NHS Physiotherapist Hourly Pay 2026/27: What Bands 5, 6 and 7 Earn an Hour

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

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

Physiotherapy runs on a clear ladder, and the hourly view shows where each rung sits. A newly qualified physiotherapist starts on Band 5, usually on a rotational post. A senior physiotherapist sits on Band 6. An advanced practitioner, including a first-contact practitioner in a GP practice, sits on Band 7. Consultant physiotherapists reach Band 8a, at £29.39 to £33.08 an hour, and are covered in the progression section rather than in the main tables. Therapy assistants and rehabilitation support workers sit below this ladder at Bands 2 and 3.

The figures below are for England in the 2026/27 pay year, after the 3.3% Agenda for Change uplift effective 1 April 2026. Physiotherapists are Agenda for Change staff, so the band rates, unsocial hours rules and overtime rules on this page all come from the national handbook. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are covered separately near the end, because their awards and working weeks differ.

Physiotherapist hourly rates 2026/27 at a glance

Band 5 is the newly qualified physiotherapist, rotating through specialties such as musculoskeletal outpatients, orthopaedics, respiratory, neurology and elderly care. Band 6 is the senior physiotherapist who specialises, in musculoskeletal work, neuro, respiratory, paediatrics or women's health, and supervises juniors and students. Band 7 is the advanced practitioner who holds a specialty caseload, runs clinics, advises on complex cases and often works as a first-contact practitioner in a GP practice. For the role itself in annual terms, see the physiotherapist salary guide.

The gap between the bottom and the top of this ladder is wide: £12.49 an hour separates a Band 5 physiotherapist at the entry step from a Band 7 physiotherapist at the top of the band. In annual terms that is £24,442. The smaller gaps are the ones that catch people out. Moving from the top of Band 5 to the entry step of Band 6 adds only £916 a year, or £0.47 an hour, because the top of one band sits close to the bottom of the next. Moving from the top of Band 6 to the entry step of Band 7 adds £1,270 a year, or £0.65 an hour. Promotion still pays across the full range, but the first year on a new band is rarely the leap the job title suggests.

How the NHS hourly rate is worked out

Take the full-time annual salary, divide it by 52.2, then divide the result by 37.5. That is the whole formula. The 52.2 is the number of weeks in the NHS year, and 37.5 is the standard full-time week in England. A Band 5 physiotherapist on £32,073 a year therefore earns £614.43 a week, and £614.43 divided by 37.5 gives £16.38 an hour. A Band 7 physiotherapist at the top of the band on £56,515 a year earns £1,082.66 a week, or £28.87 an hour.

A single day shift of 7.5 hours is worth £122.85 at the Band 5 entry rate and £216.53 at the Band 7 top rate. Those day values are useful when comparing an NHS post with private clinic work quoted by the day. The hourly rate is also the base for everything else on this page: unsocial hours enhancements, overtime rates and London weighting are all calculated from it. The enhancement tables below are worked out from the rounded hourly rates shown in the table above, which keeps every figure on this page consistent with every other figure.

One caution about the formula. It assumes a 37.5 hour week. Part-time physiotherapists use the same hourly rate, but their annual salary is pro rata, and Scotland uses a 36 hour week from April 2026, which changes the divisor. The Scotland section below explains why a Scottish hourly rate cannot be read off the England table.

Band 5 physiotherapist hourly pay in detail

Band 5 is where every NHS physiotherapist starts. The entry step pays £16.38 an hour, £2,672.75 a month. The intermediate step pays £17.67 an hour, £2,882.67 a month. The top of the band pays £19.95 an hour, £3,253.58 a month. The climb from entry to top is £3.57 an hour, or £6,970 a year, and it is earned through incremental progression rather than negotiation: Agenda for Change pay steps are automatic on satisfactory performance, subject to the usual appraisal process.

What Band 5 buys in practice is breadth. A newly qualified physiotherapist rotates through musculoskeletal outpatients, orthopaedics, respiratory, neurology and elderly care, typically four to six months in each specialty, learning how assessment, treatment and discharge planning fit together. The hourly rate has to be read alongside that training value, because the first two years after qualifying build the portfolio that unlocks Band 6. A physiotherapist who stays on Band 5 without specialising still reaches £19.95 an hour, but the route to higher pay runs through a specialty, not through time served alone.

Rotations change the rota every few months, and with it the enhancements. A musculoskeletal outpatient rotation is largely weekday daytime work with few enhancements. A respiratory rotation brings weekend working and on-call. An orthopaedic rotation may include trauma on-call. Two newly qualified physiotherapists on the same £32,073 basic can therefore take home noticeably different amounts depending on their rotation, which is worth remembering when comparing notes with coursemates. See our Band 5 pay guide for the wider Band 5 picture.

