Civil Service AO Salary 2026/27: What You Take Home
Administrative Officer is the grade above Administrative Assistant. Cabinet Office publishes the two as one combined band: the median across the whole Civil Service was £28,020 as at 31 March 2026, the most recent departmental breakdown available, ranging from £25,500 to £31,990 depending on the department. Take-home below is calculated on 2026/27 tax rates.
Typical pay & take-home
- Median gross
- £28,020
- Typical range
- £25,500–£31,990
- Take-home at median
- £23,694 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.
At the median for this profession, you earn 28% below the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you in the bottom 21% of UK earners.
See exact take-home for £28,020 →
Published medians for each grade, the Senior Civil Service ranges, and how far the nine departments covered here sit either side: Civil Service pay 2026/27, every grade and department →
What influences civil service administrative officer (ao) pay
Pay is delegated to each department, so the same grade pays differently across the Civil Service. On the published figures the AA/AO median ran from £25,500 (UK Statistics Authority) to £31,990 (Ministry of Justice), a spread of £6,490 for nominally the same grade.
AO sits entirely inside the 20% basic-rate band. Even at the £31,990 top of the departmental range the 4.6% contribution leaves £30,518 of taxable pay, £19,752 below the £50,270 higher-rate threshold. After the £12,570 personal allowance every pound is taxed at 20% Income Tax plus 8% Class 1 National Insurance, a 28% marginal rate on most of the salary.
The alpha contribution is 4.6% on pensionable earnings up to £36,199 in 2026/27, which covers the whole of this grade. alpha is a Career Average Revalued Earnings scheme accruing 2.32% of each year of pensionable earnings, and it is a net pay arrangement, so contributions get full Income Tax relief but no NI relief.
AA / AO median pay by department
Civil Service pay is delegated, so the same grade pays differently across departments. These are published medians for the AA / AO responsibility level, as at 31 March 2026 - the most recent departmental breakdown Cabinet Office publishes. They pre-date the 2026/27 pay remit, so treat them as relative positioning between employers rather than current salary.
| Department | AA / AO median | All grades |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Justice | £31,990 | £35,530 |
| Ministry of Defence | £29,030 | £39,120 |
| HM Treasury | £28,090 | £60,670 |
| HMRC | £28,020 | £37,680 |
| DWP | £27,840 | £32,140 |
| Home Office | £27,550 | £39,000 |
| Cabinet Office | £27,410 | £47,670 |
| Dept for Education | £27,240 | £49,000 |
| Dept for Transport | £26,610 | £31,600 |
The source publishes AA / AO as one combined band, so a median for either grade on its own is not available.
Source: Cabinet Office - Civil Service Statistics 2026, Table 25 . Annual awards since the snapshot are set per department under the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance 2026/27 .
Career progression
- AA / AO: £28,020 median.
- EO: £32,140.
- SEO / HEO: £43,930 - Cabinet Office publishes these two grades combined.
- Grade 6 / Grade 7: £65,830, also published combined.
- Senior Civil Service: £95,540.
Frequently asked questions
- What is take-home for a Civil Service AO?
- On the £28,020 median with the 4.6% alpha contribution, take-home is about £22,663 a year or £1,889 a month, after £1,289 pension, £2,832 Income Tax and £1,236 National Insurance. At the £31,990 top of the departmental range it is about £25,375.
- Does AO pay vary between departments?
- Substantially. Departments set their own pay within the government pay remit, and the published AA/AO medians range from £25,500 to £31,990. The figures are as at 31 March 2026, which is the latest departmental breakdown Cabinet Office publishes, so they sit behind the current pay round.
- What does the alpha pension actually give you?
- alpha accrues 2.32% of each year of pensionable earnings as a guaranteed inflation-linked pension from State Pension age. On £28,020 that is about £650 of indexed annual pension earned for every year worked, for a 4.6% contribution.