UK Police & NHS Pay Scales 2026:
Find Your Hourly Rate for Overtime
Every police overtime calculator starts with the same question: what is your hourly rate? And yet it’s the one piece of information most officers and nurses have to dig for. Annual salary figures don’t tell you your time and a third rate. Pay scales buried in PDFs don’t make the maths easy. We’ve fixed that.
- Police pay scales 2025/26 are effective from 1 September 2025. Constables range from £31,164 to £50,256 depending on pay point and join date.
- NHS Agenda for Change pay bands 2026/27 are effective from 1 April 2026. Qualified nurses start at Band 5 (£32,073 entry).
- Police officers in England and Wales are typically paid time and a third (×1.33) for rest day working, and double time for bank holidays.
- NHS staff on Agenda for Change receive time and a third for weekday overtime, time and a half for Saturdays, and double time for Sundays and bank holidays.
- Our new interactive Pay Scales tool calculates your exact hourly rate, overtime rates, and per-shift earnings in seconds.
- Your hourly rate goes straight into the Overtime Live calculator or the app for real-time shift tracking.
Introducing the Pay Scales Tool
Find Your Exact Hourly Rate in 3 Steps
We’ve built an interactive pay scales tool that takes you from rank or band to hourly rate to full overtime breakdown — in under a minute. No PDFs, no spreadsheets, no mental maths.
The tool covers all police ranks in England and Wales (including both the post-2013 and Legacy Constable pay points), and all NHS Agenda for Change bands from 1 to 9. The complete pay tables are also visible on that page if you want to see rates across all ranks at once.
Police Pay Scales 2025/26
The 2025/26 police pay scales came into effect on 1 September 2025 following the Police Remuneration Review Body recommendation. The scales differ depending on whether you joined before or after 1 April 2013.
Officers appointed before 1 April 2013 remain on Legacy Pay Points (PP0 to PP7), starting at £32,820. Those appointed on or after 1 April 2013 follow the newer structure starting at PP1 (£31,164). Both converge at PP7 (£50,256).
Constable pay points (post-April 2013 appointments)
| Pay Point | Annual Salary | Hourly Rate | Time & a Third ×1.33 | Double Time ×2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PP1 | £31,164 | £14.95 | £19.89 | £29.90 |
| PP2 | £32,472 | £15.58 | £20.72 | £31.16 |
| PP3 | £33,789 | £16.21 | £21.56 | £32.42 |
| PP4 | £35,106 | £16.84 | £22.39 | £33.68 |
| PP5 | £37,737 | £18.10 | £24.07 | £36.20 |
| PP6 | £43,038 | £20.64 | £27.46 | £41.28 |
| PP7 | £50,256 | £24.11 | £32.07 | £48.22 |
Senior ranks (2025/26)
| Rank | Pay Point | Annual Salary | Hourly Rate | Time & a Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sergeant | ||||
| Sergeant | PP2(a) | £53,568 | £25.70 | £34.18 |
| Sergeant | PP4 | £56,208 | £26.97 | £35.87 |
| Inspector | ||||
| Inspector | PP0 | £63,768 | £30.59 | £40.68 |
| Inspector | PP3 | £68,982 | £33.10 | £44.02 |
| Superintendent | ||||
| Superintendent | PP1 | £84,177 | £40.38 | £53.71 |
| Superintendent | PP4 | £99,015 | £47.50 | £63.17 |
For all ranks including Chief Inspector, Chief Superintendent, and full Legacy Pay Point tables, use the interactive Pay Scales tool.
How Police Overtime Is Calculated
Police overtime isn’t a single fixed rate. The rate you receive depends on why you’re working the extra hours and when they fall. The two most common scenarios are:
- Rest day working: Time and a third (×1.33) is the standard Federation rate for being called in on a rest day or working beyond your duty period on a rest day.
- Bank holiday and public holiday working: Typically double time (×2), though the exact rate may depend on your force’s local agreement.
- Unsocial hours (8pm–6am): A 10% enhancement is added for each full hour worked within this window, on top of any overtime rate.
- On-call: £35 per day, irrespective of whether you are called out.
