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
- Median gross
- £48,243
- Typical range
- £46,022–£56,611
- Take-home at median
- £38,255 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.
At the median for this profession, you earn about 24% above the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you in the top 35% of UK earners.
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?
- The published scales are close on gross - an Army Sergeant runs £46,022 to £56,611 depending on trade supplement, a Police Sergeant £53,568 to £56,208. The difference is the pension: the Armed Forces scheme takes nothing from pay, while a police officer contributes 13.88% of it. On the £54,660 middle point of the police sergeant scale that is £7,587 a year of gross pay the soldier keeps and the officer does not, in exchange for a different benefit structure.