Band 6 physiotherapist hourly pay in detail

Band 6 is the senior physiotherapist. The entry step pays £20.41 an hour, £3,329.92 a month. The intermediate step pays £21.54 an hour, £3,514.17 a month. The top of the band pays £24.58 an hour, £4,009.75 a month. A Band 6 physiotherapist typically specialises, in musculoskeletal work, neuro, respiratory, paediatrics or women's health, holds a defined caseload, supervises Band 5 colleagues and students, and takes on service development work within the specialty.

The step from Band 5 to Band 6 deserves a straight answer. From the top of Band 5 at £19.95 an hour to the entry step of Band 6 at £20.41 an hour is £0.46 an hour by the rounded hourly rates, or £916 a year. That is a small reward for a large jump in responsibility, and it is a known feature of the Agenda for Change structure rather than a physiotherapy quirk. The Band 6 range then opens up: the top of Band 6 is £4.17 an hour above Band 6 entry, and £8.20 an hour above Band 5 entry. Physiotherapists weighing a Band 6 post should judge it on the full range and the specialty workload, not on the first-year uplift alone. Most physiotherapists reach Band 6 within two to four years of qualifying.

Band 6 also keeps the full overtime deal. Bands 1 to 7 all qualify for contractual overtime pay, so a Band 6 physiotherapist still earns time and a half for hours above 37.5 a week, and double time on bank holidays. That changes at Band 8a, as the progression section explains. See our Band 6 pay guide for the wider Band 6 picture.

Band 7 physiotherapist hourly pay in detail

Band 7 is the advanced physiotherapist. The entry step pays £25.23 an hour, £4,115.58 a month. The intermediate step pays £26.53 an hour, £4,327.67 a month. The top of the band pays £28.87 an hour, £4,709.58 a month. A Band 7 physiotherapist typically holds a specialty caseload, runs clinics, advises on complex cases, and may work as a first-contact practitioner in a GP practice, assessing muscle and joint problems without a GP referral, or as an extended scope practitioner in orthopaedic and rheumatology clinics.

The step from Band 6 to Band 7 is the same size as the step that surprised pharmacists and nurses before it: from the top of Band 6 at £24.58 an hour to the entry step of Band 7 at £25.23 an hour is £0.65 an hour, or £1,270 a year. The Band 7 range then opens up by £3.64 an hour to the top of the band, or £7,128 a year. Band 7 posts usually need postgraduate study and often non-medical prescribing, and first-contact practice needs its own accreditation. The work is autonomous and diagnostic, which is why the band carries the pay it does, even though the first-year uplift looks small.

Band 7 also keeps the full overtime deal, like Band 6. Bands 1 to 7 all qualify for contractual overtime pay, so a Band 7 physiotherapist still earns time and a half for hours above 37.5 a week, and double time on bank holidays. See our Band 7 pay guide for the wider Band 7 picture.

Unsocial hours: what each kind of hour pays

Physiotherapy rotas include evenings, weekends and bank holidays, because wards need respiratory and rehabilitation cover seven days a week and emergency departments need physiotherapy input overnight. Agenda for Change Section 2 pays Bands 4 to 9 an extra 30% for Saturday and weekday night hours, and an extra 60% for Sunday and bank holiday hours. Night hours are weekday hours between 8pm and 6am. The table gives every physiotherapy step. A standard Monday to Friday musculoskeletal outpatient rota carries no unsocial hours at all, which is why two physiotherapists on the same band and step can report very different monthly pay.

Worked example: a Band 6 physiotherapist at the top of the band works a 12 hour Saturday shift. At plain time that shift is worth £294.96. With the 30% enhancement it is worth £383.40, an extra £88.44 for the same twelve hours. The same physiotherapist on a 12 hour Sunday shift earns £471.96. Over a year, a rota with one weekend in three can add several thousand pounds to annual earnings without any change to the basic hourly rate, which is why the rota pattern matters as much as the band when comparing physiotherapy posts.

Unsocial hours and overtime cannot be claimed for the same hours: a physiotherapist chooses the higher entitlement where both could apply, and may elect time off in lieu instead of payment. The full rules are in our unsocial hours and overtime guide.

Overtime hourly rates for physiotherapists

Overtime is hours above 37.5 a week for full-time staff. Part-time physiotherapists are paid at plain time, plus any unsocial enhancement that applies, for hours above their contracted hours up to 37.5; only hours above 37.5 attract overtime rates. Bands 1 to 7 earn time and a half for overtime, and double time on bank holidays. Band 8a is different: extra hours are taken as time off in lieu, not paid at an overtime rate. The table gives the overtime hourly rate at each Band 5, 6 and 7 step.