While the Police Remuneration Review Body sets national pay scales, individual forces may have local variations — particularly around bank holiday rates and rest day notice periods. Your federation representative or HR department can confirm the exact rules applying to your posting.
Worked example: Constable PP5 called in on a rest day
A Constable at PP5 earns £37,737/year. Divided by 2,085.6 (52.14 weeks × 40 hours), that’s £18.10/hr.
On time and a third, that becomes £24.07/hr. For an 8-hour rest day shift, total earnings before tax: £192.56.
If any of those 8 hours fall between 8pm and 6am, add 10% per unsocial hour: an additional £1.81/hr for those hours.
NHS Agenda for Change Pay Bands 2026/27
The 2026/27 NHS Agenda for Change pay bands are effective from 1 April 2026 for England. Each band has up to three pay points — entry, mid, and top — based on years spent in that specific band (not total career length).
| Band | Step | Annual Salary | Hourly Rate | Time & a Third ×1.33 | Double Time ×2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 5 — Qualified Nurse entry point | |||||
| Band 5 | Entry (0–2 yrs) | £32,073 | £16.40 | £21.81 | £32.80 |
| Band 5 | Mid (2–4 yrs) | £34,592 | £17.69 | £23.52 | £35.38 |
| Band 5 | Top (4+ yrs) | £39,043 | £19.97 | £26.56 | £39.94 |
| Band 6 | |||||
| Band 6 | Entry | £39,959 | £20.44 | £27.19 | £40.88 |
| Band 6 | Top | £48,117 | £24.61 | £32.74 | £49.22 |
| Band 7 | |||||
| Band 7 | Entry | £49,387 | £25.26 | £33.60 | £50.52 |
| Band 7 | Top | £56,515 | £28.91 | £38.45 | £57.82 |
| Band 8a — 8d and Band 9: see full table | |||||
| Band 8a | Entry | £57,528 | £29.42 | £39.13 | £58.84 |
| Band 9 | Top | £129,783 | £66.35 | £88.27 | £132.70 |
For all bands and steps including Bands 1–4 and full 8a–9 tables, visit the Pay Scales tool.
NHS Overtime Rates Under Agenda for Change
NHS overtime under Agenda for Change is triggered once you work beyond your contracted hours — typically 37.5 hours per week for full-time staff. The rate depends on when those extra hours fall:
- Weekday overtime (beyond contracted hours): Time and a third (×1.33)
- Saturday working: Time and a half (×1.5), applicable even within contracted hours for those rostered to work Saturdays regularly
- Sunday working: Double time (×2), or close to it via the Sunday unsocial hours enhancement
- Bank holidays: Double time (×2)
Unsocial hours enhancements apply separately for working outside standard Monday–Friday daytime hours. These can stack with the overtime multiplier — so a shift of overtime worked on a Sunday attracts both the overtime element and the Sunday enhancement. The combined effect can be significant.
Annual salary ÷ 1,955.25 = hourly rate (based on 37.5 hrs/week × 52.14 weeks). Example: Band 5 entry £32,073 ÷ 1,955.25 = £16.40/hr. At time and a third: £21.81/hr. For an 8-hour bank holiday shift at double time: £262.40 before tax.
Using Your Hourly Rate with Overtime Live
Once you’ve found your hourly rate — whether from the Pay Scales tool above or from your payslip — there are two ways to put it to use:
Option 1: Web calculator (no account needed)
Head to the overtime calculator and enter your hourly rate, the number of overtime hours, and select your multiplier (time and a third, time and a half, or double time). You’ll get an instant breakdown including a tax estimate. The ? button next to the hourly rate field links directly to the Pay Scales tool if you’re not sure of your rate.
Option 2: Overtime Live app (real-time tracking)
The app takes this further. Set your hourly rate once in Settings, and from that point the app tracks each shift live — showing your running earnings on your lock screen via iOS Live Activity (Dynamic Island). For NHS workers with split shifts where your rate changes mid-shift (e.g., when you move from contracted hours to overtime, or from daytime to unsocial hours), the app handles multiple rates within a single shift.
Find Your Rate. Track Every Shift.
Use the Pay Scales tool to find your hourly rate, then download Overtime Live to watch it tick up in real time — on your lock screen, all shift long.