NHS Nurse Take-Home Pay 2026/27: What Staff Nurses Keep Each Month

Last updated: 28 October 2026 · Figures verified against the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

A nursing salary is quoted gross, but nobody budgets gross. The number that pays the rent is the monthly amount that lands in the bank after pension, tax and National Insurance, and for a newly qualified nurse that number sits roughly a quarter below the headline salary. This page sets out exactly what staff nurses keep at every step of Band 5 and Band 6 in England in 2026/27, after the 3.3% Agenda for Change award effective 1 April 2026, with each deduction shown separately so any payslip can be checked line by line.

The two bands on this page cover most ward, community and clinic nursing. Band 5 is the staff nurse grade, where newly qualified nurses start and where many nurses spend their whole careers. Band 6 is the senior staff nurse, deputy ward manager and specialist nurse grade, the first step where leadership and caseload responsibility carry a clear pay premium. Bands 7 and above are covered elsewhere on this site, and the doctor take-home pages use a different pay framework entirely, since doctors sit outside Agenda for Change. If you want the gross picture first, the Band 5 pay guide and the Band 6 pay guide give the annual salaries, and the NHS hourly rate calculator converts any band salary to an hourly rate.

Monthly take-home by band step: the full table

Every figure in this table follows one stated method, the same method used on the site's consultant take-home page and junior doctor take-home page. Pension contributions come off first, which reduces taxable income. Income tax is then calculated on what is left, using the 2026/27 personal allowance of £12,570, the 20% basic rate on taxable income up to £37,700 and the 40% higher rate above that. National Insurance is charged on full gross pay, at 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above. Student loans are shown in their own column, because not every nurse still carries one. All figures are for basic pay only, full-time equivalent, on a standard tax code.

Three patterns stand out. First, the share of gross pay kept falls as pay rises: a Band 5 entrant keeps 76.3% of gross pay, while a Band 6 nurse at the top keeps 71.5%, because a larger share of each higher salary sits above the personal allowance and the National Insurance threshold, and the pension tier steps up from 8.3% to 9.8% between the Band 5 intermediate step and the Band 5 top step. Second, the step from Band 5 top to Band 6 entry looks small in gross terms, £916 a year, but it is worth £48.97 a month net, because the pension tier does not change at that step, so the whole rise is taxed at the basic rate only. Third, the largest single jump in the table is inside Band 6, from the intermediate step to the top: £5,947 more gross a year becomes £317.97 more a month net, the biggest monthly gain on offer to a staff nurse short of a move to Band 7.

A worked month: the Band 5 entry payslip

Take a newly qualified staff nurse on Band 5 entry, £32,073 a year, full-time, no student loan, standard tax code. Gross monthly pay is £2,672.75. Pension at 8.3% takes £2,662.06 a year, which is £221.84 a month, leaving £29,410.94 of pensionable pay after pension for tax purposes. Take off the £12,570 personal allowance and taxable income is £16,840.94 a year, all of it inside the 20% basic-rate band, giving annual tax of £3,368.19, or £280.68 a month. National Insurance is 8% of the £19,503 between £12,570 and the salary, giving £1,560.24 a year, or £130.02 a month, with no 2% slice because pay sits below £50,270. What is left is £24,482.51 a year, which is £2,040.21 a month. With a Plan 2 student loan, a further 9% of the £2,688 above the £29,385 threshold comes off, which is £241.92 a year, or £20.16 a month, leaving £2,020.05.

That worked month is worth checking against the site's own calculator, because it doubles as a cross-check on the whole table. The homepage take-home calculator, run for a Band 5 entrant on the same inputs, gives the same £24,482.51 a year net, to the penny. The agreement matters: it means the table, the worked month and the calculator all run the same method, and a nurse who gets a different payslip figure can start by looking for a different tax code, a student loan plan, or unsocial hours and overtime on top of basic pay, rather than doubting the arithmetic.

Pension: the deduction that also cuts the tax bill

Pension is the largest deduction for most nurses, and it is also the one that does quiet work elsewhere. Because contributions come off before tax is calculated, every pound of pension contribution saves 20p of basic-rate tax at these income levels. The contribution tiers for 2026/27 are provisional, calculated from the published 2025/26 thresholds, and the employer adds 23.7% on top of every member contribution. The full tier set is:

The tier boundary between Band 5 intermediate (£34,592) and Band 5 top (£39,043) is the one that bites. Crossing it lifts the pension rate from 8.3% to 9.8%, so the monthly pension deduction jumps from £239.26 to £318.85, a rise of £79.59 a month for a gross rise of £370.92 a month. Net pay still rises, by £203.39 a month, but the pension step takes a visible slice of the increment. For scale, the employer contribution at Band 5 entry is £7,601.30 a year on top of the member's £2,662.06, and at Band 6 top it is £11,403.73 a year on top of the member's £4,715.47. A nurse who opts out of the pension keeps the member contribution in gross pay but pays more tax on it and loses the employer contribution entirely, so opting out is rarely the gain it first appears to be. The full tier rules, including how part-time pay is treated, are set out in the pension contributions guide and the contributions by band table.

