NHS Pay Check

NHS Band 6 Salary & Take Home Pay 2026/27

Band 6 pays £39,959, £42,170 and £48,117 in England for 2026/27, so take home after tax, NI and pension is £2,430 to £2,866 a month full time. It's the band for specialist and team leader nurses, district nurses, health visitors and newly qualified pharmacists, and paramedics reach it after two years.

Salary (England)

£39,959 to £48,117

Take home a month

£2,430 to £2,866

Hourly rate (entry)

£20.44

NHS pension rate

9.8%

Work out your own Band 6 take home pay

Pay advice

England · 2026/27 · monthly

Payments

Basic pay£3,329.92
Total pay£3,329.92

Deductions

Income tax-£391.22
National Insurance-£182.59
NHS pension (9.8%)-£326.33
Net pay£2,429.77

£560.72 a week · £29,157.29 a year

Take home 73%NHS pension 10%Income tax 12%National Insurance 5%

Rates

Hourly rate (basic)£20.44
Income tax as a share of pay13.0%

Band 6 pay in each UK country, 2026/27

Monthly take home at the bottom of Band 6, full time. Bars start at £2,000 to show the gaps. *Northern Ireland is on 2025/26 rates until its award is paid.
CountryPay pointsTake home a monthHourly (entry)
England£39,959 / £42,170 / £48,117£2,429.77 / £2,547.99 / £2,865.96£20.44
Scotland£43,231 / £45,135 / £52,679£2,600.13 / £2,679.70 / £3,024.95£23.03
Wales£40,559 / £42,805 / £48,841£2,461.85 / £2,581.94 / £2,904.67£20.74
Northern Irelandaward pending£38,682 / £40,823 / £46,580£2,356.34 / £2,470.53 / £2,777.57£19.78

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 6 pay goes each month

Take home 73%NHS pension 10%Income tax 12%National Insurance 5%Bottom of Band 6, England, full time: £3,329.92 a month before deductions.
England, full timeEntryTop of band
Gross pay£3,329.92£4,009.75
NHS pension (9.8%)-£326.33-£392.96
Income tax-£391.22-£513.86
National Insurance-£182.59-£236.98
Take home£2,429.77£2,865.96

Is Band 6 a good salary?

On national numbers, yes: Band 6 starts above the typical full-time wage. The Office for National Statistics put median gross pay for full-time employees at £39,039 in April 2025, and Band 6 starts at £39,959 in England this year and rises to £48,117. In Scotland it runs from £43,231 to £52,679.

Five years to the top

You're eligible for the middle point (£42,170) after 2 years and the top (£48,117) after another 3, so 5 years in total. The second step is the big one: £5,947 a year, or £318 a month more take home. In England all of Band 6 sits in the same 9.8% pension tier, so none of the rise is lost to a higher pension rate.

Is Band 6 a senior nurse?

It's the first step above a registered nurse's starting band. Since the national nursing profiles were updated in 2025, Band 6 nursing roles come in two kinds: specialist roles, and team leader roles that cover nurses who run a shift or act as nurse in charge. The team leader profile matters for Band 5 nurses in England, because the current review of every Band 5 nursing role is meant to identify nurses already doing that work.

When Band 6 starts paying higher-rate tax

Basic Band 6 pay in England, Wales and Northern Ireland stays inside the 20% tax band at every point. Two things change that:

  • London weighting. At the top of Band 6, Inner London's supplement is the full £8,746, taking pay to £56,863. That moves your pension rate up to 10.7% and puts about £509 of income into the 40% band. Take home is £3,324 a month.
  • Scotland. Scottish higher-rate tax (42%) starts much lower. At the top of Scotland's Band 6 (£52,679), about £3,486 of income is taxed at 42%, and from the middle point the SPPA pension rate is 10.5% rather than 9.8%. Even so, Scottish Band 6 take home (£2,600 to £3,025 a month) is higher than England's, because the pay scale is higher.

If you're near either line, salary sacrifice for cycle to work or a workplace nursery saves more, because it comes off the top of your pay.

Band 6 or Band 7

Band 7 starts at £49,387, £1,270 above the top of Band 6, so moving up from the top point is a modest rise. From the bottom of Band 6 it's worth £504 a month more take home. In nursing, Band 7 roles are advanced practice or team (ward) manager roles. Trainee clinical psychologists are paid on Band 6 and move to Band 7 when they qualify.

Extra pay on Band 6: shifts, overtime and London

Unsocial hours. Band 6 gets 30% on top of the hourly rate for Saturdays and weekday nights (8pm to 6am) and 60% for Sundays and public holidays. Two Saturday shifts and one Sunday shift of 7.5 hours a month would add £183.92 a month before deductions at the bottom of the band in England, and lift take home from £2,429.77 to £2,547.78. The payments count towards your NHS pension.

Overtime. Hours over 37.5 a week are paid at time and a half (£30.65 an hour at the bottom of Band 6), 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 6, a year:

ZoneEntryTop of band
Inner London (20%)£7,992£8,746 (maximum)
Outer London (15%)£5,994£6,137 (maximum)
Fringe (5%)£1,998£2,270 (maximum)

Moving up the band. You become eligible for the middle point after 2 years and the top after another 3, so 5 years from the bottom to the top of Band 6. 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 6

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.

  • District nurse

    Typically starts at Band 6.

  • Health visitor

    Typically starts at Band 6.

  • General practice nurse (NHS-employed)

    Typically starts at Band 6 when on Agenda for Change.

  • Pharmacist

    Usually starts on Band 6 in the NHS.

  • Paramedic

    Starts on Band 5 and moves to Band 6 after two years.

  • Trainee clinical psychologist

    Paid on Band 6 while training; Band 7 once qualified.

  • Midwife team manager

    Band 6.

  • Art therapist

    Posts typically start at Band 6.

  • Ambulance control team leader

    Band 6.

Band 6 questions

£39,959, £42,170, £48,117 in England; £40,559, £42,805, £48,841 in Wales; £43,231, £45,135, £52,679 in Scotland; and £38,682, £40,823, £46,580 in Northern Ireland, which is still on 2025/26 rates.

Band below

Band 5 take home pay

Band above

Band 7 take home pay

Compare

Band 5 vs Band 6

Compare

Band 6 vs Band 7

Sources (checked 18 October 2026)