NHS Band 3 take-home pay 2026/27
NHS Band 3 (emergency care assistants, senior HCAs, admin) pays £25,760 at the entry point rising to £27,476 at the top of the band under the Agenda for Change scales effective 1 April 2026 (England, checked 2026-08-29 against NHS Employers). At the entry point that is £1,838.90 a month in your pocket after income tax and National Insurance on the 2026/27 rates, and £1,941.86 a month at the top of the band, before NHS pension contributions, which are tiered by pay and reduce take-home further while earning tax relief and one of the best pensions in the UK. With a Plan 2 student loan (most who qualified 2012-2023), entry-point take-home is £1,838.90 a month.
Band 3 after tax, 2026/27
| Pay point | Annual | Take-home / year | Take-home / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry point | £25,760 | £22,066.80 | £1,838.90 |
| Top of band | £27,476 | £23,302.32 | £1,941.86 |
Standard 1257L code, England bands, no pension or student loan. Unsocial-hours enhancements (Section 2), High Cost Area Supplements in and around London, and NHS pension contributions all change the real payslip, use the main calculator to add your own pension rate and student loan plan.
How much does a Band 3 nurse take home?
Nursing posts start at Band 5, so there are no Band 3 nurses; the band covers emergency care assistants, senior HCAs, admin. Whoever holds it, Band 3 take-home is £1,838.90 a month at the entry point and £1,941.86 a month at the top of the band on the 2026/27 rates, before NHS pension contributions.
What is the NHS Band 3 pay scale for 2026/27?
The Band 3 scale runs from £25,760 at the entry point to £27,476 at the top, under the Agenda for Change scales effective 1 April 2026 in England. You move up the band by pay-step progression at set intervals, not annual increments, and any nationally agreed pay award changes the whole scale from the April it takes effect.
Source: NHS Employers pay scales 2026/27, checked 2 September 2026.
Band 3 with London weighting
Posts in and around London add a High Cost Area Supplement on top of the band salary. The headline rates are 20% in Inner London, 15% in Outer London and 5% in Fringe, but each carries a cash floor and a ceiling, so the rate you get depends on the salary it applies to. At Band 3 no zone pays its headline percentage.
| Zone | Supplement | Effective rate | Take-home/year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inner Londonat the minimum | £5,794 | 22.5% | £26,238.48 | £2,186.54 |
| Outer Londonat the minimum | £4,870 | 18.9% | £25,573.20 | £2,131.10 |
| Fringeat the minimum | £1,346 | 5.2% | £23,035.92 | £1,919.66 |
At £25,760 the 20% inner London rate would be £5,152, but the zone pays no less than £5,794 and no more than £8,746. That is why the effective rate above is not the headline one: the floor lifts the lowest bands above it and the ceiling pulls the highest bands below it. The supplement is ordinary pay: taxed, National Insurance charged, and pensionable. How London weighting works covers the zones, the boundaries and what the supplement does and does not count for.
Supplement rates, floors and ceilings from NHS terms and conditions handbook, annex 9, effective 1 April 2026, checked 18 September 2026. Which zone a post sits in follows the employer, not where you live.
Band 3 after the NHS Pension contribution
The take-home above leaves the pension out. Almost every Band 3 post is in the NHS Pension Scheme, whose member contribution is a percentage of the whole salary, set by the tier the salary falls into: 6.5% across the whole of Band 3. It is deducted before income tax, so it earns relief at your marginal rate, and after National Insurance, so it saves no NI. Tiers from 1 April 2026, checked 20 September 2026.
| Pay point | Tier rate | Contribution / year | Take-home / year | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry · £25,760 | 6.5% | −£1,674.40 | £20,727.28 | £1,727.27 |
| Top · £27,476 | 6.5% | −£1,785.94 | £21,873.57 | £1,822.80 |
Tier thresholds from NHSBSA, England, uplifted each April. Part-time, bank and overtime pay follow scheme rules of their own.
Every band, as take-home
- Band 2£1,809.62
- Band 3£1,838.90 – £1,941.86
- Band 4£1,996.82 – £2,162.72
- Band 5£2,217.68 – £2,635.88
- Band 6£2,690.84 – £3,180.32
- Band 7£3,256.52 – £3,611.34
- Band 8a£3,660.30 – £4,009.37
entry pointprogression to top of band
| Band | Gross | Take-home | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 2 | £25,272 | £21,715 | £1,809.62 |
| Band 3 | £25,760 | £22,067 | £1,838.90 |
| Band 4 | £28,392 | £23,962 | £1,996.82 |
| Band 5 | £32,073 | £26,612 | £2,217.68 |
| Band 6 | £39,959 | £32,290 | £2,690.84 |
| Band 7 | £49,387 | £39,078 | £3,256.52 |
| Band 8a | £57,528 | £43,924 | £3,660.30 |
Entry point of each band. Excludes the NHS pension, which is a significant deduction, and any high cost area supplement. Scales effective 1 April 2026, checked 2026-08-29. Tax and NI from HMRC 2026/27.
All Agenda for Change bands
Scales from NHS Employers (England, from 1 April 2026); tax figures computed on 2026/27 HMRC rates, checked 28 August 2026 by Hadi. Scotland, Wales and NI have separate NHS scales.