Healthcare Assistant Salary 2026/27: NHS Band 2/3 Take-Home
NHS Healthcare Assistants sit on Agenda for Change Band 2, a single point of £25,272 for 2026/27, or Band 3, £25,760 to £27,476, depending on responsibility and clinical setting. Unsocial hours enhancements and a High Cost Area Supplement of 20% of basic pay in inner London are paid on top.
Typical pay & take-home
- Midpoint of the Band 2 point and the top of Band 3
- £26,374
- Band 2 single point to the top of Band 3
- £25,272–£27,476
- Take-home at median
- £22,509 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.
At the median for this profession, you earn 32% below the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you in the bottom 17% of UK earners.
What influences healthcare assistant (hca) pay
HCA base pay is taxed entirely at the basic rate on a standard rota. The Section 2 unsocial hours enhancement pays time plus 30% for Saturdays and for weekdays between 8pm and 6am, and time plus 60% for Sundays and public holidays, which on an operational ward or emergency department rota adds £3,000-£6,000 a year.
The NHS pension contribution is 6.5% across Bands 2 and 3, the tier covering £13,260 to £28,854 of pensionable pay; the 5.2% tier below it only applies under £13,260. CARE accrual at 1/54th still applies, which makes it one of the strongest implicit pension deals in UK low-paid employment.
High Cost Area Supplements at this end of the scale are set by the collar rather than the percentage, because the percentage of a Band 2 or 3 salary falls short of the minimum. Inner London is 20% of basic pay with a £5,794 floor, so an HCA gets £5,794; outer London is 15% with a £4,870 floor, so an HCA gets £4,870. Both are taxable and pensionable, which takes an inner London Band 2 HCA to £31,066 gross.
Career progression
- Domestic or catering, Band 1, closed to new entrants and paid at the Band 2 rate: £25,272.
- HCA Band 2, a single point: £25,272 (2026/27 England).
- Senior HCA Band 3 entry: £25,760.
- Senior HCA Band 3 top: £27,476.
- Nursing associate Band 4: £28,392 to £31,157.
- Registered nurse Band 5, with the degree: £32,073 to £39,043.
Frequently asked questions
- What is take-home for a Band 2 HCA?
- On the £25,272 Band 2 point, with the 6.5% NHS pension tier, take-home is about £20,401 a year, or £1,700 a month, after Income Tax, National Insurance and the £1,643 contribution. An inner London HCA on the same point is paid the £5,794 supplement floor on top, taking gross to £31,066 and take-home to about £23,824, because the supplement is pensionable and moves the contribution to the 8.3% tier.
- Is the 6.5% NHS pension worth it?
- Yes, and unusually so for low-paid employment. A Band 2 HCA on £25,272 builds £468 a year of indexed pension under CARE accrual at 1/54th, for a contribution of £1,643 before tax relief. The employer pays 23.7% on top, which makes the 6.5% employee cost one of the most generous public sector low-pay pension arrangements in the UK.
- How fast can I progress from HCA to Registered Nurse?
- Two main routes: a nursing degree apprenticeship, three to four years and employed throughout, or a pre-registration BSc in nursing, three years with an NHS Learning Support Fund grant. Both end at Band 5 entry, £32,073, which is £6,801 a year more than the Band 2 point and £4,597 more than the top of Band 3.