NHS Pay Check

NHS Band 3 Salary & Take Home Pay 2026/27

Band 3 pays £25,760 rising to £27,476 in England for 2026/27, which is £1,727 to £1,823 a month take home for a full-timer. You can move to the top point after 2 years. It's the band for support roles that carry out delegated clinical tasks, and for team leaders of Band 2 services.

Salary (England)

£25,760 to £27,476

Take home a month

£1,727 to £1,823

Hourly rate (entry)

£13.17

NHS pension rate

6.5%

Work out your own Band 3 take home pay

Pay advice

England · 2026/27 · monthly

Payments

Basic pay£2,146.67
Total pay£2,146.67

Deductions

Income tax-£191.93
National Insurance-£87.93
NHS pension (6.5%)-£139.53
Net pay£1,727.27

£398.60 a week · £20,727.28 a year

Take home 80%NHS pension 7%Income tax 9%National Insurance 4%

Rates

Hourly rate (basic)£13.17
Income tax as a share of pay9.6%

Band 3 pay in each UK country, 2026/27

Monthly take home at the bottom of Band 3, full time. Bars start at £1,400 to show the gaps. *Northern Ireland is on 2025/26 rates until its award is paid.
CountryPay pointsTake home a monthHourly (entry)
England£25,760 / £27,476£1,727.27 / £1,822.80£13.17
Scotland£29,103 / £31,409£1,906.97 / £2,034.57£15.50
Wales£26,300 / £27,890£1,757.33 / £1,845.84£13.45
Northern Irelandaward pending£24,937 / £26,598£1,678.13 / £1,770.38£12.75

Full time (36 hours a week in Scotland, 37.5 elsewhere), NHS pension at each country's own rates, 1257L tax code, Scottish tax for Scotland, no student loan, London weighting or shift pay. Northern Ireland is on the rates in force from 1 April 2025 until its 2026/27 award is paid.

Where your Band 3 pay goes each month

Take home 80%NHS pension 7%Income tax 9%National Insurance 4%Bottom of Band 3, England, full time: £2,146.67 a month before deductions.
England, full timeEntryTop of band
Gross pay£2,146.67£2,289.67
NHS pension (6.5%)-£139.53-£148.83
Income tax-£191.93-£218.67
National Insurance-£87.93-£99.37
Take home£1,727.27£1,822.80

Two pay points, two years apart

Band 3 has an entry point and a top point. You start at £25,760 and become eligible for £27,476 after 2 years in the band, which is the answer to "how long does it take to get to the top of Band 3". The jump is £1,716 a year, or about £96 a month after deductions.

In practice the entry point sits very close to Band 2: £488 a year more in England. In Wales the gap disappears, because Wales sets its lowest pay at the Living Wage Foundation rate: Band 3 starts at £26,300, the same as Band 2 (£26,300). A Welsh Band 3 only earns more than Band 2 once they reach the top point (£27,890).

Is Band 3 an entry-level band?

Not quite. In England and Wales Band 1 is closed to new staff, so Band 2 is the lowest band you can be appointed to, and most healthcare assistant, porter and domestic jobs start there. Band 3 is where support jobs that involve clinical tasks start. NHS Employers' guidance on the national profiles puts it this way: Band 2 is personal care, while Band 3 carries out a limited range of clinical duties delegated to you, such as blood pressure and blood glucose checks, routine observations, simple wound dressings, urinalysis and removing cannulas or catheters. Some jobs, like phlebotomist and receptionist, can be either Band 2 or 3 depending on the trust.

How Band 3 compares with the living wage

Band 3 in England is £13.17 an hour at the bottom and £14.05 at the top. Both are below the Real Living Wage of £14.10 that the Living Wage Foundation announced on 15 October 2026. The top of Band 3 in Wales (£14.26) and all of Scotland's Band 3 (from £15.50 on a 36-hour week) are above it.

Northern Ireland is the tight one. On the 2025/26 scale that HSC staff are still paid, Band 3 starts at £12.75 an hour, just £0.04 above the legal minimum.

Band 3 or Band 4

The usual next step is an assistant practitioner or registered nursing associate post, both normally Band 4. Assistant practitioners usually take a two-year level 5 foundation degree (which can be done as an apprenticeship) or an HND. Trainee assistant practitioners and student nursing associates are often paid on Band 3 while they train, so Band 3 is a common way in. Moving from the top of Band 3 to the bottom of Band 4 is worth £916 a year, so it's a small step in pay if you're already at the top, and a bigger one (£2,632) from the bottom. After deductions, Band 4 entry takes home £1,874 a month.

Shift pay on Band 3

Band 3 gets a higher unsocial hours rate than Bands 4 and above: 35% for Saturdays and weekday nights and 69% for Sundays and public holidays (37% and 74% in Scotland).

Extra pay on Band 3: shifts, overtime and London

Unsocial hours. Band 3 gets 35% on top of the hourly rate for Saturdays and weekday nights (8pm to 6am) and 69% for Sundays and public holidays (37% and 74% in Scotland). Two Saturday shifts and one Sunday shift of 7.5 hours a month would add £137.34 a month before deductions at the bottom of the band in England, and lift take home from £1,727.27 to £1,819.02. The payments count towards your NHS pension.

Overtime. Hours over 37.5 a week are paid at time and a half (£19.76 an hour at the bottom of Band 3), or double time on a general public holiday. Part-timers get their normal rate until they pass 37.5 hours in a week. You can ask for time off in lieu instead (at plain time), but if you can't take it within three months it has to be paid as overtime.

London weighting (England). The High Cost Area Supplement for Band 3, a year:

ZoneEntryTop of band
Inner London (20%)£5,794 (minimum)£5,794 (minimum)
Outer London (15%)£4,870 (minimum)£4,870 (minimum)
Fringe (5%)£1,346 (minimum)£1,374

Moving up the band. You become eligible for the top of Band 3 after 2 years on the entry point. In England you move up on your pay step date if your appraisal was done in the last 12 months and meets your trust's standards, you're not in a formal capability process, you have no live disciplinary sanction, and your statutory and mandatory training is up to date.

Jobs on Band 3

Bands are set by job evaluation, so the same job title can sit in different bands at different trusts. These are the bands NHS Health Careers gives for each role.

  • Senior maternity support worker

    Maternity support workers start on Band 2; senior support workers are usually Band 3.

  • Phlebotomist

    Typically starts on Band 2 or 3; senior posts at Band 4.

  • Emergency care assistant

    Usually Band 3 or 4.

  • Ambulance call handler / emergency medical dispatcher

    Typically starts at Band 3 or 4; team leaders Band 6.

  • Student nursing associate

    Usually paid on Band 3 while training; registered nursing associates are usually Band 4.

  • Trainee assistant practitioner

    Sometimes appointed at Band 3; qualified assistant practitioners are usually Band 4.

  • Porter team leader

    Typically Band 3.

  • Domestic services team manager

    Band 3.

  • Receptionist

    Typically Band 2 or 3.

Band 3 questions

£25,760 to £27,476 in England (£13.17 to £14.05 an hour), £26,300 to £27,890 in Wales, £29,103 to £31,409 in Scotland, and £24,937 to £26,598 in Northern Ireland, which is still on 2025/26 rates.

Band below

Band 2 take home pay

Band above

Band 4 take home pay

Compare

Band 2 vs Band 3

Compare

Band 3 vs Band 4

Sources (checked 18 October 2026)