Extra shifts are the fastest way for a Band 5, 6 or 7 physiotherapist to lift monthly pay without changing jobs. A Band 7 physiotherapist at the top of the band who picks up one extra 7.5 hour shift at time and a half earns £324.83 for that shift, against £216.53 at plain time. At Band 8a the same extra shift earns time off, not cash, so a consultant physiotherapist who values paid extra hours should count that loss against the Band 8a uplift before accepting the promotion.

London physiotherapist hourly rates with HCAS

High Cost Area Supplement is a percentage of basic pay with a minimum and a maximum in each zone. Inner London pays 20%, 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. The fringe pays 5%, with a minimum of £1,346 and a maximum of £2,270. At Band 5 entry the outer London minimum binds, so the outer total is the basic plus £4,870, not the full 15%. From the top of Band 6 upward, every zone cap binds, as the notes under the table explain.

Read the capped rows with care. Band 5 entry is the only row where a minimum binds: 15% of £32,073 is £4,810.95, below the outer London minimum of £4,870, so the outer total is £36,943.00. Band 5 top sits inside every zone limit: 20% of £39,043 is £7,808.60, 15% is £5,856.45 and 5% is £1,952.15. From the top of Band 6 upward, every zone cap binds. Band 6 top in inner London is £48,117 plus the capped £8,746, not the full 20% of £9,623.40. Band 7 top in outer London is £56,515 plus the capped £6,137, giving £62,652, not the full 15% of £8,477.25. The fringe cap of £2,270 binds from Band 6 top upward as well. The practical result is that the London premium shrinks in percentage terms as basic pay rises, and the gap between inner and outer London narrows at the top of the scale. For the full zone rules, see our London weighting guide.

Part-time physiotherapist hourly pay

Physiotherapy has a large part-time workforce, and the hourly arithmetic is reassuring: the rate does not fall when hours fall. A physiotherapist at the top of Band 7 on 0.6 whole-time equivalent, which is 22.5 hours a week, earns £33,909 a year, or £2,825.75 a month, at the same £28.87 an hour as a full-time colleague. A Band 5 physiotherapist at the entry step on 0.8 whole-time equivalent, 30 hours a week, earns £25,658.40 a year, or £2,138.20 a month, at £16.38 an hour.

What part-time work does change is everything calculated from annual pay. Pension contributions are a percentage of actual pensionable pay, so they fall in cash terms. Annual leave is pro rata: the England tiers are 27, 29 and 33 days plus 8 bank holidays by length of service, and a part-time physiotherapist gets the same tiers scaled to contracted hours. Overtime rules also shift: hours above contracted hours up to 37.5 are paid at plain time, not at time and a half, and at Band 8a they are time off in lieu throughout. Our part-time pay guide works through the full pro rata maths.

On-call in physiotherapy

On-call is the least standardised element of physiotherapist pay. Unlike unsocial hours and overtime, which have national percentage rules, on-call availability payments and call-out payments are set locally, and the detail varies by trust and service. Some services pay a flat availability payment for the on-call period plus payment for each call-out attended; others fold on-call into a rota allowance. There is no national on-call hourly rate to publish, and any guide that quotes one for physiotherapists is inventing it.

What can be stated exactly is the value of the hours themselves under the national rules. A call-out hour on a weekday night for a Band 6 physiotherapist at the top of the band is worth £31.95, and a Sunday call-out hour is worth £39.33, before any local on-call payment. Respiratory on-call, covering intensive care and ward patients overnight, and orthopaedic trauma on-call are the two physiotherapy on-call patterns most likely to affect pay. A physiotherapist considering a post should ask for the on-call policy in writing: how often on-call falls, what the availability payment is, how call-outs are paid, and whether travel time counts. Those answers, not the basic hourly rate, often decide whether a physiotherapy job is sustainable.

Pension and payslip in hourly terms

Pension contributions take a visible slice of the hourly rate. Under the provisional 2026/27 England and Wales tiers, a Band 5 physiotherapist at the entry step on £32,073 pays 8.3%, which is £221.84 a month. At the top of Band 5 on £39,043, the 9.8% tier gives £318.85 a month. A Band 6 physiotherapist at the entry step on £39,959 also sits in the 9.8% tier, paying £326.33 a month, while a Band 6 physiotherapist at the top on £48,117 pays £392.96 a month. A Band 7 physiotherapist at the entry step on £49,387 also sits in the 9.8% tier, paying £403.33 a month, while a Band 7 physiotherapist at the top on £56,515 sits in the 10.7% tier, paying £503.93 a month. The employer contributes a further 23.7%: £633.44 a month at Band 5 entry and £1,116.17 a month at Band 7 top. The tiers are provisional, calculated from the 2025/26 published tiers, not yet published as final 2026/27 tiers, so treat the percentages as the best current basis rather than a confirmed circular.

