NHS Band 8b Salary & Take Home Pay 2026/27
Band 8b pays £66,582, £70,896 and £77,368 in England for 2026/27, so take home is £3,742 to £4,136 a month for a full-timer. It's the second Band 8 sub-band, above 8a and below 8c, and the level where midwife consultant posts begin.
Salary (England)
£66,582 to £77,368
Take home a month
£3,742 to £4,136
Hourly rate (entry)
£34.05
NHS pension rate
10.7% to 12.5%
Work out your own Band 8b take home pay
Pay advice
England · 2026/27 · monthlyPayments
Deductions
£863.47 a week · £44,900.40 a year
Rates
Band 8b pay in each UK country, 2026/27
| Country | Pay points | Take home a month | Hourly (entry) |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | £66,582 / £70,896 / £77,368 | £3,741.70 / £3,863.32 / £4,135.69 | £34.05 |
| Scotland | £76,888 / £82,251 | £3,990.97 / £4,211.17 | £40.96 |
| Wales | £67,583 / £71,952 / £78,530 | £3,784.73 / £3,907.76 / £4,184.59 | £34.56 |
| Northern Irelandaward pending | £64,455 / £68,631 / £74,896 | £3,643.83 / £3,761.14 / £4,024.17 | £32.96 |
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 8b pay goes each month
| England, full time | Entry | Top of band |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | £5,548.50 | £6,447.33 |
| NHS pension (10.7% / 12.5%) | -£593.69 | -£805.92 |
| Income tax | -£934.59 | -£1,209.23 |
| National Insurance | -£278.52 | -£296.50 |
| Take home | £3,741.70 | £4,135.69 |
Is 8a higher than 8b?
No: the letters go up. 8a is the lowest Band 8 sub-band and 8d the highest, so 8b sits above 8a. The bottom of 8b (£66,582) is £1,832 above the top of 8a (£64,750).
Where the 12.5% pension rate starts
8b is where the top NHS pension tier kicks in for England and Wales. The entry point is in the 10.7% tier, but from £67,669 of pensionable pay the rate is 12.5%, which catches 8b's middle (£70,896) and top (£77,368) points. Because the rate applies to all your pay, not just the part above the threshold, the move to the middle point after 2 years adds £4,314 a year but only £122 a month to take home. The top point, after another 3 years, adds £272 a month more.
That's why take home grows so slowly through 8b.
Tax at 8b
About £9,188 of income is taxed at 40% at the bottom of the band and £17,427 at the top. There's no overtime on any Band 8 post, but unsocial hours payments still apply.
Scotland
Scotland's 8b has two points, £76,888 and £82,251, and an SPPA pension rate of 11.6% at both (Scotland's top tier starts higher). Take home is £3,991 to £4,211 a month, with about £24,307 to £29,048 of income taxed at Scotland's 42% rate.
Extra pay on Band 8b: shifts, overtime and London
Unsocial hours. Band 8b 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 £306.46 a month before deductions at the bottom of the band in England, and lift take home from £3,741.70 to £3,836.54. The payments count towards your NHS pension.
Overtime. Band 8b isn't entitled to overtime payments: the handbook pays overtime to Bands 1 to 7 only. Unsocial hours payments still apply.
London weighting (England). The High Cost Area Supplement for Band 8b, 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 8b. 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 8b
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.
Midwife consultant
Bands 8b to 8c.
Consultant clinical scientist
Bands 8a to 8d.
Strategic and senior management
Typically Bands 8 and 9.
Band 8b questions
£66,582, £70,896, £77,368 in England (£34.05 to £39.57 an hour); £76,888 and £82,251 in Scotland; £67,583, £71,952, £78,530 in Wales; £64,455, £68,631, £74,896 in Northern Ireland (2025/26 rates).
Sources (checked 18 October 2026)
- Midwife (NHS Health Careers)
- Decontamination science (sterile services and flexible endoscopy) (NHS Health Careers)
- Strategic management (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)