NHS band 1: the closed pay band and what it pays

NHS band 1 is closed to new starters. In England it pays a single salary of £25,272 from 1 April 2026, exactly the same as band 2, so nobody is hired to it any more. Only staff who were already on the band and chose to stay are paid on it. If you see a job advertised, the lowest level you will find is band 2.

Why the band closed

The NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook says that from 1 December 2018 band 1 closed to new starters in England. Staff who stayed in a band 1 role after 31 March 2021 are meant to be asked from time to time whether they would like to move to band 2, and employers should help them to do it. Northern Ireland closed the band on 15 January 2020 and upgraded the remaining band 1 roles to band 2 from 31 March 2021. Scotland’s handbook text says the band is closed there too, though some staff chose to remain on it locally.

Bands are set by job evaluation, so a role that used to be band 1 is now assessed against the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme like any other. The band 2 guide lists the support jobs that sit at the entry level today.

What band 1 pays in 2026/27

Each nation publishes its own scale, and band 1 has only one point, so there are no increments.

Nation	Band 1 salary from 1 April 2026
England	£25,272
Wales	£26,300
Scotland	£26,519

England and Wales both mark band 1 as closed to new entrants in their published scales. In England and Wales the figure equals band 2. In Scotland band 2 starts at £26,658, so the two bands are £139 apart. Northern Ireland closed the band, so its scale in our Northern Ireland guide starts at band 2.

Before the 3.3% award reached England, band 1 and both band 2 points were lifted to £24,853, which is £12.71 an hour, to keep them level with the National Living Wage. The award then replaced that temporary rate. The hourly equivalent of £25,272 on a 37.5 hour week is about £12.92.

If you are still on band 1

Your basic pay does not fall if you move to band 2 in England or Wales, because the salaries match. A move normally means a new or re-evaluated job, so your duties may change with it.

Unsocial hours are the one place where a move can matter. In England the Saturday and night enhancement is time plus 47% for band 1, against time plus 41% for band 2, and Sundays and public holidays are 94% against 83%. The Northern Ireland handbook has a specific rule for people who move up: they keep their band 1 unsocial hours rates until their full-time salary goes above the band 1 figure. The England and Wales sections of the handbook do not repeat that rule, so ask your payroll team how it applies to you. The unsocial hours pay guide explains how the percentages are worked out.

How a job gets a band

Every post covered by Agenda for Change is assigned to one of the pay bands by job weight, measured under the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme. National job profiles exist for many roles, and a job that matches a profile takes the profile’s band. Other jobs are evaluated locally in partnership with staff representatives. The handbook’s table still lists band 1 at a job weight of 0 to 160 and band 2 at 161 to 215. If you think your own job has been banded too low, the banding review guide explains how to ask for it to be looked at again.

Pay structure talks

The NHS Staff Council has a mandate to negotiate changes to the lowest bands in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and talks started in April 2026. If an agreement is reached, it would be backdated to 1 April 2026. No deal had been reported by 16 October 2026, so the figures above are the ones in force. The NHS pay award guide tracks the position.

Anyone paid at this level can check their take-home with the take-home pay calculator. Use your contracted hours rather than the full-time figure.