6am window, and hours outside that window are paid at plain time, so a 12-hour night shift from 8pm to 8am has 10 enhanced hours and 2 plain hours. The same percentages apply to Saturday day shifts, and Sundays and public holidays are paid at the higher Sunday rate.

How much is a night shift at Band 5?

At Band 5 in 2026/27, a night hour is worth £21.29 at the entry point (£16.38 basic plus 30%), £22.97 at the intermediate point (£17.67 basic) and £25.94 at the top of the band (£19.95 basic). A 12-hour night shift at the entry point, 8pm to 8am, is worth £245.70, because 10 hours fall inside the 8pm to 6am window at £21.29 and the 2 hours from 6am to 8am are paid at the plain rate of £16.38. The same 12 hours in plain time would be worth £196.56, so the night enhancement adds £49.14 to the shift. At the top of Band 5, the same 12-hour night shift is worth £299.25 against £239.40 plain, an extra £59.85.

What hours count as night hours in the NHS?

Under Agenda for Change Section 2, night hours are 8pm to 6am, Monday to Friday. The window starts at 8pm, so a shift that starts at 7pm has one plain hour before the enhancement begins, and it ends at 6am, so a shift that finishes at 8am has two plain hours after the enhancement stops. Saturdays count as unsocial all day, from midnight to midnight, and Sundays and public holidays count as unsocial all day at the higher Sunday rate. A night shift that crosses midnight takes the rate for the day each hour falls in, so a Friday night shift that runs past midnight is paid at the night rate up to midnight and the Saturday rate from midnight, which happens to be the same percentage, while a Saturday night shift that runs past midnight moves from the Saturday rate to the higher Sunday rate.

Do you get night pay for the hours after 6am on a 12-hour shift?

No. The night window ends at 6am, so the hours from 6am to the end of a 12-hour night shift are paid at plain time. On a standard 8pm to 8am shift, 10 hours are enhanced and 2 hours are plain, and on a 7.30pm to 7.30am shift the same split applies, 10 enhanced hours and 2 plain hours, one before 8pm and one and a half after 6am. At Band 5 entry that means a 12-hour night shift is worth £245.70, not the £255.53 it would be worth if all 12 hours were enhanced. The 2 plain hours are worth £32.76 at Band 5 entry, and the difference between the correct total and the all-enhanced total is £9.83 for that shift. Check this split first if a night shift looks underpaid on your payslip.

What happens when a night shift runs into Saturday or Sunday?

The rate follows the clock, and the weekend rates are higher, so a night shift that crosses into the weekend is worth more than a weekday night. A Friday night shift from 8pm to 8am is paid at the night percentage for all 12 hours, because the Saturday rate is the same percentage as the night rate, and at Band 5 entry that shift is worth £255.53. A Saturday night shift from 8pm to 8am is paid at the Saturday rate for the 4 hours before midnight and the Sunday rate for the 8 hours after it, £85.18 plus £209.66 at Band 5 entry, £294.84 in total. A Sunday night shift from 8pm to 8am is paid at the Sunday rate for the 4 hours before midnight, the night rate for the 6 hours from midnight to 6am, and plain time for the 2 hours from 6am to 8am, £265.36 at Band 5 entry. The Saturday night into Sunday is the best-paid night shift in the week.

Do you get overtime and night pay for the same hours?

No. Overtime and the unsocial-hours enhancement cannot both be claimed for the same hours, so a night shift that takes you above 37.5 hours in the week is paid at the overtime rate instead of the night rate. For Bands 1 to 7, overtime is time and a half, and double time on bank holidays, while Bands 8 and 9 receive time off in lieu only. At Band 5 entry, a 7.5-hour night shift above 37.5 hours is worth £184.28 at time and a half, against £159.71 at the night-enhanced rate inside a 37.5-hour week, so overtime is the better deal for a weekday night, by £24.57 for that shift. The position reverses on a Sunday, where the Sunday enhancement of 60% beats time and a half, which is why the same rule feels generous on a Sunday and mean on a Tuesday. Staff may elect time off in lieu instead of overtime pay.

Do part-time NHS staff get night shift pay?

Yes, at exactly the same hourly rates as full-time colleagues on the same band and pay step. Night enhancements are paid on the hours actually worked inside the 8pm to 6am window, regardless of whole-time equivalent, so a part-time Band 5 nurse at the entry point earns £21.29 for a night hour, the same as a full-time Band 5 nurse at the same step. The part-time rules only change the overtime position: hours above contracted hours up to 37.5 a week are paid at plain time plus any unsocial enhancement that applies, and overtime rates apply only above 37.5 hours a week. A 0.6 whole-time-equivalent Band 5 nurse contracted for 22.5 hours a week who works a 12-hour night shift on top of a normal week earns £245.70 for that shift, the same as a full-time colleague working the same shift.

Does night shift pay apply in Scotland and Wales?

The rates on this page are the England Agenda for Change Section 2 rates for 2026/27, verified against the NHS Employers unsocial-hours guidance. Scotland and Wales operate their own Agenda for Change handbooks, so staff there should check the local handbook for the exact percentages rather than assuming the England figures apply. Two differences are worth knowing: Scotland moved to a 36-hour week from April 2026, which changes the hourly maths for Scottish posts because the same annual salary is divided by fewer hours, and the verified data file holds a Scotland Band 5 range of £34,494 to £42,977 but no Scotland night percentages, so no Scotland hourly night rates are quoted here. In Northern Ireland, the 3.3% award for 2026/27 is recommended but not yet implemented, so staff there should not budget on the England figures until the award is confirmed.

Sources and independence

Source: NHS Employers, Unsocial hours payments (Section 2 Table 2).

Source: NHS Employers, Unsocial hours factsheet.

Source: NHS Employers, 2026/27 pay award announcement.

Source: Health Careers NHS, Agenda for Change pay rates.

NHS Bands Pay is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the NHS. Figures were verified against official sources on 6 November 2026 and can change, always confirm with the relevant official body before making financial decisions.