NHS Band 5 vs Band 6: Pay, Take Home and How Nurses Move Up (2026/27)
Band 6 starts £7,886 a year above the bottom of Band 5 in England, £389.57 a month more in take home. Promoted from the top of Band 5, though, the move is worth £916 a year, about £48.98 a month, because the top of Band 5 is already close to the bottom of Band 6. The payoff is the Band 6 ladder: £48,117 after 5 years.
Side by side
| Band 5 | Band 6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Pay points (England) | £32,073, £34,592, £39,043 | £39,959, £42,170, £48,117 |
| Take home a month, bottom | £2,040.21 | £2,429.77 |
| Take home a month, top | £2,380.80 | £2,865.96 |
| Years to the top point | 4 | 5 |
| Pension rate, bottom of band | 8.3% | 9.8% |
Why the first year of Band 6 feels small
The top of Band 5 (£39,043) is only £916 below the bottom of Band 6, and you've already moved into the 9.8% pension tier at the top of Band 5, the same rate Band 6 pays. So promotion from the top changes very little at first: the gains come at the Band 6 middle point after 2 years and the top point after 5. Promoted earlier, from the bottom of Band 5, the move is worth £389.57 a month straight away, though your pension rate rises from 8.3% to 9.8%. You build up the same 1/54th of your pay in the 2015 scheme at either rate.
Shifts don't help or hurt: both bands get the same unsocial hours rates, so on a nights-heavy rota (60 night or Saturday hours and 22.5 Sunday hours a month) the move is worth £1,093 a year, much the same as without shifts. Losing shifts is the risk: if a Band 6 day job means giving up nights, work out what your enhancements are worth first.
What makes a nursing role Band 6
The national nursing profiles updated in 2025 describe Band 6 roles as either specialist roles or team leader roles. Band 6 jobs include district nurses, health visitors and NHS-employed general practice nurses, which all typically start at Band 6.
There is no set time to Band 6: you apply for a Band 6 post, and on promotion your pay starts at the bottom of the new band. Paramedics are the exception, starting on Band 5 and moving to Band 6 after two years.
The Band 5 nursing review in England
In February 2026 the government committed to an employer-led review of every Band 5 nursing role employed directly by NHS trusts in England, to check nurses are paid for the work they actually do. All Band 5 nursing roles have to be reviewed by October 2028. If you regularly lead shifts or work as a specialist, your role may fit a Band 6 profile; the review is the place to raise it.
Compare with your own shifts
Take home is for a full-time England contract with the NHS pension, before London weighting, shifts or student loan.
Promoted from the top of Band 5 to Band 6
On promotion your basic pay starts at the bottom of the new band. Add the unsocial hours you work in a typical month to see what the move is really worth.
Pay before deductions
+£916 a year
Take home
+£48.98 a month
Band 5 vs Band 6: questions
£389.57 a month at the bottom of each band in England, and £485.16 at the top. From the top of Band 5 to the bottom of Band 6 it's £48.98 a month.
Band 5 pay in full
Every pay point in all four countries, take home, shifts and London weighting
Band 6 pay in full
Every pay point in all four countries, take home, shifts and London weighting
Other band comparisons
Sources (checked 18 October 2026)
- Pay scales for 2026/27 (NHS Employers)
- NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (version 63) (NHS Employers)
- NHS Pension Scheme member contributions (NHS Employers)
- NHS Pension Scheme 2015 Members Guide (version 13, May 2024) (NHS Business Services Authority)
- Re-evaluating nursing: new NHS job profiles (Royal College of Nursing)
- District nurse (NHS Health Careers)
- Health visitor (NHS Health Careers)
- General practice nurse (NHS Health Careers)
- Paramedic (NHS Health Careers)
- Nursing Band 5 job evaluation (PRN02508) (NHS England)