NHS Superannuation Contribution Calculator
The NHS Pension Scheme charges a tiered employee contribution based on your total pensionable pay or superannuable profit for the year. This calculator applies the 2026/27 NHSBSA tier table, shows the deemed employer contribution (23.7%) that feeds your Annual Allowance adjusted-income test, and estimates your net cost after income-tax relief. GP partners and locums can use the result to complete Form A or Form B.
NHS Superannuation Contribution Calculator
The NHS Pension Scheme charges a tiered employee contribution based on your total pensionable pay or superannuable profit for the year. This calculator applies the 2026/27 NHSBSA tier table, shows the deemed employer contribution (23.7%) that feeds your Annual Allowance adjusted-income test, and estimates your net cost after income-tax relief. GP partners and locums can use the result to complete Form A or Form B.
GP partners and locums enter superannuable profit; salaried and hospital doctors enter NHS pensionable pay.
GP partners and locums: superannuable profit, not gross turnover. Salaried and hospital doctors: NHS pensionable pay from your payslip or NHSBSA statement.
Used only for the net-of-relief line. Relief is given via self-assessment or PAYE, not deducted here.
2026/27 NHSBSA tiered contribution rates (England and Wales). The tier is set by your total pensionable pay for the year and the rate applies to the whole amount, not just the slice above each threshold. Enter your superannuable profit as a GP partner. This is your net NHS income after practice expenses but before superannuation. You report this on Form B each July. The deemed employer contribution (23.7%) is the figure to add to threshold income when checking the Annual Allowance taper (adjusted income = threshold income + deemed employer contribution). The combined pension input proxy is an approximation; your actual pension input amount is calculated separately by NHS Pensions. These are estimates, not advice.
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Get the NHS Pension annual allowance model
Whether your NHS pension growth breaches the annual allowance once the taper is applied, with the estimated tax charge, on live formulas. The taper made explicit: threshold income over £200,000 AND adjusted income over £260,000, reducing the allowance to a £10,000 floor.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Your figures (edit the blue cells) | ||||||||||
| 2 | Threshold income | £150,000 | |||||||||
| 3 | NHS pension input amount (growth this year) | £40,000 | |||||||||
| 4 | Marginal income tax rate | Higher rate 40% | |||||||||
| 5 | Your annual allowance position | ||||||||||
| 6 | Annual allowance (tapered or standard) | £60,000 (standard) | |||||||||
| 7 | Adjusted income | £190,000 | |||||||||
| 8 | Excess over allowance | £0 | |||||||||
| 9 | Estimated annual allowance charge: £0 (within the standard £60,000 allowance) | ||||||||||
| 10 | |||||||||||
| 11 | |||||||||||
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How NHS superannuation contributions are calculated
The NHS Pension Scheme uses a tiered contribution structure where the rate you pay depends on your total pensionable pay or superannuable profit for the year. Unlike income tax, the same rate applies to your whole pay, not just the slice above each threshold. For 2026/27, the tiers run from 5.2% on pay up to £13,259 through to 12.5% on pay of £67,669 and above. The NHSBSA reviews the thresholds each April alongside the pay uplift; the six contribution rates are unchanged from 2025/26, with only the pay-band thresholds uplifted by CPI.
What counts as pensionable pay depends on your role. Salaried GPs and hospital doctors use their NHS pensionable pay (the contracted figure on payslips and the NHSBSA annual benefit statement). GP partners and locums pay contributions on superannuable profit, which is broadly net NHS income after practice expenses but before the superannuation deduction itself, not gross turnover or total drawings. Partners report this figure on Form B each July; locums declare per-session earnings on Form A for each practice and carry the total to Form B.
Alongside your employee contribution, the NHS makes a deemed employer contribution of 23.7% of pensionable pay (the NHSBSA rate from 1 April 2024, unchanged for 2026/27). This figure matters beyond pension funding: it is the number you add to your threshold income to work out adjusted income for the Annual Allowance taper test. If your threshold income exceeds £200,000 and your adjusted income exceeds £260,000, your Annual Allowance tapers down from £60,000 towards a £10,000 floor. Carry the deemed employer figure from this tool straight into the NHS Pension Annual Allowance Calculator.
The combined pension input proxy shown by this tool is the employee plus deemed employer contributions added together. It is an approximation only. Your actual pension input amount for Annual Allowance purposes is the capitalised growth in your defined-benefit entitlement, calculated by NHS Pensions using a standard multiplier (16x for the 2015 CARE scheme), and it can differ materially from the contributions paid. Always work from your NHSBSA pension savings statement before concluding anything about an Annual Allowance breach.