Student loans: the fifth deduction

Student loans deserve their own section because they are large, long-lived and easy to forget when comparing gross salaries. Repayments are 9% of earnings above the plan threshold for Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5, and 6% above £21,000 for a postgraduate loan. The loan is calculated on gross earnings above the threshold, not on pay after pension, which is the detail most often missed. Plan thresholds for 2026/27 are £26,900 for Plan 1, £29,385 for Plan 2, £33,795 for Plan 4 and £25,000 for Plan 5.

At Band 5 entry the other plans give a useful comparison, because many nurses trained under different funding routes. Plan 1 takes £38.80 a month, since the whole of the £5,173 above its £26,900 threshold is charged at 9%. Plan 4 takes nothing at this step, because £32,073 sits below its £33,795 threshold. Plan 5 takes £53.05 a month, and a postgraduate loan takes £55.37 a month at 6% above £21,000. A nurse with both an undergraduate Plan 2 loan and a postgraduate loan pays both deductions, which at Band 5 entry would be £75.53 a month combined. For most nurses the loan eventually clears or is written off, at which point monthly take-home jumps by the full deduction, which is why the headline table and the loan column are shown side by side. The full student loan rules for NHS staff are in the student loan repayments guide.

Unsocial hours: what weekend and night work adds to take-home

Basic pay is only the starting point for nurses on rotas. Under Agenda for Change Section 2, Bands 4 to 9 get 30% on top of plain time for Saturday and weekday night hours, from 8pm to 6am, and 60% on top for Sunday and bank holiday hours. A Band 5 nurse at entry earns £16.38 an hour plain time, so a Saturday or night hour is worth an extra £4.91 and a Sunday or bank holiday hour an extra £9.83, worked from the rounded hourly rate as on the site's other hourly guides. A Band 6 nurse at the top earns £24.58 an hour, so the same enhancements are worth £7.37 and £14.75 an hour.

Put those rates against a realistic month and the effect becomes concrete. A Band 5 entrant who works two 7.5 hour Saturday shifts and one 7.5 hour Sunday shift in a month, on top of a normal rota, earns an extra £147.38 in gross pay: 15 Saturday hours at £4.91 plus 7.5 Sunday hours at £9.83. Annualised, pensionable pay rises to £33,841.56, still inside the 8.3% pension tier, and monthly take-home rises to £2,136.54, a gain of £96.33 after pension (£234.07), tax (£307.71) and National Insurance (£141.81). The gain is roughly two thirds of the gross uplift, because every extra pound is itself pensionable, taxable and subject to National Insurance. Nurses choosing between a weekday clinic post and a ward rota post should compare on this basis: the rota post pays more, but the gap in the bank is smaller than the gap in the rota enhancements suggests. The full unsocial hours rules are in the unsocial hours and overtime guide.

Overtime works on top of the same base. Bands 1 to 7 pay time and a half for overtime, and double time on bank and public holidays, with overtime starting above 37.5 hours a week. A Band 5 entrant on £16.38 an hour therefore earns £24.57 an overtime hour and £32.76 on a bank holiday, while a Band 6 nurse at the top earns £36.87 and £49.16. Overtime and an unsocial hours enhancement cannot both be claimed for the same hour. Part-time nurses should note the threshold rule: hours above contracted hours up to 37.5 are paid at plain time, plus any unsocial enhancement that applies, and overtime rates only start beyond 37.5.

London weighting: take-home with HCAS

High Cost Area Supplement is pensionable, so it lifts both gross pay and, where it crosses a tier boundary, the pension rate. Inner London pays 20% of basic pay with a minimum of £5,794 and a maximum of £8,746, outer London pays 15% with a minimum of £4,870 and a maximum of £6,137, and the fringe pays 5% with a minimum of £1,346 and a maximum of £2,270. The table below gives take-home for a Band 5 entrant and a Band 6 nurse at the top in each zone, recomputed in full rather than estimated from the basic-pay figures.

