When you can take an unreduced NHS pension
In the 2015 scheme your normal pension age is your State Pension age, or 65 if that's later, and it moves if your State Pension age changes. Take your pension from then and it isn't reduced. Take it earlier, by voluntary early retirement, and it's reduced to allow for it being paid for longer. The reduction is permanent, though your dependants' benefits are still paid in full.
The earliest you can normally take it is the minimum pension age: 55 now, rising to 57 for pensions taken after 5 April 2028. That change covers the NHS scheme; only the firefighters', police and armed forces schemes are exempt. Ill health retirement has its own rules and isn't limited by the minimum pension age.
How big the reduction is
The reduction depends on how many years before your normal pension age you retire, worked out to the month. The last figures NHS Pensions published for the 2015 scheme, in its May 2017 factsheet, were roughly:
| Years before normal pension age | Pension reduced by about |
|---|---|
| 1 | 6% |
| 2 | 11% |
| 3 | 16% |
| 4 | 20% |
| 5 | 24% |
| 6 | 27% |
| 7 | 31% |
| 8 | 34% |
| 9 | 37% |
| 10 | 40% |
| 11 | 43% |
| 12 | 45% |
| 13 | 47% |
So on those figures, a £20,000 a year pension taken three years early would become about £16,800, and taken five years early about £15,200.
The factors are changing in 2026
Treat that table as a guide only. On 19 May 2026 HM Treasury changed the discount rate used to value public service pensions (the SCAPE rate), and NHS Pensions said this means pensions taken before or after normal pension age may be affected, with new early retirement and redundancy factors expected from September 2026. The change doesn't reduce the pension you've already built up, only the adjustment for taking it early or late. Get a current estimate from NHS Pensions before you decide.
What you've built up
Each year in the 2015 scheme adds 1/54th of that year's pensionable pay to your pension, and each year's amount is increased every April by the government's inflation measure plus 1.5% until you retire or leave. Your Total Reward Statement or NHS Pensions online account shows the figure so far; if you don't have it, the calculator estimates it from your average pay and years, without the yearly increases, so it's likely to be on the low side.
Ways to soften the reduction
- Early Retirement Reduction Buy Out (ERRBO): you or your employer can pay extra contributions to buy out the reduction for retiring up to three years before your normal pension age, but not earlier than 65.
- Redundancy: if you're made redundant after reaching the minimum pension age, you may be able to retire early and use the redundancy payment to cover the reduction (England), or retire without a reduction instead of taking the lump sum (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). See the redundancy calculator.