Radiographer Salary 2026/27: NHS Band 6 Take-Home
Newly qualified diagnostic radiographers enter NHS Band 5, £32,073 to £39,043. Most progress to Band 6 after two years, the career grade for hospital radiographers, which runs £39,959 at entry, £42,170 at the intermediate point and £48,117 at the top for 2026/27.
Typical pay & take-home
- Agenda for Change Band 6 intermediate point
- £42,170
- The three points of Band 6, entry to top
- £39,959–£48,117
- Take-home at median
- £33,882 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.
At the median for this profession, you earn about 8% above the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you in the top 45% of UK earners.
What influences diagnostic radiographer pay
Every point of Band 6 is taxed at the basic rate, and the pension widens the margin rather than narrowing it. The contribution is a net pay arrangement, taken before Income Tax, so what is taxed is gross minus the contribution: the £48,117 top of the band leaves £43,402 taxable against a £50,270 higher-rate threshold. Most diagnostic radiographers work weekday hours without an unsocial hours premium, so take-home tracks the headline figure closely.
NHS pension is 9.8% across the whole of Band 6 in 2026/27, because the tier that runs to £52,778 of pensionable pay covers every point of the band. Additional Voluntary Contributions into the NHS money purchase AVC are the usual tax-efficient top-up.
Specialist roles in MRI, CT, interventional, mammography and sonography typically progress to Band 7, £49,387 to £56,515. Reporting radiographers, advanced practitioners and consultant radiographers reach Band 8a, which starts at £57,528.
Career progression
- Band 5 entry: £32,073 (2026/27 England).
- Band 5 top: £39,043.
- Band 6 entry: £39,959.
- Band 6 intermediate point: £42,170.
- Band 6 top: £48,117.
- Band 7 specialist or reporting radiographer: £49,387 to £56,515.
Frequently asked questions
- What is take-home for a Band 6 radiographer?
- On the £42,170 intermediate point of Band 6, with the 9.8% NHS pension tier, take-home is about £30,576 a year, or £2,548 a month, after Income Tax, National Insurance and the contribution. Band 6 entry, £39,959, is about £29,157, and the £48,117 top of the band about £34,391.
- Do radiographers get unsocial hours payments?
- Some do. On-call radiographers in CT, MRI, interventional and emergency imaging are paid the Section 2 unsocial hours enhancement on out-of-hours shifts, time plus 30% for Saturdays and weekday nights and time plus 60% for Sundays and public holidays. Day-shift radiographers in routine imaging typically work weekday hours without it.
- How does Band 6 compare to a Band 5 radiographer?
- Band 5 runs £32,073 to £39,043 and Band 6 runs £39,959 to £48,117. Moving from the top of Band 5 to the top of Band 6 is £9,074 more gross and about £5,822 a year more in the hand, roughly £485 a month, after Income Tax, National Insurance and the 9.8% contribution that applies at both points.