Public Sector Pay Rises 2026/27: Every Award Compared
Every 2026/27 public sector pay award in one table - NHS, teachers, police, prison, fire, armed forces, doctors, civil service and local government - what each was, when it applies, and what it is worth after tax.
Every 2026/27 award
Each row is a settlement tracked in the data behind this site's pay scale pages, so the percentages here and the scales there cannot drift apart. Where an award differs from what the review body recommended, or where a settlement arrived late and by a route worth knowing about, the row says so rather than printing a bare percentage.
| Sector | Award | From | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHS Agenda for Change | 3.3% | 1 April 2026 | Settled and in payment |
| Doctors and dentists | 3.5% plus nodal reform | 1 April 2026 | Settled and in payment |
| Teachers (England) | 3.5% | 1 September 2026 | Accepted in full |
| Police (England and Wales) | 3.5% | 1 September 2026 | Awarded, scale not yet published |
| Prison staff (HMPPS) | 3.5% | 1 April 2026 | Accepted in full, backdated |
| Firefighters | 3.8% | 1 July 2026 | Accepted on a 54% ballot |
| Armed forces | 3.6% | 1 April 2026 | Accepted in full, backdated |
| Judiciary | 3.5% | 1 April 2026 | Awarded below the recommendation |
| Civil service (below SCS) | Up to 3.5% | 1 April 2026 | Delegated to departments |
| Senior Civil Service | 2.5% | 1 April 2026 | Recommendation accepted in part |
| Local government (NJC) | 3.3% | 1 April 2026 | Settled reluctantly, backdated |
- NHS Agenda for Change: Applies to every band and spine point.
- Doctors and dentists: Resident doctors got more than the headline at most points because the nodal structure changed at the same time.
- Teachers (England): Teacher pay years run September to August, so this lands mid tax year.
- Police (England and Wales): The review body recommended 3.9%; the Home Secretary awarded 3.5% (HCWS264, 15 July 2026).
- Prison staff (HMPPS): Staff below the scale maximum on Bands 3 and 5 also moved up a pay point.
- Firefighters: Negotiated by the NJC for local authority fire and rescue services, not by a review body.
- Armed forces: Applies to every scale point including X-Factor, which is already inside the published figures.
- Judiciary: The Senior Salaries Review Body recommended 3.8%.
- Civil service (below SCS): A cap on the growth of a department’s paybill, not a rise anyone is promised. Departments target it differently.
- Senior Civil Service: The guidance records the award as following the Government’s acceptance in part of the SSRB recommendation. Plus 1% of the SCS paybill for performance progression, and higher band minima.
- Local government (NJC): Offered 24 March 2026 as full and final and rejected, then accepted after the industrial action ballot fell short: UNISON on 11 August 2026, GMB on 21 August 2026. The uplifted spine was published in the signed agreement circular of 24 August 2026.
What the rise is worth after tax
A percentage on gross is not a percentage in the bank. Each example below applies its own sector's award to a salary near the middle of that scale and nets both sides through that scheme's own pension arrangement, which in every case here is a net pay arrangement: contribution off before Income Tax, National Insurance charged on the whole gross.
| Example | Award | Gross rise | Net rise | Per month | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHS Band 5 nurse on £34,000 | 3.3% | £1,122 | £733 | £61 | 65% |
| Teacher, upper pay range on £47,472 | 3.5% | £1,662 | £685 | £57 | 41% |
| Prison officer, Band 3 on £36,000 | 3.5% | £1,260 | £607 | £51 | 48% |
| Council worker, SCP 13 on £29,064 | 3.3% | £959 | £641 | £53 | 67% |
| Service person on £40,000 | 3.6% | £1,440 | £1,037 | £86 | 72% |
The armed forces row keeps the largest share of its rise, and not because the award is bigger. AFPS 2015 is non-contributory, so no pension contribution comes out of the increase. Everywhere else a slice of the rise goes straight into the scheme, which is a cost on the payslip and a benefit in retirement.
