NHS Band 7 Salary & Take Home Pay 2026/27
Band 7 pays £49,387, £51,932 and £56,515 in England for 2026/27, which is £2,934 to £3,309 a month after tax, NI and pension for a full-timer. It covers advanced practitioners and team managers in nursing, qualified clinical psychologists and many clinical managers, and it's the highest band that can still be paid overtime.
Salary (England)
£49,387 to £56,515
Take home a month
£2,934 to £3,309
Hourly rate (entry)
£25.26
NHS pension rate
9.8% to 10.7%
Work out your own Band 7 take home pay
Pay advice
England · 2026/27 · monthlyPayments
Deductions
£677.04 a week · £35,206.30 a year
Rates
Band 7 pay in each UK country, 2026/27
| Country | Pay points | Take home a month | Hourly (entry) |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | £49,387 / £51,932 / £56,515 | £2,933.86 / £3,078.24 / £3,308.99 | £25.26 |
| Scotland | £52,845 / £54,863 / £61,466 | £3,031.86 / £3,097.23 / £3,357.74 | £28.15 |
| Wales | £50,129 / £52,712 / £57,365 | £2,973.53 / £3,123.84 / £3,345.52 | £25.64 |
| Northern Irelandaward pending | £47,810 / £50,273 / £54,710 | £2,843.17 / £2,974.54 / £3,200.54 | £24.45 |
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 7 pay goes each month
| England, full time | Entry | Top of band |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | £4,115.58 | £4,709.58 |
| NHS pension (9.8% / 10.7%) | -£403.33 | -£503.93 |
| Income tax | -£532.95 | -£634.93 |
| National Insurance | -£245.45 | -£261.74 |
| Take home | £2,933.86 | £3,308.99 |
Is Band 7 high in the NHS?
It's the band below the 8a to 9 management and consultant bands, and well above typical pay: Band 7 starts at £49,387 in England, against a median of £39,039 for full-time employees across the UK (ONS, April 2025). The hourly rate in 2026/27 is £25.26 at the bottom of the band, £26.56 in the middle and £28.90 at the top.
Is Band 7 a senior role, and is a Band 7 nurse a sister?
Band 7 is a senior clinical band. The national nursing profiles have two Band 7 roles: an advanced role, with knowledge to master's level or equivalent, regular research and development, which can include responsibility for a caseload or a community locality; and a team manager role, which takes overall management of a ward. Job titles vary between trusts, but the national profile for a nurse who manages a ward is the Band 7 team manager, whatever the trust calls the post.
Where higher-rate tax starts
The top of Band 7 is the first point in England where basic pay alone reaches the 40% tax band: about £198 of income at £56,515. The same point moves you into the 10.7% pension tier (up from 9.8%). Together they're why the last step, worth £4,583 a year, adds only £231 a month to take home.
In Inner London, the full High Cost Area Supplement puts about £1,643 into the 40% band even at the bottom of Band 7.
In Scotland every Band 7 point pays some 42% tax, from about £3,634 of income at the bottom to £10,674 at the top, and SPPA pension rates rise from 10.5% to 11.6%. Scottish Band 7 still takes home more (£3,032 to £3,358 a month) because the pay points are higher.
Band 7 to 8a: a small rise, and you lose overtime
This is the move to think hardest about. Band 8a starts at £57,528, only £1,013 above the top of Band 7. After tax, NI and the 10.7% pension rate, that's £43.54 a month more take home. And Bands 8 and 9 aren't entitled to overtime payments, so if you do any paid overtime on Band 7, an 8a post at the bottom of the band can pay less until you reach its middle point. You keep unsocial hours payments on 8a, at the same 30% and 60%.
I'd look at 8a as a career step rather than a pay rise at first: the gains come from its middle and top points.
Extra pay on Band 7: shifts, overtime and London
Unsocial hours. Band 7 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 £227.32 a month before deductions at the bottom of the band in England, and lift take home from £2,933.86 to £3,088.93. The payments count towards your NHS pension.
Overtime. Hours over 37.5 a week are paid at time and a half (£37.89 an hour at the bottom of Band 7), 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 7, a year:
| Zone | Entry | Top of band |
|---|---|---|
| Inner London (20%) | £8,746 (maximum) | £8,746 (maximum) |
| Outer London (15%) | £6,137 (maximum) | £6,137 (maximum) |
| Fringe (5%) | £2,270 (maximum) | £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 7. 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 7
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.
Clinical psychologist
Paid on Band 6 while training, Band 7 once qualified.
Adult psychotherapist
Usually Band 6 while training, Band 7 after.
Clinical manager
Usually Band 6 or 7; the most senior roles go up to Band 9.
Ambulance control duty manager
Band 7.
Clinical scientist
Band 6, 7 or 8a.
Band 7 questions
In England, £25.26, £26.56 and £28.90 an hour at the three pay points, based on a 37.5-hour week. Scotland's Band 7 is £28.15 to £32.74 on a 36-hour week.
Band below
Band 6 take home pay
Band above
Band 8a take home pay
Compare
Band 6 vs Band 7
Compare
Band 7 vs Band 8a
Sources (checked 18 October 2026)
- Employee earnings in the UK: 2025 (Office for National Statistics)
- Re-evaluating nursing: new NHS job profiles (Royal College of Nursing)
- Clinical psychologist (NHS Health Careers)
- Adult psychotherapist (NHS Health Careers)
- Clinical manager (NHS Health Careers)
- Call handler/emergency medical dispatcher (NHS Health Careers)
- Clinical engineering (NHS Health Careers)
- Pay scales for 2026/27 (NHS Employers)
- NHS Circular PCS(AFC)2026/1: pay and conditions for Agenda for Change staff (Scottish Government)
- Pay Letter AfC(W) 02/2026 (Welsh Government)
- AFC February 2026 Pay Award (2025/26 rates) (HSC Business Services Organisation, Payroll Shared Services)
- NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (version 63) (NHS Employers)
- NHS Pension Scheme member contributions (NHS Employers)
- Member contributions (NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland)) (Scottish Public Pensions Agency)
- Membership, Contributions & Pay (HSC Pension Service)
- Income Tax rates and allowances for current and previous tax years (HM Revenue & Customs)
- Scottish Income Tax: rates and bands, 2026 to 2027 (Scottish Government)
- Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (HM Revenue & Customs)