How pay progression works in the NHS

Every Agenda for Change band has a fixed number of pay points, and you move from one to the next after a set period: two years at the first point and, in bands 5 to 9, three years at the middle point. Nothing happens automatically. Your employer checks that you meet the progression standards, which in most trusts means an up-to-date appraisal, completed mandatory training and no formal capability or disciplinary process in progress.

How many steps each band has

Each band has either one, two or three points. The table shows the 2026/27 England values from 1 April 2026 and how long it takes to reach the top.

Band	Points	Entry	Top	Time from entry to top
2	1	£25,272	£25,272	no steps
3	2	£25,760	£27,476	2 years
4	2	£28,392	£31,157	3 years
5	3	£32,073	£39,043	4 years
6	3	£39,959	£48,117	5 years
7	3	£49,387	£56,515	5 years
8a	3	£57,528	£64,750	5 years
8b	3	£66,582	£77,368	5 years
8c	3	£79,504	£91,609	5 years
8d	3	£94,356	£108,814	5 years
9	3	£112,782	£129,783	5 years

Band 5 has two years at each of its first two points. Bands 6 to 9 have two years at entry and then three at the middle point. The middle values are in the full pay band table.

What you need to meet

Each trust writes its own pay progression policy, based on the national framework in the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook. The usual conditions are:

1. An appraisal completed within the last year, with your manager confirming you are meeting the standards of the role.
2. All statutory and mandatory training up to date.
3. No formal capability process, and no live disciplinary sanction, in place.
4. For the most senior bands, evidence that you have met agreed objectives.

Your manager should confirm these before your step date. Sometimes something is missing for reasons you could not control, such as an appraisal nobody arranged or training that was not available. Policies generally say you should not lose your step in that case. Keep a record of what you have completed and when.

When a step is held back

A step can be deferred if you do not meet the standards. Your manager should tell you what needs to happen, and the step should go through once you meet the conditions, usually without backdating. A deferral you think is wrong goes first to your manager and HR. The trust’s policy will set out an appeal route, and a trade union rep can support you. If it cannot be settled informally, the grievance process applies.

Progression and the annual pay award

The two are separate. The pay award raises every point on the scale, usually from 1 April. In 2026/27 that was a 3.3% consolidated uplift in England, paid in April salaries. Progression moves you from one point to the next on your step date, which is tied to when you started in the band. In a year when both happen, you get the award on your current point from April and then move to the next point, already uplifted, on your step date. The 2026 pay award guide covers this year’s position in each nation.

Changing job or band

Promotion takes you to the entry point of the higher band. Bands do not overlap in England, so that is always a pay rise, and your step date resets to the day you started in the new band.

Move to another NHS employer in the same band and your point and step date normally carry over, so there is no reason to accept a lower point when changing trusts. The moving between trusts guide covers what to check. Joining from outside the NHS, you usually start at entry, though some employers can place you higher for relevant experience. That is covered in negotiating starting salary.

Acting up into a higher band

Cover a higher-band post temporarily, say during a manager’s long-term absence, and you should normally be paid for that band while you do it. Trusts handle this through acting-up or higher-duties policies, and the usual approach is to pay you at a point on the higher band that gives you a rise.

Your step date in your substantive band stays where it was. When the acting-up ends you go back to your own band and point, and any progression that fell due in the meantime should still be applied.

Part-time staff

Part-time staff move through the points on the same timescale as full-time staff, with no extra years to make up the hours. Pay at each point is pro rata. The pro rata salary guide shows the arithmetic, and the take-home pay calculator works out net pay once you reach the next point.

Scotland has a different structure with fewer points, so its timings differ from England’s. NHS Scotland staff should check the pay circular and their board’s policy.