Promotion is worth less than the pay scales suggest
On promotion your basic pay starts at the bottom of the new band, so what you gain depends on where you are in your current band. In England, up to Band 8a, the top of each band is no more than £1,270 below the bottom of the next: from the top of Band 2 to the bottom of Band 3 it's £488 a year, and the biggest gap between neighbouring bands is Band 8d to Band 9 at £3,968. From the top of Band 5, a move to Band 6 adds £48.98 a month in take home; from the top of Band 7 to 8a, £43.54.
Shifts can make a promotion a pay cut
Band 2 gets higher unsocial hours rates than Band 3, and Bands 4 to 9 all share the same lower rates. Bands 8a to 9 get no overtime pay. If you work lots of nights and weekends, or regular overtime, add them to the promotion section above. If the bottom of the new band pays less basic plus unsocial hours than you had before, the handbook says you keep your previous pay until the new band overtakes it.
Countries differ
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own pay points, so the same two bands can be further apart or closer together depending on where you work. In Scotland, the top of each band from 2 to 7 is only £115 to £241 below the bottom of the next, so promotion from the top adds very little at first. Wales starts Band 3 at the same pay as Band 2. Pick your country at the top of the tool.