Take Home Pay
Take Home Pay
This NHS Scotland pay calculator is for Agenda for Change staff employed by NHS Boards in Scotland who need take-home pay from official Scotland AfC cash points for 2026/27, not England scales. Enter band, pay step, hours, High Cost Area where relevant, Scottish Income Tax treatment, National Insurance, NHS Pension tier and student loan Plan 4. It returns monthly and annual net pay, hourly basic and a side-by-side England comparison so you can see the Scotland versus England cash gap before accepting a post. Use it when you change band, hours or nation. Figures follow Scotland AfC and SPPA/NHS Pension contribution logic for transparent Scottish NHS pay decisions.
Scotland estimated net monthly
£0.00/mo
The Scotland tax calculator compares Scottish vs rUK tax on the same (usually England) gross. This page uses official Scotland AfC cash points first, then applies Scottish tax — so Band 5 entry is £34,544, not £32,073.
Scotland AfC cash: Scottish Government NHS pay rates 2026/27 (+3.75% from 1 April 2026). Tax: Scottish Income Tax bands 2026/27. NI and NHS Pension tiers UK-wide. England comparator uses NHS Employers England AfC 2026/27 nearest pay point with rUK tax. Estimate only — your Board payslip is authoritative.
Sixty free tools covering Agenda for Change pay, the NHS Pension Scheme, tax, leave, absence and leaving the NHS — updated for 2026/27. Start from a pillar hub, then drill into the cluster that matches your question.
This NHS Scotland pay calculator fills the gap left by England-scale tools: it prices Agenda for Change using official Scotland cash points for 2026/27, then applies Scottish Income Tax, UK National Insurance and NHS Pension contributions — and shows how that compares with the nearest England AfC point.
Official sources: Scottish Government NHS pay rates · NHS Employers England pay scales 2026/27 · Scottish Income Tax (GOV.UK) · Scotland pay rise guide.
Scotland negotiates Agenda for Change separately from the UK Pay Review Body. The current multi-year deal delivers 3.75% from 1 April 2026 (after 4.4% in 2025/26, including an inflation-guarantee uplift). Headline cash points for 2026/27 include:
| Band | Scotland entry | Scotland top | England entry (comparator) |
| Band 5 | £34,544 | £43,039 | £32,073 |
| Band 6 | £43,231 | £52,679 | £39,959 |
| Band 7 | £52,845 | £61,466 | £49,387 |
| Band 8a | £65,125 | £70,303 | £57,528 |
Band 5 entry is about £2,471 a year higher in Scotland than England before tax. Scottish Income Tax bands are steeper in places, so take-home is not the full gross gap — which is why this calculator shows both.
Two things change when you work for an NHS Scotland Board:
National Insurance and NHS Pension contribution tiers remain UK-wide. There is no London HCAS in Scotland.
Our separate Scotland tax calculator isolates tax regime differences on a shared gross. Use this page when you need the Scotland cash scale itself.
Scotland AfC still uses Section 2-style unsocial enhancements for eligible bands, but contracted full-time hours can differ from England’s 37.5-hour week in some Board contracts (many tools model Scotland at 36 hours for hourly maths). Always check your Board’s contract and ESR hourly rate. Add estimated night / weekend hours above to uplift gross.
Pay follows the employer you join. Starting with an NHS Scotland Board puts you on Scotland AfC cash points from your first contract. HMRC usually updates your tax code to Scottish rates after you register a Scottish address — expect a short lag where tax coding may still show rUK until corrected.
£34,544 at entry, £36,911 at the mid point, and £43,039 at the top of Band 5 — from Scottish Government NHS pay rates.
Yes on gross AfC cash at every common band for 2026/27. Net pay is still usually higher in Scotland for the same band/step, but Scottish Income Tax reduces part of the headline gap.
3.75% from 1 April 2026 under the multi-year AfC deal (following 4.4% in 2025/26).
If you are a Scottish taxpayer (usually living in Scotland), yes — Scottish Income Tax applies to your employment income.
No. That tool compares tax regimes on a shared gross. This tool uses Scotland AfC cash points first, then Scottish tax, with an England comparator.
Scottish Government publishes NHS staff pay rates on gov.scot; Health Workforce circulars (PCS(AFC)) confirm Board implementation.
See also Scotland tax vs rUK, Wales pay, Northern Ireland pay, England Band 5, and the Scotland pay rise guide.