Take Home Pay
Take Home Pay
This NHS Band 2 salary calculator shows Agenda for Change Band 2 pay points, hourly rates and estimated take-home pay for 2026/27. Enter pay step, contracted hours, High Cost Area Supplement, tax nation, NHS Pension and student loan options to see gross annual and monthly pay, deductions and net take-home. Use it for healthcare assistant and support-worker offers, hour changes, or comparing Inner, Outer and Fringe London weighting. Outputs include Band 2 scale values and net pay so AfC Band 2 earnings are clear before you accept a post or check your ESR payslip.
Estimated net monthly pay
£0.00/mo
| Pay step | Basic | Hourly | Est. net / mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat rate | £25,272 | £12.92 | — |
Figures use NHS Employers AfC 2026/27 scales, HMRC tax/NI/student loan rules and NHS Pension tiers from 1 April 2026. Estimate only — your payslip is authoritative.
For NHS Agenda for Change staff in England, Band 2 is £25,272 a year in 2026/27. These rates are effective from 1 April 2026 and come from the NHS Employers national pay scale. Source: NHS Employers
| Pay point | When reached* | Annual salary | Hourly rate | Indicative pension tier at full-time headline salary** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry / top | From entry | £25,272 | £12.92 | 6.5% |
Note on progression: “When reached” is a concise guide to the current scale, not an automatic promise of progression. Progression is subject to the applicable NHS pay-progression process.
Pension-tier note: The pension percentage is based on actual annual pensionable pay, not simply the full-time headline band. A part-time employee can therefore fall into a different contribution tier.
The official England hourly rate is calculated on the standard 37.5-hour AfC week. The current range is £12.92 to £12.92 per hour. Do not use the England hourly figure for NHS Scotland: Scotland moved Agenda for Change staff to a 36-hour full-time week from 1 April 2026 without loss of overall earnings. Source: Scottish Government
Band 2 currently has the same annual value at entry and top in England, so the pay-progression checkpoint does not create a higher Band 2 salary on the 2026/27 scale.
TThese details belong with this band's pay calculation rather than on a separate page. Progression points and older-year values are covered in the sections and tables on this page.strong>actual annual pensionable pay. On the full-time headline salaries shown above, the indicative tiers are in the table. The national thresholds include 6.5% up to £28,854, 8.3% from £28,855 to £35,155, 9.8% from £35,156 to £52,778, 10.7% from £52,779 to £67,668 and 12.5% from £67,669. Source: NHS Employers
Part-time warning: do not force the full-time contribution rate onto every user. Pension contribution tiers use actual pensionable pay, so contracted hours and pensionable additions can change the tier.
There is no single correct net salary for everyone on Band 2. Take-home pay changes with:
Keep the live calculator as the page's centerpiece and let it calculate the user's net result instead of publishing one “average” figure as if it applied to everyone.
For AfC unsocial-hours payments, Band 2 falls in the band-specific national enhancement structure. The current national rate for this band is +41% for the lower enhancement period and +83% for Sundays/public holidays. The calculation basis and qualifying time are defined by the NHS Terms and Conditions rather than by a generic “night shift” multiplier. Source: NHS Employers — Unsocial hours payments
Yes, where the post qualifies for a High Cost Area Supplement. For 2026/27 in England, HCAS is 20% in Inner London (minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746), 15% in Outer London (minimum £4,870, maximum £6,137) and 5% in Fringe areas (minimum £1,346, maximum £2,270). Source: NHS Employers
HCAS is an addition to basic pay, not a different AfC band. Link users who need the exact supplement to the NHS London Weighting Calculator.
No. Agenda for Change salary tables are not one identical UK-wide value. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can implement different settlements and working-week arrangements. Use the relevant national page rather than silently applying an England value to every user.
NHS Band 2 salary in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is £25,272 a year for 2026/27, paid as a flat rate with no within-band progression. The hourly rate is £12.92 on a 37.5-hour week. After the 6.5% NHS Pension, income tax and National Insurance, take-home pay is £20,401.30 a year, or £1,700.11 a month.
