NHS admin and clerical pay by band

NHS admin and clerical jobs in England pay from £25,272 at band 2 to £48,117 at the top of band 6, from 1 April 2026. Most posts sit at bands 2 to 4. Bands 5 and 6 are where admin work becomes team management, and the pay is easier to understand once you see how small the step is between the bands.

Pay points for bands 2 to 6

These are the England Agenda for Change pay points from NHS Employers for 2026/27.

Band	Entry	Middle	Top
2	£25,272	none	£25,272
3	£25,760	none	£27,476
4	£28,392	none	£31,157
5	£32,073	£34,592	£39,043
6	£39,959	£42,170	£48,117

Band 2 has one point. The NHS admin jobs guide covers jobs at bands 2 to 4 in detail, and the pay progression guide explains how long each step takes.

What a promotion adds

Look at the gap between the top of one band and the entry point of the next:

Move	Top of old band	Entry of new band	Gain
Band 2 to 3	£25,272	£25,760	£488
Band 3 to 4	£27,476	£28,392	£916
Band 4 to 5	£31,157	£32,073	£916
Band 5 to 6	£39,043	£39,959	£916

From band 3 upwards, each move adds £916 a year if you were at the top of the old band. A band 3 admin worker who has reached £27,476 and wins a band 4 team leader post gains £916 before tax, about £76 a month. If you are mid-way up the old band the gain is larger. The band 4 and band 5 pages cover the roles.

What the bands look like in admin

Health Careers says a clerk starts at band 2 and can progress to bands 3 or 4, for example as a medical secretary. A medical secretary or personal assistant is typically at band 3 or 4 and could progress to posts at band 5. Banding follows the job description through job evaluation, so the same title can sit at different bands in different trusts.

Management routes start higher. Health Careers says a finance career would typically start at band 5, for example as a team manager, with section managers typically on band 6, department managers on band 7 and principal finance managers on band 8a. Check the job description rather than the title. The band 6 guide has the other roles at that level.

London

The high cost area supplement is added to basic pay. In Inner London it is 20% of basic pay with a minimum of £5,794, so even at band 2 (20% would be £5,054) the minimum applies and a full-time band 2 post pays at least £31,066 before tax. Outer London is 15% with a minimum of £4,870, and the fringe zone is 5% with a minimum of £1,346. The high cost area supplement guide explains each zone.

Pension tiers

The NHS Pension Scheme rate applies to your whole pensionable pay. At bands 2 and 3 and at the band 4 entry point you pay 6.5% (on pay from £13,260 to £28,854). At the top of band 4 and the first two points of band 5 you pay 8.3% (£28,855 to £35,155). From £35,156, the rate is 9.8%, which covers the top of band 5 and all of band 6. Moving from the middle of band 5 (£34,592) to the top (£39,043) raises your gross pay by £4,451, and your yearly contribution by about £955 because the rate rises from 8.3% to 9.8%. The NHS Pension Scheme guide explains what you get for it, and the take-home pay calculator shows the net effect.