NHS Band 8a pay 2020/21
Band 8a salaries in England for 2020/21 ran from £45,753 at entry to £51,668 at the top step. Backdated to 2020-04-01.
Band 8a pay scale, 2020/21
| Step | Years from entry | Annual | Hourly (37.5h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | From day one | £45,753 | £23.40 |
| Top | After 5 years | £51,668 | £26.42 |
| Full range | £45,753 to £51,668 | £23.40 to £26.42 | |
England, 2020/21, effective 2020-04-01. Source: NHS terms and conditions pay poster 2020/21 — NHS Employers.
All Agenda for Change pay scales for 2020/21 were backdated to 1 April 2020. Salaries are subject to UK income tax, Class 1 National Insurance and NHS pension contributions. Use the take-home calculator for a personalised estimate.
The 2020/21 NHS pay deal in context
The 2020/21 pay round was the third and final year of the 2018-2021 three-year deal. It completed the restructuring of the Agenda for Change pay scale by closing legacy spine points and consolidating bands down to the entry, intermediate and top steps used today.
The 2020/21 figures had been agreed in 2018 as part of the multi-year framework deal. Implementation was published in the NHS Employers 2020/21 pay poster on 1 April 2020. Because the structure changed substantively each year of the deal, the cash impact varied widely between bands and between staff at different points on the scale. The 2020/21 year saw legacy spine points 36 and 37 at Band 8a (and equivalent at higher bands) marked as transitional, with a footnote that staff on those points received one-off consolidated payments.
The pay scale moved to the consolidated Entry, Intermediate and Top structure that has been in use since. Legacy spine points were retired, removing many of the small annual progression rises that existed in earlier years. Bands 1 to 4 reached their full reformed structure with two or three steps each.
Year-on-year change for Band 8a
Compared with 2019/20, Band 8a entry pay rose by £1,147 (2.6%) . Top-of-band pay rose by £849 (1.7%). The following year, 2021/22, Band 8a entry pay moved to £47,126.
- Previous year entry
- £44,606
- This year entry
- £45,753
2019/20
+ 2.6% vs previous year
Union response to the 2020/21 deal
Industrial relations in 2020/21 were dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic rather than pay disputes. The three-year deal had been ratified in 2018 and unions were not in dispute over the 2020/21 figures, although the lack of any pandemic-related top-up payment to NHS staff in England became a major source of friction by the end of the year and fed into the 2021/22 dispute that followed.
Common questions about Band 8a pay in 2020/21
- How much did Band 8a pay increase in 2020/21?
- Band 8a entry pay in England rose from £44,606 to £45,753 (2.6%). Top-of-band pay rose from £50,819 to £51,668 (1.7%).
- When was the 2020/21 Band 8a pay rise paid?
- The new Band 8a rates were backdated to 2020-04-01. In most NHS Trusts the uplift first showed in the payslip a few months later, with arrears for the backdated period paid alongside the first new monthly rate.
- What is the hourly rate for Band 8a in 2020/21?
- Based on a 37.5-hour standard NHS week, Band 8a entry pay of £45,753 works out at £23.40 per hour. Top-of-band pay of £51,668 works out at £26.42 per hour.
- What was the 2020/21 NHS pay rise?
- The 2020/21 figures were the third year of the 2018-2021 three-year deal, agreed in 2018. There was no separate annual uplift negotiated for 2020/21. Cash increases over the 2019/20 figures varied by band and by point on the scale, with structural consolidation continuing to remove legacy pay points.
- Did NHS staff get extra pay during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020/21?
- There was no UK-wide pandemic bonus in 2020/21 for NHS staff in England. Scotland made a separate £500 thank-you payment in late 2020. Some Trusts ran their own internal recognition schemes. The absence of a meaningful pandemic top-up was a major source of friction and contributed to the 2021/22 dispute and the strike action that followed in 2022.