Firefighters' pension schemes

Today every firefighter in England builds up pension in the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2015, a career average scheme with a normal pension age of 60. Two older schemes, from 1992 and 2006, still pay out to people who joined before the 2015 reforms. This guide covers England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own firefighter schemes with different rules, and none of them is covered here.

The three schemes at a glance

Scheme	Who it covered	Normal pension age
1992	Wholetime firefighters who joined before 6 April 2006	55 (or 50 with at least 25 years’ service)
2006	Firefighters in service before 1 April 2015	60 (deferred pension paid at 65)
2015	All firefighters now building up pension	60

The 1992 scheme closed to new members in April 2006. The 2006 scheme was originally called the new firefighters’ pension scheme. A 2006 Special Scheme was set up so that benefits were provided to all firefighters, including retained firefighters. From 1 April 2022, no further pension builds up in the 1992 or 2006 schemes and all active members moved to the 2015 scheme. A firefighter with a long career can therefore hold benefits in two schemes at once.

How the 2015 scheme builds up

The 2015 scheme is a career average revalued earnings scheme. For each year of service, you earn 1/59.7 of your pensionable pay for that year. The pension you have built up is revalued each year, using the average weekly earnings measure, and the scheme site’s worked examples show growth of 4.5 per cent in one year and 3 per cent in the next. A promotion therefore lifts only the pension earned from that point.

Pensionable pay is similar to your salary but has a specific definition. It includes pay for performing your role without temporary allowances, permanent pay elements such as the retaining allowance for retained firefighters, and amounts given up under salary sacrifice, such as cycle to work schemes. For how pay is set, see firefighter pay.

What members pay

Your fire and rescue authority sets your initial contribution rate at the start of each scheme year on 1 April. Bands use your April pensionable pay multiplied by 12, or by 13 if you are paid four-weekly. If pay changes permanently, the authority should adjust your band during the year. The scheme site currently publishes these bands for the 2015 scheme:

Annual pensionable pay	Contribution rate
Up to £36,130	11.09%
£36,131 to £45,407	12.59%
£45,408 to £66,908	14.09%
£66,909 to £190,691	15.59%
£190,692 and above	17.09%

The page does not state which scheme year these bands belong to, so confirm them with your authority. Say a firefighter is paid £40,358 a year (the figure the NJC award of 3.8% from 1 July 2026 gives for a competent firefighter). That falls in the 12.59 per cent band, about £5,081 a year. These rates are higher than the bands in the NHS and local government schemes, and the scheme site gives the employer rate as 37.6 per cent. Part-time and retained firefighters are banded on actual pensionable pay, and anyone holding more than one firefighter role is banded separately for each.

Retiring from the 2015 scheme

You can take the 2015 pension without reduction at 60. From 55 you can take it at any time, but it is reduced because it will be paid for longer, and the administrator gives you the reduced figure before you decide. If you keep working beyond 60, you carry on building pension and receive an extra amount called an age addition. You need at least three months’ membership before you can retire. If you leave and keep a deferred pension, it is paid from your State Pension age. The general rules on early retirement from public sector schemes cover the wider picture.

If you also have 1992 benefits, you can draw them from 55, or from 50 with at least 25 years’ service. The scheme site says a member who takes 1992 benefits at 55 or over can also draw the 2015 pension early at a reduction. A member who takes 1992 benefits but not the 2015 pension has the 2015 benefits deferred until State Pension age for the unreduced amount.

The age discrimination remedy

The remedy period for firefighters runs from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022. Members who had benefits in the 2015 scheme and one of the legacy schemes can choose between legacy benefits and 2015 benefits for that period. The scheme site shows worked examples for each choice and describes a choice at retirement. Our McCloud remedy guide explains the background across the public sector. For what your own statement shows, contact your scheme administrator.