State pension age

State Pension age is 66 for people reaching it now, rising to 67 between 2026 and 2028 for anyone born on or after 6 April 1960. The rise is phased, so your exact date depends on your date of birth, and the gov.uk State Pension age checker gives it to the day. Public sector workers have a second reason to care, because the normal pension age in the current NHS, teachers’, local government and Civil Service schemes is tied to it.

The rise to 67

People born before 6 April 1960 reach State Pension age at 66. For those born on or after that date, the age moves up in steps. Someone born in mid-1960 reaches it a little over 66, and those born later reach it at 67. The phasing runs between 2026 and 2028.

Because the change is gradual, two colleagues born a few months apart can have State Pension dates more than a few months apart. Do not work your date out from your birthday and a round number. The official checker takes your date of birth and returns the exact date.

What is planned after that

The law already provides for a later rise from 67 to 68. The government reviews State Pension age regularly, taking account of life expectancy and the cost of the State Pension, and the 2023 review is the most recent published report. Only new legislation can change the legal timetable for the move to 68, and the government has said it would give people notice of any change.

If you are in your thirties or forties, expect your own date to be reviewed more than once before you reach it. The State Pension guide covers how the amount you get is worked out, which matters as much as the date.

How it links to your public sector pension

When the NHS, teachers’, LGPS and Civil Service schemes moved to career average pensions, normal pension age in those schemes was linked to State Pension age. If your State Pension age goes up, so does the age at which your career average pension is paid without reduction. That applies to all the pension you have built up in the current scheme, including years earned before the change.

Pension built up in the older final salary schemes has its own fixed normal pension age, which is earlier than State Pension age and does not move. Many members have both kinds, and the two parts can be paid from different ages. The McCloud remedy affects which scheme some of that service sits in.

Some groups have scheme pension ages that are not tied to State Pension age at all. Police officers, firefighters and the armed forces have their own pension schemes with earlier ages.

Retiring before State Pension age

You can usually take your public sector pension before your normal pension age, but it will be reduced to reflect the longer time it is paid. The State Pension cannot be taken early under any circumstances. If you stop work at 60, say, you would have your workplace pension (reduced) and no State Pension until your State Pension age.

Some people bridge that gap with part-time work, bank shifts or partial retirement. The early retirement guide covers how the reductions and buy-out options work in each scheme, and the guide to starting a public sector job later in life looks at work in the years before State Pension age.

Working past State Pension age

There is no default retirement age. You can keep working past State Pension age if you want to, and your employer cannot make you retire because of your age without objective justification. Once you reach it, employee National Insurance stops, which increases take-home pay. You can claim your State Pension while still working, or defer it to get a higher weekly amount later.

Whether you can keep building up workplace pension after your normal pension age depends on the scheme. Each scheme has rules on this, and on whether you can take your pension and keep working in the same job. Check with the scheme administrator before you plan around a particular date.

Other things tied to State Pension age

State Pension age also governs when you can claim Pension Credit, and in England it is the age at which you qualify for a free older person’s bus pass. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own ages for concessionary travel, so check the rules where you live.