NHS pay step dates and progression
NHS pay step progression happens on the anniversary of your start date in the band, not on 1 April. Each band has its own number of years from entry to top, ranging from one year (Band 1) to five years (Bands 5 to 9). The 2018 contract reform tightened the link between progression and annual appraisal.
Years from entry to top, by band
| Band | Entry to top | Step structure |
|---|---|---|
| Band 1 | 1 year | Single rate (closed to new entrants from December 2018) |
| Band 2 | 2 years | Entry → Top |
| Band 3 | 2 years | Entry → Top |
| Band 4 | 3 years | Entry → Top |
| Band 5 | 4 years | Entry → Intermediate (year 2) → Top (year 4) |
| Band 6 | 5 years | Entry → Intermediate (year 2) → Top (year 5) |
| Band 7 | 5 years | Entry → Intermediate (year 2) → Top (year 5) |
| Band 8a | 5 years | Entry → Intermediate (year 2) → Top (year 5) |
| Band 8b | 5 years | Entry → Intermediate (year 2) → Top (year 5) |
| Band 8c | 5 years | Entry → Intermediate (year 2) → Top (year 5) |
| Band 8d | 5 years | Entry → Intermediate (year 2) → Top (year 5) |
| Band 9 | 5 years | Entry → Intermediate (year 2) → Top (year 5) |
Structure for the current scale across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has slightly different progression times at some bands.
When step progression happens
Step progression happens on the anniversary of your start date in the band, also called your 'pay step date'. If you joined a Band 5 post on 15 May 2024, your move from Entry to Intermediate happens on 15 May 2026 (after two years), and your move to Top happens on 15 May 2028 (after four years). The dates are personal to each member of staff and have nothing to do with 1 April or the national pay round.
On the pay step date, your basic salary moves to the new step on the current AfC scale. If the national pay deal has been announced for the current year, the new step reflects the latest uplifted scale. The increase typically shows in the next monthly payslip, often with arrears if the new rate was backdated.
How appraisal affects progression
Since the 2018 contract reform, pay step progression is formally linked to satisfactory completion of the annual appraisal. In principle, your line manager must agree that you have met the agreed objectives and competencies for your role before you progress. In practice, the overwhelming majority of staff progress to the next step on time because appraisals are completed satisfactorily.
If your line manager has concerns, they should raise them as part of the appraisal process well before the step date. A held step requires formal documentation: an interim review with the issues identified, a development plan, and at least three months for you to demonstrate improvement. A unilateral decision to hold a step without that process is appealable through the local HR procedure, and trade union representation (RCN, Unison, Unite) is worth getting if it happens.
Step progression vs annual pay rise
Two different events, both can happen in the same year. The annual pay rise is the national settlement applied to every pay point on the scale from 1 April (3.3% in 2026/27 for England). Step progression is your personal move from one step within your band to the next, based on years of service.
A Band 5 nurse moving from Entry to Intermediate in their second year of service, in a year when the national settlement is 5%, sees a combined increase of roughly 11% to 12%: the 5% from the national settlement plus the step increase on top of the new uplifted rate. This is one reason real-terms NHS pay has often gone up faster than the headline national uplift suggests, particularly for junior staff still progressing through the steps.
Moving bands resets the step date
Moving to a higher band normally resets your step date for the new band. You join the new band at the Entry step (unless you can negotiate a higher starting step under matching rules where you bring directly relevant experience to a senior role) and progress through the new band's structure from there.
This produces the classic effect where a Band 5 nurse with several years of experience who promotes to Band 6 sees their hourly rate go up but waits another five years for the top of Band 6. The compensation is higher long-run earnings and access to senior career routes; the short-run trade-off is the reset to Entry on the new band.
Common questions
- When does my NHS pay step increase happen?
- On the anniversary of your start date in the band. If you joined a Band 5 post on 15 May 2024, your move from Entry to the Intermediate step happens on 15 May 2026 (after two years), and your move to Top on 15 May 2028 (after four years from start). Pay step dates do not all happen on 1 April: they are personal to each member of staff and depend on when they joined the band.
- Is NHS pay step progression automatic?
- No, but it is the default. You progress to the next step on your anniversary date unless your line manager has formally documented unmet performance or competency objectives through the annual appraisal process. The 2018 contract reform tightened the link between pay step progression and appraisal, but in practice the overwhelming majority of staff progress to the next step on time. A held step is appealable through the local HR process.
- What's the difference between annual uplift and step progression?
- Two different things, both can happen in the same year. The annual uplift is the national pay rise (3.3% in 2026/27 for England), applied to every pay point on the scale from 1 April. Step progression is your personal move from one step within your band to the next, based on years of service. A Band 5 nurse moving from Entry to Intermediate in their second year on a 5% national uplift year would see roughly an 11% to 12% increase in pay, combining the two effects.
- What happens to my step date if I move bands?
- Moving to a higher band normally resets your step date for the new band. You join the new band at the Entry step (unless you can negotiate a higher starting step under the matching rules) and progress through the new band's structure. So a Band 5 nurse two years into their band who is promoted to Band 6 starts on Band 6 Entry and faces another five-year progression to the top of Band 6.
- Can I be paid above the top of my band?
- Not normally. Agenda for Change pay is fixed by band: the top step is the maximum substantive pay for that band. You can earn more through unsocial hours premia, London weighting (HCAS), bank shifts and overtime, but the basic salary is capped at the top step. The only routes to higher basic pay are promotion to a higher band or, in some senior posts, transfer to a Very Senior Manager contract outside Agenda for Change.
- Does service in a different band count for step progression?
- No. Step progression is measured from your start date in the current band, not from total NHS service. A Band 7 ward manager who was previously a Band 6 nurse for ten years still starts on Band 7 Entry and waits two years for the Intermediate step. Time spent in lower bands feeds reckonable service for sick pay, redundancy and pension, but not for pay step progression in the current band.
- What if I'm on a fixed-term contract or part-time hours?
- Step progression is by calendar time in the band, not by hours worked. A part-time member of staff progresses through the steps at the same rate as a full-time colleague who started at the same time, on the basis that pay progression reflects experience and competence rather than total hours. Fixed-term contracts also accrue step progression normally; if you move to a permanent contract in the same band, your step date carries over.