All members of the NHS Pension Scheme pay a set contribution towards your pension based on your actual annual gross pensionable pay.
The more you earn, the higher your contribution tier rate will be.
View the current and past contribution tier rates on our website.
Officers
Your contribution tier will change if you:
- change job
- voluntary step down
- return to the NHS after a break
- receive a pay increase
Your new contribution tier rate will begin from the start of your next full pay period.
If you need details of your previous pay and contributions, you must put your request in writing by email or post.
Practitioners and Non-General Practitioner (GP) providers
Your contribution tier is calculated on your total estimated earnings for the current financial year.
This rate is applied to each practitioner post no matter how much you earn in that post.
Non-GP Providers can only pension their income from one practice.
If you started a pensionable post during the Scheme year, you must annualise your contributions.
If you have Officer and Practitioner posts, your contribution tiers will be assessed individually.
If you need details of your previous pay and contributions, contact us by telephone or email.
Employer contributions
Your employer pays in a further 23.7% which includes a 0.08% administration charge. This is subject to change and is reviewed each year.
Currently all employers will pay 14.38%. The HM Treasury will make up the remaining balance. This is reviewed each year.
Different arrangements are in place for:
- non-NHS England arm’s length bodies of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
- local authorities and county councils
- university medical schools
Read more information on our website.
Increasing your contributions
You can increase your contributions by:
- early retirement reduction buy out (ERRBO)
- Additional Pension (AP)
- Money Purchase Additional Voluntary Contributions (MP AVC’s).
Under or overpaid contributions
If you think you’ve under or overpaid contributions to your NHS pension, you must contact your employer. They’ll arrange with you when and how these will be deducted or returned.
Unpaid contributions must be paid as quickly as possible. They can be paid as a one-off lump sum or by instalments.
If you leave a period of employment with outstanding contributions, your employer will advise us of this. We’ll arrange for your next NHS employer to collect these outstanding contributions.
If you’ve outstanding contributions when you retire and claim your pension, these can be deducted from your pension benefits.
It's your employers responsibility to return non-pensionable contributions which have been overpaid from your salary.