NHS Part-Time Pay Calculator: Pro-Rata Salary Tool

Last updated: 14 October 2026 · Figures verified against the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

The calculator

The pro-rata formula, explained

Part-time NHS pay rests on a single formula: full-time salary × contracted hours ÷ full-time hours. In England the full-time week is 37.5 hours, so a 22.5-hour contract is 22.5 ÷ 37.5 = 0.6 WTE (whole-time equivalent), and the salary is 60% of the full-time figure. The formula never changes; only the inputs do. Our part-time pay guide explains the rules behind the arithmetic — this page does the arithmetic.

Three things matter about what goes into the formula. First, the "full-time salary" is the basic salary for your band and pay step, not your total package. High Cost Area Supplement, recruitment premia and on-call payments are calculated separately and added on top — the HCAS selector in the calculator handles London weighting, which is pro-rated using its own percentage-with-caps formula rather than a flat WTE fraction. Second, the contracted hours are the hours in your contract and ESR record. If ESR shows the wrong hours, every payslip will be wrong, so verify it when you start and after every contractual change. Third, the full-time denominator is 37.5 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but 36 in Scotland from April 2026 — set the nation selector if you work in Scotland, because the WTE fraction shifts.

A common misunderstanding is that pro-rating touches the band itself. It does not. A part-time Band 6 is still a Band 6, with the same pay steps, the same unsocial-hours percentages and the same terms as full-time colleagues — just fewer hours and proportionally less pay. Nothing about the band's structure is diluted by working part-time, which is why the calculator keeps the full band and step scale and only scales the final salary.

The other misunderstanding is about overtime. If you are contracted for 22.5 hours and pick up an extra 7.5-hour shift, those hours are paid at plain time — your normal hourly rate — not at overtime rates. Contractual overtime rates (time-and-a-half, double time on public holidays, for Bands 1 to 7) only begin above a full-time week. Our unsocial hours and overtime guide sets out the full rate table; the worked examples below show how the pro-rata salary and the overtime threshold interact in practice.

Part-time salaries by band and hours, 2026/27

The table applies the formula to the 2026/27 England full-time scale for common part-time patterns. England uses entry, intermediate and top pay steps; bands 2 to 4 have fewer steps, and Band 2 is a single spot rate:

A few patterns to notice. The 30-hour column — the classic "four days a week" — is always exactly 80% of full-time, and the 22.5-hour column is 60%. A Band 5 nurse at the entry step (£32,073) working 30 hours earns £25,658.40, the same figure our part-time guide shows, which cross-checks the calculator's output for that case. And the jump from Band 5 top to Band 6 entry is modest at every hour pattern: promotion adds roughly £1,100 a year at 15 hours but over £8,000 at full-time, which is worth knowing when you weigh up whether a promotion is worth it on your current hours.

WTE fractions decoded

Whole-time equivalent is the NHS's native language for describing part-time contracts: your contracted hours ÷ the full-time week. In England that is hours ÷ 37.5; in Scotland, hours ÷ 36. The fractions you will see most:

• 0.9 WTE — 33.75 hours a week (a four-and-a-half-day pattern)
• 0.8 WTE — 30 hours a week (the classic four-day week)
• 0.6 WTE — 22.5 hours a week (three days)
• 0.5 WTE — 18.75 hours a week (half time)
• 0.4 WTE — 15 hours a week (two days)

WTE matters beyond the payslip. Job adverts quote it so applicants can see the real pay: when a vacancy is advertised as "0.6 WTE Band 5", the salary range quoted is usually the full-time equivalent — multiply by 0.6 to see what you would actually earn. If an advert quotes only the pro-rated figure, check which one you are comparing before you rank offers. Pension tiering also keys off WTE, not actual hours — a half-time Band 5 nurse pays the tier for the full £32,073 WTE salary, as the pension section explains.

London weighting (HCAS) for part-timers

High Cost Area Supplement is not a flat WTE fraction of the full-time amount — it re-runs the percentage formula on your pro-rata salary, with the minimum and maximum caps pro-rated to your hours. The 2026/27 zones are 20% of basic for inner London (minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746), 15% for outer London (minimum £4,870, maximum £6,137) and 5% for fringe (minimum £1,346, maximum £2,270). The calculator's HCAS selector applies all of this: percentage of your pro-rata pay, clamped to pro-rated caps.

Take a Band 5 nurse at the top step (£39,043) working 22.5 hours in inner London. Pro-rata salary: £23,425.80. Twenty percent is £4,685.16; the pro-rated caps are £5,794 × 0.6 = £3,476.40 and £8,746 × 0.6 = £5,247.60. The raw percentage sits inside the caps, so HCAS is £4,685.16 a year, and total pay is £28,110.96. Our London weighting guide covers the zones in full, including which trusts fall in each zone.

