NHS Pension calculator
Project your NHS pension at retirement across the 1995 section, 2008 section and 2015 CARE scheme. Uses the official Government Actuary's Department early retirement reduction factors and the standard £12:£1 commutation rate, with proper handling of mandatory and discretionary lump sums.
Your details
Use today's salary. The projection treats this as your final pensionable pay (final salary schemes) and as each future year's pensionable pay (2015 CARE scheme).
The 2015 NHS Pension Scheme uses your State Pension Age as its Normal Pension Age.
Service by scheme (years)
Total service across schemes: 15 years.
Commutation rate: £12 of lump sum per £1 of annual pension given up.
Annual pension
£7,292/year
£608 a month
Tax-free lump sum
£62,505
8.6× your annual pension
Figures in today's money, based on £45,000 pensionable pay and your selected retirement age of 67.
2015 Scheme
15 years × 1/54 accrual
- Pension at NPA 67
- £12,501
- Early retirement factor
- ×1.000
- Pension paid
- £7,292
- Lump sum
- £62,505
£62,505 of tax-free lump sum, taken by commuting £5,209 of annual pension at £12:£1.
Projection uses official Government Actuary's Department early/late retirement factors published 7 August 2019. Final salary section pensions assume your current salary equals your final pensionable pay; CARE scheme accrual assumes real-terms revaluation cancels out inflation, so figures are in today's money. For an exact projection, request a Total Reward Statement from NHS Pensions Online. The McCloud remedy may give you a choice for service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 — model both scenarios by adjusting your service splits.
How the three schemes differ
Most NHS staff with long service have benefits split across more than one scheme. The 1995 section closed to new members on 1 April 2008 and the 2008 section closed on 1 April 2015. The 2015 scheme is the only one accepting active members today. The McCloud remedy means service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 is being rolled back to your legacy scheme by default for eligible members, with a choice at retirement.
| Feature | 1995 Section | 2008 Section | 2015 Scheme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Final salary | Final salary | Career average (CARE) |
| Accrual rate | 1/80 | 1/60 | 1/54 |
| Normal Pension Age | 60 | 65 | State Pension Age |
| Mandatory lump sum | 3 × pension | None | None |
| Commutation rate | £12 : £1 | £12 : £1 | £12 : £1 |
| Revaluation while active | Based on final pay | Based on final pay | CPI + 1.5% |
| Minimum pension age | 50 (55 from April 2028) | 55 (57 from April 2028) | 55 (57 from April 2028) |
| Status | Closed | Closed | Open |
How the maths actually works
For the 1995 section, your annual pension is 1/80th of final pensionable pay (best of the last three years' pay) multiplied by years of service. You also get a mandatory tax-free lump sum of 3 × your annual pension. A nurse retiring at NPA 60 with 30 years' service and a £45,000 final pensionable pay would receive £45,000 ÷ 80 × 30 = £16,875 a year, plus a £50,625 lump sum.
For the 2008 section, the formula is 1/60th of final pensionable pay multiplied by years of service. There's no automatic lump sum, but you can commute up to 25% of the capital value of your benefits into a tax-free lump sum at £12 per £1 of pension given up. The same 30 years' service at £45,000 gives £45,000 ÷ 60 × 30 = £22,500 a year, with the option to commute roughly £9,375 of pension for a £112,500 lump sum (leaving £13,125 a year of pension).
For the 2015 scheme, each year you earn 1/54th of that year's pensionable pay as an annual pension chunk. While you're active, the chunk is revalued each April by CPI + 1.5%. When you leave or retire, future revaluation is CPI only. The chunks add up over your career into a single annual pension. The same 30 years averaging £45,000 in today's money builds up £45,000 ÷ 54 × 30 = £25,000 a year of pension, assuming real-terms revaluation cancels inflation.
Early retirement reductions are applied separately to each section using its own factor table. The calculator uses the official 2019 Government Actuary's Department factors that NHS Pensions actually applies. Late retirement (after NPA) adds an actuarial uplift for the 2015 scheme only; the 1995 and 2008 sections are paid at NPA regardless of when you stop working.