Those pension figures explain why gross hourly rates flatter take-home pay. A Band 5 physiotherapist at £16.38 an hour gross keeps considerably less after pension, income tax and National Insurance, and the exact net figure depends on student loan plan, tax code and any salary sacrifice. The detailed band-by-band contribution table is in our pension contributions by band guide, and the hourly rate calculator converts any band salary into an hourly rate on the same formula used here.

Private physiotherapy work against an NHS post

Private musculoskeletal work pays the highest headline hourly rates of all the physiotherapy options, but the headline is not the whole deal. A private rate carries no NHS pension, no paid annual leave, no occupational sick pay and no incremental progression, and self-employed physiotherapists also cover their own indemnity, room costs and gaps between clients. A substantive NHS physiotherapist post at a lower headline rate also accrues pension at a 23.7% employer contribution, paid leave on the England tiers of 27, 29 and 33 days plus 8 bank holidays by length of service, and unsocial hours and overtime enhancements where the rota qualifies.

Hospital and community NHS work usually wins on total reward over a career even where private musculoskeletal work wins on a single day rate. The structured progression from Band 5 to Band 7 and beyond, the unsocial hours enhancements on seven-day rotas, the NHS pension and occupational sick pay all compound over years, while a private rate has to cover all of those benefits out of the same hourly figure. A physiotherapist comparing a private day rate with an NHS hourly rate should add roughly a quarter of salary for the employer pension contribution alone before calling the two figures comparable, and should also price in paid leave and sick pay. The honest comparison is annual total reward, not hourly headline.

Career progression in hourly terms

The physiotherapist ladder in hourly terms runs from Band 5 at £16.38 to £19.95 an hour, through Band 6 at £20.41 to £24.58 an hour, to Band 7 at £25.23 to £28.87 an hour. A newly qualified physiotherapist starts at Band 5. The step from Band 5 to Band 6 is the move from rotational breadth to specialty depth. The step from Band 6 to Band 7 is the move from specialty practice to advanced practice. Beyond Band 7, consultant physiotherapists on Band 8a earn £57,528 to £64,750 a year, or £29.39 to £33.08 an hour, combining advanced clinical practice with research and service leadership.

Sideways moves keep the hourly rate but change the working pattern. Physiotherapy assistants sit mainly on Bands 2 and 3 and support the treatment work that physiotherapists clinically govern. Comparing posts by hourly rate alone misses those pattern differences, which is why this guide separates plain time, unsocial hours, overtime, London weighting, on-call and private work rather than blending them into one number.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Scotland awarded 3.75% from 1 April 2026 under a two-year deal, and moved to a 36 hour week from April 2026. That shorter week changes the hourly divisor: a Scottish salary divided by 36 hours and 52.2 weeks gives a higher hourly rate than the same salary on a 37.5 hour week. Scotland has its own pay scale, and this page does not quote Band 6 or Band 7 Scotland steps because the verified data file holds the 3.75% award, the 36 hour week and a Band 5 range only. For scale, the Scotland Band 5 range of £34,494 to £42,977 works out at £18.36 to £22.87 an hour on the 36 hour basis. Scotland also has nine pension tiers from 5.7% to 12.7%, a different structure from England and Wales. See our Scotland pay guide for the national picture.

Wales implemented the 3.3% award on 1 April 2026, paid on time. The Welsh scale differs slightly from England: Band 5 in Wales is £32,557, £35,114 and £39,631, which is £16.63, £17.94 and £20.25 an hour. No verified Band 6 or Band 7 Wales steps are quoted here, because the data file holds the award, the Real Living Wage floor of £13.45 an hour and the Band 5 example only. The floor itself does not affect physiotherapist rates, which sit far above it. See our Wales pay guide.

Northern Ireland is the exception to every figure on this page. The 3.3% award has been recommended but not implemented, so Northern Ireland physiotherapists should not budget on the England rates until implementation is confirmed. The position is under active dispute, with a ballot over the unpaid award. Staff in Northern Ireland should check their trust payroll position rather than applying this page's tables.

Frequently asked questions

What is the hourly rate for an NHS physiotherapist in 2026/27?