Worked example: a GP partner with superannuable profit of £120,000 in 2026/27. £120,000 sits in the top tier (£67,669 and above), so the employee rate is 12.5% on the whole amount: £120,000 x 12.5% = £15,000. The deemed employer contribution is £120,000 x 23.7% = £28,440, giving a combined pension input proxy of £43,440. As a higher-rate taxpayer the partner receives 40% income-tax relief on the £15,000 employee contribution via self-assessment, so the net cost is £15,000 x 60% = £9,000.
Employee contributions attract income-tax relief at your marginal rate. GP partners and locums claim it through self-assessment; salaried doctors normally receive it automatically because NHS payroll deducts contributions under a net-pay arrangement before tax is calculated. Note also the cliff-edge effect of the stepped structure: because the rate applies to your whole pay, a small pay rise that pushes you over a tier threshold increases the rate on everything, not just the extra slice. Pay of £67,668 attracts 10.7% (£7,240 or so), while £67,669 attracts 12.5% (£8,459), a jump of over £1,200 for £1 of extra pay.
Frequently asked questions
- Does the tier rate apply to all my pay or just the part above the threshold?
- All of it. NHS superannuation is a stepped charge, not a marginal one like income tax. Your total pensionable pay for the year determines a single tier, and that tier's rate applies to the whole amount. This is why crossing a tier threshold by even £1 can increase your annual contribution by a four-figure sum: the higher rate is charged on everything, not just the slice above the threshold.
- What figure do I enter as a GP partner or locum?
- Your superannuable profit, not gross turnover or drawings. For partners this is broadly your net NHS income after practice expenses but before the superannuation deduction, reported on Form B each July. Locums declare superannuable earnings for each practice on Form A (usually 90% of the invoiced fee, with 10% treated as an expense allowance) and carry the annual total to Form B. If you also have non-NHS private income, exclude it; only NHS income is superannuable.
- What is the deemed employer contribution and why do I care?
- It is the 23.7% of pensionable pay that the NHS contributes on your behalf (the NHSBSA rate from 1 April 2024). You never see it in your pay, but it directly affects your tax position: HMRC's Annual Allowance taper test uses adjusted income, which is your threshold income plus the deemed employer contribution. If threshold income exceeds £200,000 and adjusted income exceeds £260,000, your £60,000 Annual Allowance starts tapering towards £10,000. High-earning GPs and consultants routinely trip this test because of the deemed employer figure, so it is worth calculating even though it is not money out of your pocket.
- Is the combined figure my pension input amount for Annual Allowance purposes?
- No. The combined pension input proxy here is just employee plus deemed employer contributions, which is a useful rough gauge but not the official figure. For a defined-benefit scheme like the NHS Pension, the pension input amount is the capitalised growth in your accrued entitlement over the year, calculated by NHS Pensions using a 16x multiplier on the increase in annual pension. Request or check your NHSBSA pension savings statement for the real number before acting on any Annual Allowance concern.
- How do I get tax relief on my contributions?
- At your marginal income-tax rate. Salaried GPs and hospital doctors get relief automatically: contributions are deducted under a net-pay arrangement before payroll calculates income tax. GP partners and locums pay contributions gross (deducted from drawings at source for partners, or paid over with Form B for locums) and claim the relief through self-assessment. A higher-rate taxpayer contributing £15,000 has a true net cost of £9,000 after 40% relief. No National Insurance is charged on employee pension contributions either, which adds a further saving for self-employed doctors paying Class 4 NI.
- Which tier table does this calculator use, and does it cover Scotland and Northern Ireland?
- It uses the 2026/27 NHSBSA tier table for England and Wales, effective from 1 April 2026. The six rates (5.2% to 12.5%) are unchanged from 2025/26; only the pay-band thresholds were uplifted in line with CPI, apart from the Tier 1 upper limit which is frozen. Scotland (SPPA) and Northern Ireland (HSC) run their own schemes with similar but not identical tier tables, so if you are in either of those schemes treat the result as indicative and check the relevant administrator's published rates.
Need help interpreting your results?
These calculators provide simplified estimates based on standard rates. Your actual position depends on your NHS pension position, carry-forward entitlement, IR35 status, and income from all sources. We model the full picture as part of our advisory work.
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