Employee contributions for 2026/27
Contributions are tiered by pensionable pay and updated each April by CPI. The rates apply across all three schemes (the same band determines what you pay whether your service sits in 1995, 2008 or 2015). The contribution is deducted from gross pay before income tax is calculated, so you get tax relief at your marginal rate.
| Pensionable pay band | Employee rate |
|---|---|
| £0 to £13,259 | 5.2% |
| £13,260 to £28,854 | 6.5% |
| £28,855 to £35,155 | 8.3% |
| £35,156 to £52,778 | 9.8% |
| £52,779 to £67,668 | 10.7% |
| £67,669 and above | 12.5% |
Source: NHS Pension Scheme member contributions — 1 April 2026 tier thresholds (CPI uplift 3.8%). The employer contribution is an additional 23.7% of pensionable pay across all tiers.
McCloud remedy in plain language
When the 2015 reforms came in, older NHS staff (those within 10 years of retirement) were "transitionally protected" and allowed to stay in their 1995 or 2008 scheme. Younger members were forced into the new 2015 CARE scheme. The Court of Appeal ruled in 2018 (the McCloud judgment) that this was age discrimination. The remedy: all eligible members had their service for the "remedy period" of 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 rolled back to their legacy scheme by default. From 1 October 2023, NHS Pensions has been issuing Remediable Service Statements showing the two options at retirement.
You make a "deferred choice" between legacy (1995 or 2008) and 2015 for your remedy-period service when you retire. NHS Pensions will calculate both and you take whichever pays more. There's no fixed rule for which is better. Younger lower-paid staff with significant CARE accrual usually prefer 2015. Older higher-paid staff with strong final salary growth usually prefer the legacy scheme. The calculator on this page lets you model both by adjusting how you split service between the schemes.
If you've already retired during the remedy period (between 1 October 2023 and now), NHS Pensions is recalculating your benefits and writing to you. You can also make an "immediate choice" before retirement in specific circumstances — generally not recommended unless you're planning to retire imminently, because most members are better off waiting and using the deferred choice with full information.
Partial retirement (and why most people do it)
Most NHS staff who want to retire before NPA find that the actuarial reductions are too steep to take a full early pension. The 2015 scheme's partial retirement option lets you draw some or all of your pension while continuing to work for the NHS, as long as you reduce your hours by at least 10% from your previous level. You keep accruing new pension on your continued service, and the existing benefits keep their inflation protection.
A Band 7 nurse aged 60 with 30 years' service might draw their full 1995 section pension (at NPA 60, no reduction) and 1995 lump sum, then keep working three days a week at Band 7. They continue to build up 2015 scheme pension on the reduced hours, and they have the cash from the lump sum and existing pension to fund a lower-stress life. This is the most common pre-State-Pension-Age strategy for NHS staff with legacy benefits.
For staff in 2015 only (joiners since 2015 with no McCloud remedy applicable), partial retirement is still possible but the actuarial reduction applies to anything drawn before SPA. The hours reduction must be at least 10% and must continue for at least 12 months. The new 2015 scheme regulations from October 2023 also remove the previous abatement rules, so you keep your full pension even if your NHS earnings rise back to pre-retirement levels.
What this calculator does not model
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs), Additional Pension purchases, and Early Retirement Reduction Buy-Outs (ERRBO) are not handled here. ERRBO agreements were available between 2014 and the introduction of the McCloud remedy; they let you pay extra contributions to "buy out" some of the early retirement reduction for service after the ERRBO start date. If you have an ERRBO agreement, request a personalised projection from NHS Pensions Online.
Special Class members of the 1995 section (long-serving nurses, midwives, mental health officers with relevant service from before 1995) have an NPA of 55 rather than 60, and this calculator does not handle the alternative factor tables that apply to them. The Mental Health Officer and Special Class regulations are complex and individual; consult NHS Pensions directly if you think you qualify.
Ill-health retirement, redundancy retirement and step-down options also use different factor tables and rules that aren't included here. The figures shown are for voluntary retirement in normal health, which is the most common case.