In England in 2026/27, an NHS physiotherapist on Band 5 earns £16.38 an hour at the entry step, £17.67 an hour at the intermediate step and £19.95 an hour at the top of the band. A Band 6 senior physiotherapist earns £20.41 an hour at entry, £21.54 an hour at the intermediate step and £24.58 an hour at the top. A Band 7 advanced physiotherapist earns £25.23 an hour at entry, £26.53 an hour at the intermediate step and £28.87 an hour at the top. Those are plain-time rates for a 37.5 hour week, before night, weekend, overtime, London weighting or on-call payments.

How is the NHS physiotherapist hourly rate worked out?

Divide the full-time annual salary by 52.2, the number of weeks in the NHS year, and then by 37.5, the standard full-time week. A Band 5 physiotherapist on £32,073 a year therefore earns £32,073 divided by 52.2 divided by 37.5, which is £16.38 an hour. The same formula gives every hourly rate on this page. Enhancements in the tables below are worked out from the rounded hourly rate, which is how the site's other hourly guides present them.

Do NHS physiotherapists get paid more for nights and weekends?

Yes, where the rota includes unsocial hours. Under Agenda for Change Section 2, Bands 4 to 9 get 30% on top of plain time for Saturday and weekday night hours, and 60% on top for Sunday and bank holiday hours. A Band 6 physiotherapist at the top of the band therefore earns £31.95 an hour on a Saturday or a weekday night, and £39.33 an hour on a Sunday or bank holiday. A respiratory or orthopaedic rotation with weekend working carries the most unsocial hours, while a musculoskeletal outpatient rotation that runs Monday to Friday carries few or none.

What does a weekend shift pay a physiotherapist?

Take a Band 6 physiotherapist at the top of the band, on £24.58 an hour plain time. A 12 hour Saturday shift at plain time is worth £294.96. With the 30% Saturday enhancement it is worth £383.40, an extra £88.44 for the same twelve hours. The same 12 hour shift on a Sunday, at the 60% enhancement, is worth £471.96. Over a year, a rota with one weekend in three can add several thousand pounds to annual earnings without any change to the basic hourly rate, which is why the rota pattern matters as much as the band when comparing physiotherapy posts.

Does London weighting change the physiotherapist hourly rate?

Yes, for staff in London. Inner London weighting is 20% of basic pay, capped at £8,746 a year. A Band 5 physiotherapist at the entry step in inner London earns £38,487.60 a year, which is £19.66 an hour. A Band 7 physiotherapist at the top of the band hits the cap, so the total is £65,261 a year, or £33.34 an hour, rather than the full 20%. Outer London pays 15% and the fringe pays 5%, each with its own minimum and maximum. The outer London minimum binds at Band 5 entry, and every zone cap binds from the top of Band 6 upward.

Does part-time work change the physiotherapist hourly rate?

No. The hourly rate stays the same. Part-time pay is the full-time salary multiplied by the contracted fraction, so a physiotherapist at the top of Band 7 on 0.6 whole-time equivalent earns £33,909 a year, which is £2,825.75 a month, at the same £28.87 an hour as a full-time colleague on the same step. What changes is the total: fewer hours means less annual pay, less pensionable pay and pro rata annual leave.

Are NHS physiotherapists paid for on-call?

On-call arrangements in physiotherapy are set locally, so there is no single national on-call hourly rate to quote. Some trusts pay a flat on-call availability payment plus payment for call-outs actually attended, and the detail varies by service. What this page can say with certainty is the plain-time value of the hours: a call-out hour on a weekday night for a Band 6 physiotherapist at the top of the band is worth £31.95 under the unsocial hours rules, and a Sunday call-out hour is worth £39.33. Ask for the local on-call policy in writing before accepting a post with an on-call commitment, because on-call is where two otherwise identical physiotherapy jobs can differ most.

Is private physiotherapy work paid more per hour than an NHS post?

Private musculoskeletal work can pay a higher headline hourly rate than an NHS band, but the comparison is not like for like. A private rate carries no NHS pension, no paid annual leave, no occupational sick pay and no incremental progression, and self-employed physios also cover their own indemnity, room costs and gaps between clients. A substantive NHS physiotherapist post at a lower headline rate also accrues pension at a 23.7% employer contribution, paid leave on the England tiers of 27, 29 and 33 days plus 8 bank holidays by length of service, and unsocial hours and overtime enhancements where the rota qualifies. Over a career, the NHS total-reward package usually outweighs a modest headline advantage in private work, which is why the hourly tables on this page should be read alongside the pension and leave sections, not alone.

Source: NHS Employers unsocial hours payments. Pay rates also published by Health Careers NHS.