NHS hourly rates by band

NHS Employers publishes hourly rates for every Agenda for Change point. From 1 April 2026 they run from £12.92 an hour at band 2 to £66.37 at the top of band 9 in England. Band 5 starts at £16.40 and band 6 at £20.44. These are basic rates before tax, pension and any supplement for London.

England hourly rates, 2026/27

Band	Entry	Middle	Top
2	£12.92	none	£12.92
3	£13.17	none	£14.05
4	£14.52	none	£15.93
5	£16.40	£17.69	£19.97
6	£20.44	£21.57	£24.61
7	£25.26	£26.56	£28.90
8a	£29.42	£30.90	£33.11
8b	£34.05	£36.26	£39.57
8c	£40.66	£43.14	£46.85
9	£57.68	£61.16	£66.37

Band 8d runs from £48.26 at entry and £51.21 at the middle point. The top-point hourly figure for 8d is misprinted on the NHS Employers page, so use the annual salary of £108,814 to work it out. Band 1 is closed to new entrants and paid the same as band 2.

For the annual salaries behind these figures, see Agenda for Change pay bands.

How to work out your own hourly rate

The NHS Employers hourly figures match the annual salary divided by 37.5 hours and then by 52.143 weeks. The NHS terms and conditions treat 37.5 hours as the full-time week. For £32,073 that is £16.40.

Use the same sum for Scotland and Wales, which publish annual pay scales. On a 37.5-hour week, Wales band 2 at £26,300 is about £13.45 and Scotland band 2 at £26,658 is about £13.63. For band 5 entry it is about £16.65 in Wales and £17.64 in Scotland. These are calculated from the published annual pay and are not printed by the employers, so a payslip may differ by a penny. Converting hourly pay to an annual salary explains the method and the 52.143 divisor.

Part-time staff are paid the same hourly rate. Your salary is the annual figure scaled by your contracted hours, which is covered in pro rata salary.

Hourly rates with London supplements

The High Cost Area Supplement is a percentage of basic pay with a minimum and a maximum, and NHS Employers publishes hourly values including it. At band 5 entry the rate is £19.68 in inner London, £18.89 in outer London and £17.22 in the fringe, against £16.40 in England. Band 6 entry is £24.52, £23.50 and £21.46. At band 2 the minimum payment lifts the hourly rate to £15.89 inner, £15.42 outer and £13.61 in the fringe. The high cost area supplement guide sets out the percentages and limits.

The bottom of the scale against the living wage

Band 2 at £12.92 is 21p above the National Living Wage of £12.71. Band 3 entry at £13.17 is above it, and the top of band 3 at £14.05 is just below the voluntary real Living Wage of £14.10. The first England point at or above £14.10 is band 4 entry at £14.52. The real Living Wage guide explains the voluntary rate.

What is not in the hourly rate

Basic pay is only part of what you can earn. Unsocial hours enhancements, overtime and on-call payments come on top of the hourly rate, so a nurse on nights earns more per hour worked than the table shows. Bank shifts are covered in NHS bank work. For what a salary leaves after tax, National Insurance and pension, use the take-home pay calculator.