NHS Pay Bands

NHS pay rise 2020/21

The 2020/21 pay deal applied to all staff on Agenda for Change contracts. Each UK nation publishes its own circular: England and Wales follow the Pay Review Body recommendation, Scotland negotiates separately, and Northern Ireland implements once the Executive has signed off.

How the 2020/21 deal landed

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.

Uplift by nation

Cash impact at the most-searched bands

For staff in England, the 2020/21 pay rise translates into the following annual cash increases at entry to the most common bands.

Band 2019/20 entry 2020/21 entry Change %
Band 5 £24,214 £24,907 +£693 +2.9%
Band 6 £30,401 £31,365 +£964 +3.2%
Band 7 £37,570 £38,890 +£1,320 +3.5%

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.

Structural changes

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.

England

NHS terms and conditions pay poster 2020/21 — NHS Employers

Read the circular
Band Minimum Maximum Hourly at top
Band 1 closed £18,005 Single rate £9.21
Band 2 £18,005 £19,337 £9.89
Band 3 £19,737 £21,142 £10.81
Band 4 £21,892 £24,157 £12.35
Band 5 £24,907 £30,615 £15.66
Band 6 £31,365 £37,890 £19.38
Band 7 £38,890 £44,503 £22.76
Band 8a £45,753 £51,668 £26.42
Band 8b £53,168 £62,001 £31.71
Band 8c £63,751 £73,664 £37.67
Band 8d £75,914 £87,754 £44.88
Band 9 £91,004 £104,927 £53.66

England pay scales for 2020/21, effective 2020-04-01. Hourly rate uses the 37.5-hour NHS working week. Source: NHS terms and conditions pay poster 2020/21 — NHS Employers.

Common questions about the 2020/21 pay rise

When was the 2020/21 NHS pay rise paid?
The new England pay rates were backdated to 2020-04-01. In most Trusts the new rate first showed in monthly pay a few months after the official circular was published, with arrears for the backdated period paid alongside the first new monthly rate. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland followed their own implementation timetables.
Did Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland get the same pay rise in 2020/21?
Each UK nation negotiates separately. England and Wales usually follow the NHS Pay Review Body recommendation, Scotland negotiates directly with trade unions, and Northern Ireland needs Executive sign-off. The headline percentage and the structural shape of the deal can differ between nations.
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.