Common questions
- Which NHS Pension Scheme am I in?
- Anyone who joined the NHS on or after 1 April 2015 is in the 2015 Scheme only. Anyone who was an active member on 31 March 2022 is in the 2015 Scheme from 1 April 2022, regardless of which scheme they were in before. If you were in the NHS before 1 April 2015 you may have benefits in the 1995 section (joined before 1 April 2008) or the 2008 section (joined between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2015), and the McCloud remedy gives you a choice at retirement about how service from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 is treated.
- What is the McCloud remedy?
- The McCloud judgment ruled the 2015 pension reforms were age-discriminatory because older members were protected from the move to CARE while younger members were not. As remedy, all eligible members had their 2015 scheme service for 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 rolled back to their legacy scheme (1995 or 2008) by default. When you retire, NHS Pensions will give you a Remediable Service Statement showing both options and you choose whichever pays more for your specific circumstances. Younger members in lower pay generally find 2015 better; older members with high final salaries usually find legacy better.
- How does the 2015 CARE scheme actually work?
- The 2015 NHS Pension Scheme is a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme. Each year you earn 1/54th of your pensionable pay as an annual pension chunk. While you're active in the scheme, the chunk is revalued every April by CPI plus 1.5%. When you leave or retire, future revaluation is CPI only. So a £40,000 pensionable salary builds up £40,000 / 54 = £741 of annual pension this year, which becomes part of your pension at retirement. After 35 years of similar service, you'd retire with roughly £26,000 a year of pension in today's money (assuming average pay broadly matches inflation).
- When is my Normal Pension Age?
- 1995 section NPA is 60 (55 for Special Class members — nurses, midwives, mental health officers — with at least 5 years of qualifying service from before 6 March 1995). 2008 section NPA is 65. The 2015 Scheme NPA is your State Pension Age, currently 67 for those born between 1960 and 1977 and rising to 68 for those born after 6 April 1977. Each section's pension can be taken at its own NPA — they don't all have to come into payment at the same time.
- How much is my pension reduced if I retire early?
- The reduction is set by the Government Actuary's Department and varies by section. As a rough guide, retiring 1 year before NPA reduces the pension by about 5%, 3 years early by about 15%, and 5 years early by about 23%. The calculator on this page uses the exact factor tables published by GAD on 7 August 2019. The 1995 section also reduces the mandatory lump sum, with smaller reductions than for the pension (because the lump sum is taken upfront).
- Can I take a tax-free lump sum from the NHS Pension?
- Yes. The 1995 section automatically pays a tax-free lump sum equal to 3 years of your annual pension. The 2008 section and 2015 Scheme don't have an automatic lump sum, but you can commute some of your annual pension into a tax-free lump sum at a rate of £12 of lump sum for every £1 of annual pension given up. HMRC caps the total tax-free lump sum at 25% of the capital value of your benefits. For most NHS staff this means giving up roughly 40% of pension for a lump sum equal to 5 times the remaining annual pension.
- Can I keep working in the NHS after taking my pension?
- Yes. The 2015 Scheme allows partial retirement: you can draw all or part of your pension while reducing your hours by at least 10%, and keep building up further pension. The 1995 and 2008 sections require you to fully retire from your current job for at least 24 hours to take the pension, but you can return to NHS work after that (potentially with a reduced contract). Pension abatement rules used to claw back NHS pension if your post-retirement NHS earnings exceeded your pre-retirement earnings, but most of these were suspended in 2022 and have not been reintroduced.
- What pension contributions am I paying?
- NHS Pension Scheme 2015 has tiered employee contributions: 5.2% at the lowest band, rising through 6.5%, 8.3%, 9.8% and 10.7% to 12.5% at the top. Your tier is set by your pensionable pay. The contribution comes off your gross salary before income tax is calculated, so you get tax relief at your marginal rate. The employer pays an additional 23.7% of your salary on top, regardless of which tier you're in. The contribution is paid into the wider NHS Pension Scheme rather than a personal pot.