nhs agenda for change pay scales
Here’s a high-level “quick scoop” on the NHS Agenda for Change pay scales for 2025/26, plus some current context and forum-style flavour.
What “Agenda for Change” means
Agenda for Change (AfC) is the national NHS pay framework covering most non‑medical staff, from healthcare assistants to nurses, AHPs, and many admin/managerial roles.
- It uses Bands 2–9 for most AfC staff (Band 1 is now effectively closed to new starters and rarely used).
- Each band has several pay points (sometimes called spine points or “years in band”) you move through with experience and satisfactory performance.
- Pay is set nationally each year (typically from 1 April) and then adjusted for high‑cost areas via London weighting/HCAS.
2025/26 pay award – what changed?
For 2025/26, AfC staff received a 3.6% pay rise on average , backdated to 1 April 2025.
- This uplift applies across the AfC pay structure and is reflected in the new 2025/26 pay tables published by NHS Employers and other calculators.
- The increase follows several years of contested pay settlements and industrial action, so it’s being watched closely by staff and unions.
- Some bands/points may effectively rise slightly more or less once rounded to nearest pound and adjusted for minimum wage compliance.
2025/26 pay bands – headline figures (England, core AfC)
Below is a simplified snapshot of typical annual AfC pay ranges for 2025/26 in England (core rates, not including HCAS). Exact values can vary slightly between official tables and third‑party calculators, but this gives you the shape of the structure.
Note: Figures are rounded and indicative; always check the latest official table for precise numbers.
Approximate 2025/26 pay ranges (annual)
| AfC Band | Typical entry point | Typical top point | Example roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 2 | ~£24,000–£25,000 | [1][3]~£26,000–£27,000 | [3][1]Healthcare assistant, porter, domestic assistant | [6]
| Band 3 | ~£25,000–£26,000 | [1][3]~£28,000–£30,000 | [3][1]Senior HCA, therapy assistant, clinical support worker | [6]
| Band 4 | ~£27,000–£28,000 | [1][3]~£31,000–£32,000 | [3][1]Assistant practitioner, medical secretary, associate roles | [6]
| Band 5 | ~£31,000–£33,000 | [1][3]~£37,000–£41,000 | [3][1]Newly qualified nurse, physio, radiographer, ODP | [6]
| Band 6 | ~£38,000–£40,000 | [1][3]~£46,000–£50,000 | [3][1]Senior nurse, specialist nurse, experienced AHP | [6]
| Band 7 | ~£47,000–£50,000 | [1][3]~£54,000–£59,000 | [3][1]Ward manager, advanced practitioner, team leader | [6]
| Band 8a | ~£55,000–£58,000 | [1][3]~£62,000–£66,000 | [3][1]Service manager, matron, senior advanced practitioner | [6]
| Band 8b | ~£64,000–£68,000 | [1][3]~£74,000–£78,000 | [3][1]Divisional manager, senior matron | [6]
| Band 8c | ~£76,000–£81,000 | [1][3]~£88,000–£92,000 | [3][1]Associate director roles, senior operational leads | [6]
| Band 8d | ~£91,000–£97,000 | [1][3]~£105,000–£110,000 | [3][1]Heads of service, large‑scale operational leadership | [6]
| Band 9 | ~£109,000–£116,000 | [1]~£125,000–£130,000 | [1]Very senior operational/strategic roles (non‑VSM) | [6]
Where to see the exact current tables
If you need precise numbers for a job offer, banding query, or rota planning, the safest places to look are:
- NHS Employers – Pay scales 2025/26
- Official annual and hourly pay tables for each band and pay point, including High Cost Area Supplements (Inner London, Outer London, Fringe).
- GOV.UK – NHS pay award 2025–26
- Confirms the policy decision (3.6% uplift) and how it applies across AfC.
- Trusted pay calculators (e.g., CheckAWage, NHS bands sites)
- Let you plug in band, point, hours, pension and tax code to estimate take‑home pay.
- Your trust’s intranet / HR
- Many trusts host localised tables that show exactly how HCAS and any local agreements apply to you.
Forum chatter and common questions
On NHS‑focused forums and Reddit, people are still trying to make sense of how the new scales interact with contracts, job offers, and increments.
Typical themes:
- “My offer was made on the old scale – should it be updated?”
- New starters offered roles before an uplift sometimes see their contract issued on old pay, with updated pay flowing through later; staff often advise raising it with HR if it hasn’t updated after a couple of payslips.
- Increment dates vs. pay awards
- Your increment (moving to the next point in the band) is separate from the annual pay award ; both can change your pay in the same year but are calculated differently.
- Minimum wage adjustments
- Lower bands in particular now see temporary uplifts at the bottom spine points to ensure compliance with the National Minimum Wage, which can create some odd‑looking per‑hour figures.
A very common bit of peer advice is:
“Always check your payslip against the latest AfC table for your band, point and location – and if it doesn’t match, politely email HR with the official table attached.”
How to quickly check your likely pay
If you’re trying to get a quick feel for what “Band X” means for you in 2025/26, a simple approach many people use is:
- Identify your band and pay point from your offer letter or ESR record (e.g., Band 5, pay step point 2).
- Look up the exact 2025/26 table and match the band + point for your annual and hourly rate.
- Apply any HCAS depending on whether you are in Inner London, Outer London or Fringe.
- Use an online NHS pay calculator to convert to monthly gross and approximate take‑home, including pension.
If you tell me your band, years in band (or pay step), hours per week, and location , I can walk through a tailored example of what your 2025/26 pay is likely to look like (including a rough monthly figure). Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.