NHS Band 2 salary in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is £25,272 a year for the 2026/27 financial year. The figure comes from the 2026/27 NHS Agenda for Change pay award (3.3%), a consolidated uplift effective from 1 April 2026 NHS Employers.
Band 2 is a single pay point. The Agenda for Change (AfC) pay structure lists a "2 years to progression" marker, but the entry and top values are both £25,272, so no payable increase occurs NHS Employers.
The 3.3% award was paid in full in April 2026 with no back pay UK Parliament, HCWS1340. Around 1.4 million AfC staff received the uplift DHSC.
The 3.3% rise sits below the rate of inflation. UNISON states that 3.3% is not enough for NHS staff UNISON.
Pay point | Annual salary | Years to progression | Hourly rate |
Entry | £25,272 | 2 | £12.92 |
Top | £25,272 | — | £12.92 |
Band 1 is closed to new entrants NHS Employers.
The NHS Band 2 hourly rate is £12.92 an hour for 2026/27. The rate is the annual salary of £25,272 divided by 1,955.4 hours, the standard annualised hours for a full-time contract NHS Employers.
The standard full-time week for Band 2 is 37.5 hours. The NHS Employers table labels this a "37 Hour Week", yet the published £12.92 only reconciles at 37.5 hours, so this page uses the 37.5-hour basis to keep the maths defensible.
Value | Figure |
Annual salary | £25,272 |
Annualised hours | 1,955.4 |
Hourly rate | £12.92 |
No, NHS Band 2 is not below the minimum wage. Band 2 pays £12.92 an hour, and the National Living Wage from April 2026 is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over MoneyHelper. Band 2 sits £0.21 an hour above the legal minimum.
Rate | Hourly |
NHS Band 2 | £12.92 |
National Living Wage (21+) | £12.71 |
NHS Band 2 take-home pay is £20,401.30 a year, or £1,700.11 a month, after the NHS Pension, income tax and National Insurance. These figures use the standard tax code 1257L and a full-time England contract.
The NHS Pension takes 6.5% of a Band 2 salary. At £25,272 this is £1,642.68 a year. Many Band 2 staff see "5.2%" quoted for their pension online, but the live calculator returns 6.5% because Band 2 sits in the 6.5% contribution tier; the 5.2% figure is a lower tier that does not apply at this salary. Member tiers run 5.2%–12.5% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland NHSBSA.
Income tax uses the Personal Allowance of £12,570, with 20% tax from £12,571 to £50,270 TaxAid. On a £25,272 salary this is £2,211.86. National Insurance is £1,016.16.
Deduction | Amount |
Gross salary | £25,272.00 |
NHS Pension (6.5%) | −£1,642.68 |
Income Tax (20%) | −£2,211.86 |
National Insurance | −£1,016.16 |
Net take-home | £20,401.30 / year (£1,700.11 / month) |
Part-time and bank staff are paid pro-rata. The table shows net monthly take-home at common working patterns, calculated with the same 6.5% pension and 1257L tax code.
Working pattern | Gross / year | Net / month |
Full-time (1.0 WTE) | £25,272 | £1,700.11 |
0.9 WTE | £22,744.80 | £1,559.43 |
0.8 WTE | £20,217.60 | £1,418.75 |
0.6 WTE | £15,163.20 | £1,137.38 |
Bank (per hour) | £12.92 / hr | varies with annual hours |
Band 2 earns a flat £12.92 an hour plus unsocial hours enhancements set by AfC. The enhancements are "time plus 41%" for weekday evenings, nights (8pm–6am) and Saturdays, and "time plus 83%" for Sundays and bank holidays nhspaycalculator, unsocial hours.
A weekday night or Saturday shift pays £12.92 × 1.41 = £18.22 an hour. A Sunday or bank-holiday shift pays £12.92 × 1.83 = £23.64 an hour. Enhancements apply to basic pay only; the Higher Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) is excluded from the enhancement base.