Two details in the table are worth spelling out. First, the Band 5 entry outer London figure uses the £4,870 minimum supplement, not 15% of basic pay, because 15% of £32,073 is £4,810.95, just below the minimum, giving total pay of £36,943. Second, every Band 6 top figure uses a capped supplement, because 20% of £48,117 is £9,623.40 against an inner cap of £8,746, 15% is £7,217.55 against an outer cap of £6,137, and 5% is £2,405.85 against a fringe cap of £2,270. The cap is also why London take-home does not scale in a straight line with basic pay: at the top of Band 6, the supplement is a fixed amount, not a percentage. The full HCAS rules, including which trusts fall in each zone, are in the London weighting guide.

Part-time nurse take-home pay

Part-time take-home is worked from actual pay, not the whole-time equivalent salary, and the pension tier follows actual pay too, which is the detail that catches people out. A part-time nurse on a lower actual salary can fall in a lower pension tier than the whole-time equivalent salary suggests, which softens the pension deduction. The table below uses the two most common fractions, 0.8 and 0.6 whole-time equivalent, for a Band 5 entrant and a Band 6 nurse at the top.

The comparison that surprises most nurses is the Band 6 top nurse on 0.8 whole-time equivalent against the Band 5 entrant on full time. The part-time Band 6 nurse takes home £2,351.42 a month for a 30 hour week, against £2,040.21 for the full-time Band 5 entrant on 37.5 hours, because the higher band and step more than offset the shorter week. At the other end, the Band 6 top nurse on 0.6 whole-time equivalent sits just below the Plan 2 threshold: £28,870.20 against £29,385, a gap of £514.80, so no Plan 2 deduction applies at all, while the same nurse on 0.8 whole-time equivalent pays £68.31 a month. A small change in contracted hours can therefore switch a loan deduction on or off entirely. The part-time rules, including how annual leave and unsocial hours are pro rated, are in the part-time pay guide.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The rates on this page are for England. Scotland agreed a 3.75% award from 1 April 2026 and moved to a 36 hour week, with its own pay scale, for example Band 5 at £34,494 to £42,977, and its own income tax bands. Scotland also has a nine-tier pension structure from 5.7% to 12.7%, but the tier thresholds are not in the verified data file, so this page quotes no Scotland take-home figure rather than estimating one from the England tiers. Wales applied the 3.3% award with Band 5 steps of £32,557, £35,114 and £39,631, so a Welsh nurse on the same band and step has different gross pay from an England nurse even though income tax and National Insurance rates are the same. Northern Ireland had the 3.3% award recommended but not implemented at the last check, so do not budget on it. For the devolved picture, see the Scotland pay guide, the Wales pay guide and the Northern Ireland pay guide.

What the figures leave out

These are basic-pay figures for full-time contracts unless a section says otherwise, and real nurse income is usually higher and messier. Bank and agency shifts pay above the Agenda for Change rate in most areas, but there is no national rate card and rates vary widely by region, urgency and specialty, so this page quotes no bank or agency figure. The Agenda for Change rate is still the right benchmark, because it is the pension-building foundation: every bank or agency hour worked outside substantive employment is an hour that does not build NHS pension in the same way, and the substantive post also carries annual leave, sick pay and the other Agenda for Change terms that sessional work does not. Mileage for community nurses, uniform tax relief of £125 a year for nurses (worth £25 at the basic rate and £50 at the higher rate), and any local recruitment premia are also left out, because they are expenses or local payments, not basic pay. A payslip that differs from this page by a small amount usually differs because of a tax code, a student loan plan, or unsocial hours and overtime on top of basic pay. A payslip that differs by a large amount usually differs because of a different band, step, fraction or nation.

The comparison that matters most for a nurse planning ahead is not between adjacent steps but between career stages. A Band 5 entrant takes home £2,040.21 a month. The same nurse at the top of Band 5 takes home £2,380.80, a gain of £340.59 a month for staying and progressing through the band. A move to Band 6 top takes the figure to £2,865.96, a gain of £825.75 a month over the Band 5 entry point, before any unsocial hours, overtime or London weighting. That is the financial shape of a nursing career in Agenda for Change terms: steady gains inside each band, a larger step on promotion, and then the same pattern again at the next grade. For the next steps up the ladder, see the midwife salary guide, the paramedic salary guide and the healthcare assistant salary guide for the grades nurses work alongside every day.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an NHS staff nurse take home each month in 2026/27?

In England in 2026/27, a full-time staff nurse on Band 5 takes home £2,040.21 a month at the entry step (£32,073 a year), £2,177.41 at the intermediate step (£34,592) and £2,380.80 at the top of the band (£39,043), after income tax, National Insurance and NHS pension contributions and before any student loan. A Band 6 nurse takes home £2,429.77 at entry (£39,959), £2,547.99 at the intermediate step (£42,170) and £2,865.96 at the top (£48,117). A Plan 2 student loan takes a further £20.16 a month at Band 5 entry and £140.49 at Band 6 top.

