What is take-home for a salaried GP at the bottom of the contract range?

On the £78,699 contract floor with the 12.5% NHS pension tier, take-home is about £50,300 a year, or £4,192 a month, after £9,837 pension, £14,977 Income Tax and £3,585 National Insurance. The contribution is deducted before Income Tax, so adjusted net income is £68,862, below the £100,000 point where the personal allowance taper starts.

Does the £100k personal allowance taper bite at the top of the contract range?

Yes - the £118,759 top of the contract range sits in the £100,000-£125,140 taper zone. The PA loses £1 for every £2 above £100k, creating a 62% effective marginal rate on income in this band once the 2% National Insurance is counted. Note the 12.5% net pay contribution comes off first, so on £118,759 gross only about £3,914 actually sits inside the taper. The NHS Pension Scheme and its AVC arrangements are net pay arrangements, not salary sacrifice, so they reduce taxable pay but not gross pay. A relief-at-source personal pension contribution is the usual lever: it does not cut gross pay either, but it reduces adjusted net income and so restores personal allowance.

How does the 2026/27 dividend rate rise affect GPs with private practice?

For a higher-rate GP extracting extra private-practice profit from a limited company, dividends are now the dearer route at the margin. Corporation Tax at the 25% main rate and then 35.75% upper-rate dividend tax take a combined 51.81% of each pound of profit, and 52.78% where profits fall between the small profits and main rate limits, because marginal relief puts the marginal Corporation Tax rate at 26.5% there. Paid as salary instead, the same pound first bears 15% employer National Insurance but is deductible for Corporation Tax, and 40% Income Tax plus 2% employee NI leave a combined 49.57%. The dividend upper rate rose by 2 percentage points from 6 April 2026. Pension contributions, the dividend allowance and a director's other income all change the comparison, so run your own figures.

Salaried GP Salary 2026/27: Contract range £78,699-£118,759

DDRB salaried GP pay range for 2026/27 in England rose to £78,699-£118,759 after the DDRB 54th Report 3.5% uplift (up from £76,038-£114,743 in 2025/26). Salaried GPs (employed by GP partners or PCNs) sit between newly qualified at the bottom of the range and senior or extended-hours GPs at the top.

Typical pay & take-home

Salaried GP contract range minimum, England 2026/27: £78,699
Salaried GP contract range, England 2026/27: £78,699–£118,759
Take-home on that salary: £50,300 England, after the 12.5% NHS pension contribution, Income Tax and NI.

At £78,699, you earn about 102% above the UK full-time median (£39,039), which is above the 90th percentile of UK full-time earnings (£76,903), the highest point ONS publishes.

See exact take-home for £78,699 →

What influences salaried gp (general practitioner) pay

The range is recommended by the DDRB, accepted by DHSC and promulgated in the NHS Employers pay circular. For a GMS practice, the GMS Contracts Regulations require the contractor to offer a salaried GP terms no less favourable than the model salaried GP contract; a breach is dealt with through the remedial and breach-notice machinery in Schedule 3, not by automatic revocation. PMS and APMS agreements are separate contracts. Where a salaried GP sits within the range depends on sessions worked (1 session = 4 hours 10 minutes), experience, and what the practice agrees.

NHS Pension Scheme employee contribution at this salary band is 12.5%, the top tier in 2026/27: it applies to members whose pensionable pay is above £67,668 and is charged on the whole of that pay, not only the part above the threshold. The CARE 2015 scheme accrues 1/54th of pensionable earnings per year. Annual Allowance interactions matter: the Annual Allowance only tapers where BOTH threshold income exceeds £200,000 and adjusted income exceeds £260,000 - and adjusted income adds back the pension input amount, so it is not the same measure as adjusted net income. The taper removes £1 of allowance for every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, down to a £10,000 floor.

NHS England's GP Earnings and Expenses Estimates put average income before tax for salaried GPs in England at £74,800 in 2024/25, below the contract floor, against £164,200 for contractor GPs. The two figures measure different things: the range is what a post pays for 2026/27, while the estimate is an average from a weighted sample of HMRC Self Assessment records, not adjusted for hours worked, excluding GPs with non-medical self-employment income, and for a year two pay rounds earlier.

Career progression

GP Registrar (ST3): £67,325 basic at nodal point 4a, plus the £11,508 GP Registrar Enhancement for general practice placements - about £78,833 full-time. Registrars are on the resident doctor contract, not Agenda for Change bands.
Newly qualified salaried GP: £78,699 (2026/27 contract floor).
Salaried GP top of range: £118,759 (2026/27 contract ceiling).
Contractor GP (partner or single-hander, profit share): £164,200 average income before tax in England in 2024/25, variable by practice.

Frequently asked questions

What is take-home for a salaried GP at the bottom of the contract range?: On the £78,699 contract floor with the 12.5% NHS pension tier, take-home is about £50,300 a year, or £4,192 a month, after £9,837 pension, £14,977 Income Tax and £3,585 National Insurance. The contribution is deducted before Income Tax, so adjusted net income is £68,862, below the £100,000 point where the personal allowance taper starts.
Does the £100k personal allowance taper bite at the top of the contract range?: Yes - the £118,759 top of the contract range sits in the £100,000-£125,140 taper zone. The PA loses £1 for every £2 above £100k, creating a 62% effective marginal rate on income in this band once the 2% National Insurance is counted. Note the 12.5% net pay contribution comes off first, so on £118,759 gross only about £3,914 actually sits inside the taper. The NHS Pension Scheme and its AVC arrangements are net pay arrangements, not salary sacrifice, so they reduce taxable pay but not gross pay. A relief-at-source personal pension contribution is the usual lever: it does not cut gross pay either, but it reduces adjusted net income and so restores personal allowance.
How does the 2026/27 dividend rate rise affect GPs with private practice?: For a higher-rate GP extracting extra private-practice profit from a limited company, dividends are now the dearer route at the margin. Corporation Tax at the 25% main rate and then 35.75% upper-rate dividend tax take a combined 51.81% of each pound of profit, and 52.78% where profits fall between the small profits and main rate limits, because marginal relief puts the marginal Corporation Tax rate at 26.5% there. Paid as salary instead, the same pound first bears 15% employer National Insurance but is deductible for Corporation Tax, and 40% Income Tax plus 2% employee NI leave a combined 49.57%. The dividend upper rate rose by 2 percentage points from 6 April 2026. Pension contributions, the dividend allowance and a director's other income all change the comparison, so run your own figures.

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Sources

NHS Employers - Pay and Conditions Circular (M&D) 1/2026 R2
NHS Employers - NHS Pension Scheme member contribution rates
NHS England - GP Earnings and Expenses Estimates 2024/25
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 →