The two rows that keep least, the teacher and the prison officer, are not being taxed harder than the rest. Both cross a pension contribution tier boundary as the rise lands, and that is what costs them. A rise that carries a salary over a tier boundary moves the whole salary to the higher rate, not just the part above it, so a modest increase can cost several hundred pounds of extra contribution in the year it happens. It is still a rise, and the extra earnings build extra pension, but the higher rate on the whole salary does not buy more accrual than the earnings alone would - alpha accrues a fixed share of pensionable pay whatever tier you are in. The council row starts from SCP 13 as it stood before the award, so the 3.3% is applied to the salary it actually uplifts; the result is the published 2026/27 point for that SCP.
Where the headline misleads
Four things make a straight comparison of these percentages unsafe.
The dates differ. NHS, prison, armed forces, judicial and civil service awards run from April. Teachers and police run from September, so a 3.5% teacher award covers seven months of the tax year, not twelve, and the cash difference in 2026/27 is smaller than the percentage suggests.
A recommendation is not an award. The police review body recommended 3.9% and officers received 3.5%. The judiciary was recommended 3.8% and received 3.5%. The Senior Civil Service award is recorded in its own guidance as accepting the review body's recommendation only in part. Coverage of review body reports often quotes the recommendation as though it were the settlement.
A cap is not a rise. The civil service figure is the maximum increase in a department's remuneration cost, and the guidance says in terms that it "does not confirm the amount that an individual in a department will receive".
Some awards carry structure with them. Resident doctors received 3.5% plus a reform of the nodal points, so the actual increase varies by point. Prison staff below the scale maximum on two bands also moved up a pay point, which is worth more than the headline on its own.
The round that went to a ballot
Local government took five months longer than everyone else. The employers offered 3.3% on 24 March 2026, described as full and final. Unite responded on 25 March 2026, GMB rejected on 28 May 2026, and the employers declined to reopen on 9 June 2026. UNISON balloted 200,000 members for industrial action to 6 August 2026.
The ballot did not clear the 50% turnout threshold in enough large employers to make strike action likely to move the offer, so UNISON's NJC Committee accepted on 11 August 2026 and GMB on 21 August 2026, both reluctantly. Under NJC rules those two acceptances are enough, and the award is backdated to 1 April 2026. Unite did not accept and is considering action on local issues.
One consequence for anyone looking up their new rate: the NJC published the 2026/27 pay spine only on 24 August 2026, nearly five months after the award took effect. This site's local government pay scales show those published points. A council that has not yet restated its own scales still owes the difference back to 1 April 2026. A separate review of the spine's structure is running alongside.
The scales behind each award
- NHS, doctors and teachers
- Police, prison, fire and armed forces
- Civil service, local government and judicial salaries
- Pay rise calculator for a figure of your own
Frequently asked questions
Which public sector workers got the biggest pay rise in 2026/27?
Of the flat-percentage awards this site tracks, Firefighters at 3.8% from 1 July 2026. Comparing headline percentages is misleading on its own, though: teachers and police are paid from 1 September rather than 1 April, resident doctors received structural changes on top of their award, and the civil service figure is a cap on departmental paybill rather than an individual rise.
Why did police officers get less than the review body recommended?
The Police Remuneration Review Body recommended 3.9% and the Home Secretary awarded 3.5%, announced in HCWS264 on 15 July 2026. A review body recommends; the relevant Secretary of State decides. The judiciary saw the same pattern this year, recommended 3.8% and awarded 3.5%.
Has local government pay been settled for 2026/27?
Yes, and late. The employers offered 3.3% on 24 March 2026 as a full and final offer, the unions rejected it, and the employers declined to reopen on 9 June 2026. UNISON's industrial action ballot then missed the 50% turnout threshold in enough large employers, and its NJC Committee accepted on 11 August 2026, with GMB following on 21 August 2026. The award is backdated to 1 April 2026, and the NJC published the uplifted spine in its signed agreement circular of 24 August 2026 - nearly five months after the money was due.
How much of a pay rise do you actually keep?
Between 41% and 72% on the examples above, depending on the salary and the pension scheme. A rise is taxed at the marginal rate, carries National Insurance, and in most public schemes is pensionable, so the pension contribution takes a share too. Crossing the higher-rate threshold or a pension contribution tier partway through a rise reduces the share kept further.
Do these awards apply across the whole UK?
No. Most are England, or England and Wales. Scotland negotiates NHS, teacher, police, fire and local government pay separately, and Northern Ireland has its own arrangements again, so a Scottish or Northern Irish figure will usually differ from the one here.