How is NHS nurse take-home pay calculated?

Pension contributions come off first, which reduces taxable income. Income tax is then calculated on what is left, using the 2026/27 personal allowance of £12,570, the 20% basic rate on taxable income up to £37,700 and the 40% higher rate above that. National Insurance is charged on full gross pay, at 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above. Student loans are shown separately, because not every nurse still carries one. All figures on this page use a standard tax code and basic pay only, with unsocial hours, overtime and London weighting covered as additions.

What pension contribution comes off a nurse's pay?

Under the provisional 2026/27 tiers, a Band 5 nurse at entry or the intermediate step pays 8.3% of pensionable pay, which is £221.84 a month at entry and £239.26 at the intermediate step. Every other step on this page, from Band 5 top to Band 6 top, pays 9.8%, from £318.85 a month at Band 5 top to £392.96 at Band 6 top. The employer adds 23.7% on top in each case. The tiers are provisional for 2026/27, calculated from the published 2025/26 thresholds, so treat the monthly pension figures as the best current estimate rather than a final published rate.

How much does a student loan take from nurse pay?

Student loan repayments are 9% of earnings above the plan threshold, or 6% above £21,000 for a postgraduate loan. On Plan 2, with a threshold of £29,385, the monthly deduction is £20.16 at Band 5 entry, £39.05 at the Band 5 intermediate step, £72.43 at Band 5 top, £79.30 at Band 6 entry, £95.89 at the Band 6 intermediate step and £140.49 at Band 6 top. At Band 5 entry, the other plans give £38.80 a month on Plan 1, nothing on Plan 4 because pay sits below its £33,795 threshold, £53.05 on Plan 5 and £55.37 on a postgraduate loan. Loans are calculated on gross earnings above the threshold, not on pay after pension.

Do unsocial hours change nurse take-home pay much?

Yes, for nurses on rotas with regular weekend and night work. A Band 5 nurse at entry earns £16.38 an hour plain time, plus £4.91 an hour for Saturday and weekday night hours and £9.83 an hour for Sunday and bank holiday hours, under Agenda for Change Section 2. Two 7.5 hour Saturday shifts and one 7.5 hour Sunday shift in a month add £147.38 in gross pay, taking monthly take-home from £2,040.21 to £2,136.54, a gain of £96.33 after pension, tax and National Insurance. The gain is smaller than the gross uplift because every extra pound is itself pensionable, taxable and subject to National Insurance.

What does a nurse take home in London with HCAS?

High Cost Area Supplement is pensionable, so it lifts both gross pay and the pension tier where it crosses a threshold. A Band 5 nurse at entry takes home £2,351.10 a month in inner London, on total pay of £38,487.60, £2,268.52 in outer London, on £36,943 with the £4,870 minimum supplement, and £2,127.55 in the fringe, on £33,676.65. A Band 6 nurse at the top of the band takes home £3,349.53 in inner London, on capped total pay of £56,863, £3,214.00 in outer London, on £54,254, and £2,987.91 in the fringe, on £50,387. The inner, outer and fringe caps of £8,746, £6,137 and £2,270 bind at Band 6 top in all three zones.

What does a part-time nurse take home?

Part-time take-home is worked from actual pay, not the whole-time equivalent salary, and the pension tier follows actual pay too. A Band 5 nurse at entry on 0.8 whole-time equivalent earns £25,658.40 a year and takes home £1,721.62 a month, and on 0.6 whole-time equivalent earns £19,243.80 and takes home £1,364.54, in both cases at the 6.5% pension tier with no Plan 2 deduction because pay sits below the £29,385 threshold. A Band 6 nurse at the top of the band on 0.8 whole-time equivalent earns £38,493.60 and takes home £2,351.42 at the 9.8% tier, and on 0.6 whole-time equivalent earns £28,870.20 and takes home £1,865.76 at the 8.3% tier, again with no Plan 2 deduction.

Do nurses in Scotland and Wales take home the same as in England?

No, the England figures on this page do not transfer. Scotland agreed a 3.75% award from 1 April 2026 and moved to a 36 hour week, with its own pay scale, for example Band 5 at £34,494 to £42,977, its own income tax bands and a nine-tier pension structure from 5.7% to 12.7% whose thresholds are not in the verified data, so this page quotes no Scotland take-home figure. Wales applied the 3.3% award with Band 5 steps of £32,557, £35,114 and £39,631, so a Welsh nurse on the same band and step has different gross pay from an England nurse. Northern Ireland had the 3.3% award recommended but not implemented at the last check, so do not budget on it.

Source: GOV.UK Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances and GOV.UK National Insurance. Salary figures from the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular, as summarised in the site's verified pay data.