NHS Pay Check

Editorial Policy

How we research, calculate, check and correct what we publish.

Sources

We take figures and rules only from the body that sets them:

  • Pay and terms: NHS Employers, the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, Scottish Government pay circulars, Welsh Government pay letters and the Northern Ireland Department of Health and Business Services Organisation.
  • Tax, National Insurance and student loans: HMRC and GOV.UK, including the Scottish and Welsh rate pages.
  • Pensions: NHS Employers, NHS Pensions (NHSBSA), the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, the HSC Pension Service and the Government Actuary's Department.
  • Job roles and bands: Health Careers, the national job profiles and, for dated examples, adverts on NHS Jobs.

Unions and professional bodies such as the RCN and RCM are cited for their guidance and their positions, and we say when something is a union's position rather than a rule. We don't use other calculator or salary sites as a source; if one gets something important wrong, we may say so and show the correct figure.

How a page is made

  1. We look at what people searching for the topic actually need, and what existing pages leave out or get wrong.
  2. We read every source in full at its official location and record what it says and when we read it.
  3. Every figure goes into the site's data files once. Pages read from there, so the same number can't be different in two places, and a rate change updates every page at once.
  4. Every claim on a page is listed against its source before the page is published. Anything we can't confirm at a primary source is cut, or clearly labelled as an estimate or opinion.
  5. Worked examples are produced by the same calculation engine as the calculators, not typed by hand.
  6. Each page shows its sources and the date it was last checked.

What the calculators assume

  • 2026/27 pay points, tax, National Insurance, pension tiers and student loan thresholds, unless you change them.
  • A standard tax code with the £12,570 Personal Allowance, tapered above £100,000.
  • A full-time week of 37.5 hours (36 in Scotland), with part-time pay pro rata.
  • Hourly rates worked out the handbook's way: annual pay x 7 / 365 / weekly hours.
  • NHS pension contributions taken before tax; National Insurance and student loan worked out on pay before pension.
  • Northern Ireland pay on the rates actually being paid, with any pending award shown separately.

Your payslip can differ because of your tax code, payroll timing, salary sacrifice or local arrangements.

Keeping it current

We re-check pages when pay awards are announced, when the tax year changes on 6 April, and when NHS Pensions, SPPA or the HSC Pension Service change contribution rates. Pending changes we know about, such as Northern Ireland's award or a confirmed change to employer pension rates, are tracked and applied when they take effect.

Corrections

If we get something wrong, we fix it and update the page's checked date. Report a possible error through the contact page, with the page and, if you can, the source.

Independence and advertising

NHS Pay Check isn't connected to the NHS, any employer or any union, and is funded by advertising. Adverts are placed by an ad network and don't influence what we write. Nothing on the site is financial advice.