Band 2 pay with London weighting uses the Higher Cost Area Supplement (HCAS). HCAS is a percentage of basic salary with statutory caps, not a straight addition. Inner London adds 20% (minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746), Outer London adds 15% (minimum £4,870, maximum £6,137), and the Fringe adds 5% (minimum £1,346, maximum £2,270) NHSBSA HCAS.
Inner London Band 2 staff often assume "20% extra", but because the 20% is capped at £8,746, actual Inner pay is £31,066, not the £30,326 a straight 20% would give. The table shows the confirmed Band 2 inclusive figures NHS Employers.
HCAS area | Supplement % | Annual (incl. HCAS) | Hourly (incl. HCAS) |
Inner London | 20% (cap £8,746) | £31,066 | £15.89 |
Outer London | 15% (cap £6,137) | £30,142 | £15.42 |
Fringe | 5% (cap £2,270) | £26,618 | £13.61 |
Band 2 pay in the four nations follows different uplift rates. England and Wales use the 3.3% Agenda for Change award, Scotland uses 3.75%, and Northern Ireland applies the same framework with a 2026/27 uplift from 1 April 2026 NHS Employers; Health NI.
Scotland's 3.75% comes from a two-year deal with an inflation guarantee of at least 1 percentage point above CPI Scottish circular PCS(AFC)2026/1. The exact Scottish Band 2 annual rate is set in that circular.
The HSCNI pay-bands table listed Band 2 at £24,852, but that table is dated 04/04/2025 and shows the pre-uplift figure HSCNI. The 2026/27 award applies from 1 April 2026.
Nation | 2026/27 Band 2 position |
England | £25,272 (3.3%) |
Wales | £25,272 (3.3%) |
Scotland | 3.75% uplift (exact rate in Scottish circular) |
Northern Ireland | £24,852 pre-uplift; 2026/27 award from 1 April 2026 |
Band 2 is a flat £25,272, while Band 3 runs from £25,760 (entry) to £27,476 (top) for 2026/27 NHS Employers. Band 3 pays £488 more at entry and £2,204 more at the top, and it has a real two-year progression point that Band 2 lacks.
Band | Entry (annual) | Top (annual) | Entry hourly | Top hourly | Progression |
Band 2 | £25,272 | £25,272 | £12.92 | £12.92 | None (flat) |
Band 3 | £25,760 | £27,476 | £13.17 | £14.05 | 2 years |
NHS Band 2 is a flat rate because its entry and top pay points are both £25,272, so no annual increment is paid. The Agenda for Change (AfC) table shows a "2 years to progression" marker, but the two values are identical, so the marker produces no increase NHS Employers.
The 2026/27 salary of £25,272 follows the 2025/26 figure of £24,465, a rise of £807, or 3.3% NHS Employers; nhspaycalculator. The 2025/26 figure itself came from a 3.6% uplift. The table shows the recent Band 2 salaries with their sources.
Year | Band 2 salary | Uplift | Source |
2025/26 | £24,465 | 3.6% | nhspaycalculator |
2026/27 | £25,272 | 3.3% |
No. Band 2 pays £12.92 an hour. The National Living Wage from April 2026 is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, so Band 2 sits £0.21 above the legal minimum MoneyHelper.
AfC staff in England, Wales and NI received a 3.3% consolidated award, effective 1 April 2026 and paid that month with no back pay. Scotland received 3.75% UK Parliament, HCWS1340; Scottish circular PCS(AFC)2026/1.
Band 2 is a flat £25,272. Band 3 runs £25,760 (entry) to £27,476 (top), paying £488–£2,204 more and adding a real two-year progression point NHS Employers.
Entry-level Band 2 pay is £25,272 a year for 2026/27. Band 2 is a single pay point, so entry equals top with no payable increment NHS Employers.
£12.92 an hour, based on the standard 37.5-hour week (£25,272 ÷ 1,955.4 hours). The rate rose 3.3% from 1 April 2026 NHS Employers.
After the 6.5% NHS Pension (£1,642.68), income tax (£2,211.86) and National Insurance (£1,016.16), net pay is £20,401.30 a year, or £1,700.11 a month NHSBSA; TaxAid.