NHS Pension Calculator: CARE & Legacy Illustrations
Explore one part of your England/Wales NHS pension using explicit pay, service and revaluation assumptions. This is an unreduced gross illustration, not an official retirement award.
A £35,000 pensionable year in the 2015 Scheme builds about £648.15 of annual pension before later revaluation. Your full benefit depends on each earned slice, existing rights and when you claim. This tool does not apply a flat early-retirement reduction.
Illustrate one part of your NHS pension
Held constant for every future year entered. Use actual part-time pay, not whole-time equivalent pay.
Whole years, 0–60. Do not enter your whole career again if its pension is already in the accrued figure.
Annual pension, not a transfer value or investment pot. Use a consistent starting statement date. Zero assumes no existing 2015 pension.
Default 0 means no increases, not the scheme rate. Each full year revalues the opening balance, then adds pay ÷ 54. Future CPI, timing and membership changes are not predicted.
67 is a starting example, not an age determination. 2015 normal pension age is your State Pension age or 65 if later.
Age comparison only: this does not establish minimum-age eligibility, protected rights, early reductions or late-retirement additions.
England/Wales NHSBSA officer illustration. Practitioners, mixed sections, Special Class/MHO rights, deferred revaluation, McCloud choices and commutation need a member-specific estimate. All results are gross before tax.
Unreduced gross pension illustration
£6,481.48annual pension before age adjustments or exchanging pension for cash
- Accrual fraction
- 1/54
- Normal pension age used
- 67
- One new year's pension before revaluation
- £648.15
At the normal age used, the unreduced illustration is £540.12 per month, or £124.64 per week before tax. These are annual ÷ 12 and annual ÷ 52 equivalents, not a payment schedule.
This illustrates one scheme component only. It is not your full award, eligibility decision or guaranteed future income. Do not add overlapping remedy-period benefits twice.
Get a member-specific NHSBSA estimateHow to estimate each part of an NHS pension
The 2015 CARE calculation builds a separate annual-pension slice from each year's actual pensionable pay. A £35,000 pensionable year earns £648.15 before later revaluation. Existing benefits and future accrual need to be distinguished. In this illustration the opening balance is revalued, then a full year's pay divided by 54 is added. The same entered pay and percentage are used each year; actual dates, CPI, pay changes and scheme revaluation can differ.
Zero revaluation means no increases for the scenario. It is not a statement of the scheme's actual active-member revaluation rule. Deferred benefits, service breaks and retirement increases have different treatment. Use a statement with a consistent valuation date and avoid adding already-counted years again.
For standard legacy officer illustrations, 1995 uses relevant pay × reckonable membership ÷ 80, with a standard automatic lump sum of three times pension. 2008 uses reckonable pay × membership ÷ 60. The relevant 1995 pay is generally the best of the last three years; 2008 reckonable pay generally averages the best three consecutive years in the last ten. Whole career salary or current pay may be the wrong input. Practitioner and protected-right calculations are excluded.
Worked pension illustrations
All rows use £35,000 relevant pay. These are separate scenarios, not components of one person's pension. Values are gross and unreduced, before pension-for-cash exchanges.
| Scenario | Annual pension | Standard automatic lump sum |
|---|---|---|
| 2015: 10 future years, no increases | £6,481.48 | £0.00 |
| 2015: £5,000 accrued + 10 years, illustrative 2% revaluation | £13,192.01 | £0.00 |
| 1995 officer: 20 reckonable years | £8,750.00 | £26,250.00 |
| 2008 officer: 20 reckonable years | £11,666.67 | £0.00 |
The 2% row is a sensitivity example, not a forecast or the current scheme revaluation rate. Zero automatic cash in the 2008 row describes a standard member, not all optant cases.
Early retirement, normal pension age and lump sums
Normal pension age and minimum access age are different. Your personal history and protections matter. A selected age does not establish eligibility. Early and late retirement use scheme-specific factors, so a flat percentage per year is not applied here. The 2015 normal age follows your State Pension age, with a minimum normal age of 65; legacy sections have their own ages and exceptions.
Some members have benefits in more than one section, with different normal ages. McCloud choices cover the remedy period for eligible members, rather than making one scheme universally better. Commutation, any mandatory lump sum, ill health, partial retirement and Special Class/MHO rights need individual assessment. Use NHSBSA's estimate guidance and your benefit statement before deciding when to claim.
Plan other retirement resources separately with the State Pension estimate or defined-contribution drawdown tool. NHS defined benefits are not a drawdown investment pot.
NHS pension contribution rates from 1 April 2026
The NHSBSA England/Wales member table uses relevant actual annual pensionable pay to determine a contribution rate. These are membership costs, not the accrual fraction or a personal pot balance. Multiple posts and practitioner rules can differ.
| Published annual pay range | Member rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £13,259 | 5.2% |
| £13,260–£28,854 | 6.5% |
| £28,855–£35,155 | 8.3% |
| £35,156–£52,778 | 9.8% |
| £52,779–£67,668 | 10.7% |
| £67,669 and above | 12.5% |
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