How much does a Band 5 nurse take home?

A Band 5 nurse on the 2025/26 entry point of £31,049 pays income tax, National Insurance and a tiered NHS pension contribution (9.8% at this salary). Take-home is roughly £25,000 a year before any unsocial-hours enhancements — which for nights and weekends can add several thousand pounds more.

How do NHS unsocial hours payments work?

Under Section 2 of Agenda for Change, staff get a percentage enhancement on top of their basic hourly rate for hours worked at night, on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays. For Bands 4–9 it is +30% for nights and Saturdays and +60% for Sundays and bank holidays. Rates do not stack — each hour gets one rate.

What pension contribution do NHS staff pay?

The NHS Pension Scheme uses tiered member contributions from 5.2% to 12.5% depending on your actual pensionable pay. The rate applies to your whole salary, not just the part above a threshold. In return the employer contributes 23.7%, making it one of the most generous schemes in the UK.

NHS pay · Agenda for Change · 2026/27

NHS pay, properly explained

How does NHS pay actually work?

NHS pay isn't just a salary — it's a system: Agenda for Change bands with fixed spine points, a tiered pension that works differently from everywhere else, London weighting with caps, and unsocial-hours enhancements that can add thousands for nights and weekends. This page brings all of it together, with live calculators built on the real 2025/26 figures — so you can see exactly what your band, your shifts and your pension mean for your take-home.

Verified 12 August 2026

1 · Your band & take-home

Pick your band and spine point. We apply the correct NHS pension tier, income tax and National Insurance — and London weighting if it applies.

Band

Spine point

Location (London weighting)

Pay year

2 · What your nights & weekends are really worth

The part most calculators ignore. Enter the unsocial hours you work in a typical month and see what Section 2 enhancements add — on top of your basic pay.

Weekday night hours / month 8pm–6am

Saturday hours / month

Sunday hours / month

Enhancements are pensionable and taxable. Rates don't stack — each hour gets one rate. Uses the band you picked above.

3 · Every band, every spine point

The full 2025/26 Agenda for Change structure for England. Toggle the year to see the confirmed 2026/27 uplift.

How NHS pay is built

Agenda for Change (AfC) covers almost every non-medical NHS role — nurses, paramedics, allied health professionals, pharmacists, healthcare assistants, admin and managers. Each role sits in a band (2 to 9), and within each band there are spine points you progress through with experience. Your basic pay is set by your band and point.

On top of basic pay, three things change what you actually earn. Unsocial hours (Section 2) pay a percentage enhancement for nights, weekends and bank holidays. London weighting (the High Cost Area Supplement) adds 5–20% if you work in or around London, subject to a cap. And the NHS pension takes a tiered contribution — but in return the employer pays in 23.7% of your pay, which is exceptionally generous.

The 2026/27 pay award is a confirmed 3.3% uplift from 1 April 2026. Because enhancements and pension are percentages of basic pay, a rise to basic ripples through everything.

Information, not financial advice. Figures are England 2025/26 (full-time equivalent, 37.5 hrs/week) unless the 2026/27 toggle is used. Sources: NHS Employers (AfC pay circular), legislation.gov.uk (pension contribution tiers, SI 2025/821), NHS Terms & Conditions Section 2 (unsocial hours). Verified 12 August 2026. How we calculate.

Explore NHS pay in detail

Dig into a specific band — full take-home, hourly rate and what nights and weekends add: Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 6, Band 7, Band 8a, Band 8b, Band 8c, Band 8d and Band 9. Or see how pay differs across the four UK nations — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.