What is take-home for an Army Sergeant?

On £48,243, the level 4 rate on trade supplement 1, take-home is about £38,255 a year or £3,188 a month after £7,135 Income Tax and £2,854 National Insurance. There is no pension deduction. At the £56,611 top of supplement 4 it is about £43,392.

How does Army Sergeant compare to Police Sergeant?

An Army Sergeant runs £46,022 to £56,611 depending on trade supplement. A Police Sergeant is on £53,568 to £56,208 on the scale awaiting the determination that implements the 3.5% award from 1 September 2026. The bigger difference is the pension: the Armed Forces scheme takes nothing from pay, while a police officer on that scale contributes 13.88% of it - £7,587 a year at the £54,660 middle point, which the soldier keeps and the officer does not, in exchange for a different benefit structure.

Army Sergeant Salary 2026/27: OR-6 Take-Home

Sergeant is the senior NCO rank above Corporal. On the AFPRB pay scales in force from 1 April 2026, an OR-6 is paid £46,022 to £50,598 on trade supplement 1 and up to £56,611 on trade supplement 4, figures that already include X-Factor. They reflect the 3.6% award the Government accepted in full on 9 June 2026, backdated to 1 April 2026.

Typical pay & take-home

OR6-04, supplement 1: £48,243
OR6-01 to OR6-06, trade supplements 1 to 4: £46,022–£56,611
Take-home on that salary: £38,255 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.

At £48,243, you earn about 24% above the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you between the 50th percentile (£39,039) and the 75th percentile (£54,009) of UK full-time earnings.

See exact take-home for £48,243 →

The AFPRB scales after the 3.6% award, with the four trade supplements for Other Ranks and take-home on a non-contributory pension: Armed forces pay scales 2026/27, every rank →

What influences army sergeant pay

On trade supplement 1 every increment except the last sits below the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, and the top one clears it only just: OR6-06 pays £50,598. On supplement 4 the whole rank is above the threshold from the first increment, so the marginal rate there is 42% - 40% Income Tax plus 2% National Insurance.

Trade supplement, not rank, decides which side of that threshold a Sergeant spends most of the rank on. At the top increment the same rank pays £50,598 on supplement 1 and £56,611 on supplement 4.

Recruitment and retention payments and specialist pay are paid on top of these rates and are taxable. They are set separately from the main pay spine, so they do not appear in the salary tables here.

Career progression

OR-4 (Corporal), level 6: £43,826 on supplement 1.
OR-6 (Sergeant), level 1: £46,022 on supplement 1, £51,024 on supplement 4.
OR-6, level 6: £50,598 on supplement 1, £56,611 on supplement 4.
OR-7 / OR-8 (Staff Sergeant, Warrant Officer 2): £51,615 to £60,271 on supplement 1.
OR-9 (Warrant Officer 1): £64,704 to £67,201 on supplement 1.

Frequently asked questions

What is take-home for an Army Sergeant?: On £48,243, the level 4 rate on trade supplement 1, take-home is about £38,255 a year or £3,188 a month after £7,135 Income Tax and £2,854 National Insurance. There is no pension deduction. At the £56,611 top of supplement 4 it is about £43,392.
How does Army Sergeant compare to Police Sergeant?: An Army Sergeant runs £46,022 to £56,611 depending on trade supplement. A Police Sergeant is on £53,568 to £56,208 on the scale awaiting the determination that implements the 3.5% award from 1 September 2026. The bigger difference is the pension: the Armed Forces scheme takes nothing from pay, while a police officer on that scale contributes 13.88% of it - £7,587 a year at the £54,660 middle point, which the soldier keeps and the officer does not, in exchange for a different benefit structure.

All UK professions →

Sources

Armed Forces' Pay Review Body, Fifty-Fifth Report 2026, Appendix 1
ONS - ASHE 2025 Table 14.7a, annual pay by SOC 2020 occupation (occupational pay)
ONS — Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025 (UK full-time median and percentiles)
HMRC — Rates and thresholds 2026/27
Our full methodology & calculation sources →