The caps bite at the extremes. Very part-time staff in expensive zones often land on the pro-rated minimum rather than the raw percentage — which is still more per hour than full-time colleagues receive in absolute terms, because the minimum is designed to make lower-paid roles viable in London. High earners near the top of the bands hit the pro-rated maximum. If your HCAS looks wrong, check whether the minimum or maximum is doing the work before you query payroll.

Pension tiers: the WTE rule

Your NHS pension tier is set by your whole-time-equivalent pensionable pay, but your contributions come off your actual part-time pay. A half-time Band 5 nurse at the entry step pays the tier for the £32,073 WTE salary — 8.3% — applied to their actual £16,036.50 salary, roughly £1,331 a year. The tier table lives on our pension contributions guide; tiers run from 5.2% to 12.5% of pensionable pay in England and Wales.

This is quietly good news for part-timers: working extra shifts does not push you into a higher tier, because the tier looks at your WTE rate, not your total earnings. The extra shifts are still pensionable — they count toward your career-average accrual — but the percentage deducted from them stays at your contracted WTE tier. Bank shifts, by contrast, are pensionable only in limited circumstances, so the same extra hours can treat your pension differently depending on whether they are contracted, additional or bank.

Scotland: the 36-hour week

Scotland moved to a 36-hour full-time week in April 2026, which changes both halves of the pro-rata calculation. The WTE fraction becomes contracted hours ÷ 36, so a 21.6-hour contract is 0.6 WTE in Scotland (whereas 21.6 hours would be 0.576 WTE in England), and the hourly rate is salary ÷ 52.2 ÷ 36 rather than ÷ 37.5. Set the nation selector in the calculator and both change automatically.

Scotland also runs its own pay scale: the 2026/27 deal was 3.75% from 1 April 2026, part of a two-year settlement with a CPI-plus-1% inflation guarantee to be checked in early 2027. The calculator's band lookup uses the England scale, so Scottish staff should enter their full-time salary via the custom-salary field. The overtime threshold also moves with the shorter week: in Scotland, premium overtime rates begin above 36 hours rather than 37.5. Our Scotland pay guide has the full scale and the details of the two-year deal.

Worked examples

Check the first row against the calculator: select Band 5, the entry step, 22.5 hours, England, and the hero box reads £19,243.80 with a monthly figure of £1,603.65. The second row is the same figure divided by 12, matching the calculator's monthly box. The fifth row runs the inner-London HCAS case from the section above: 20% of the pro-rata salary sits inside the pro-rated minimum (£3,476.40) and maximum (£5,247.60), so the raw percentage is paid in full.

One pattern to carry away: the pro-rata fraction is the only moving part. Pick your band and step for the full-time salary, divide your hours by the full-time week for WTE, and multiply. Everything else on this page — HCAS caps, pension tiers, the Scotland adjustment — is arithmetic built on those two inputs.

Frequently asked questions

How is NHS part-time pay calculated?

As: full-time annual salary × (your contracted hours ÷ full-time hours). In England that is hours ÷ 37.5. For example, £32,073 × 30 ÷ 37.5 = £25,658.40 a year. The calculator at the top of this page applies the formula to every band and pay step.

What are the common WTE fractions?

Whole-time equivalent is your contracted hours divided by 37.5 (36 in Scotland). Common fractions: 30 hours is 0.8 WTE, 22.5 hours is 0.6 WTE, 18.75 hours is 0.5 WTE and 15 hours is 0.4 WTE. Job adverts quote WTE so part-timers can see the exact proportion of the full-time salary they will receive.

Is HCAS pro-rata for part-time NHS staff?

Yes. The same percentage formula — 20% of basic pay for inner London, 15% for outer, 5% for fringe — is applied to your pro-rata part-time salary, with the minimum and maximum caps pro-rated to your hours. The calculator has an optional HCAS zone selector that applies the caps correctly.

Which pension tier applies to part-time NHS staff?

Your tier is set by your whole-time-equivalent pensionable pay, not your actual part-time pay. A half-time Band 5 nurse at the entry step (£32,073 WTE) pays the tier for the £32,073 salary — 8.3% — on their actual part-time earnings. Working extra shifts does not push you into a higher tier.

Does my hourly rate change if I work part-time?

No. The official hourly rate (annual salary ÷ 52.2 ÷ 37.5 in England) is the same whether you work full time or part time. A 0.6 WTE Band 5 nurse at the entry step earns the same £16.38 an hour as a full-time colleague — only the total salary is pro-rated.

How does part-time pay work in Scotland with the 36-hour week?

Scotland moved to a 36-hour full-time week in April 2026, so the WTE fraction is contracted hours ÷ 36, not ÷ 37.5. A 21.6-hour contract is 0.6 WTE in Scotland. The pro-rata salary uses Scotland's own pay scale, and the hourly rate is salary ÷ 52.2 ÷ 36.

Do part-time staff get overtime for extra shifts?

Not until they exceed a full-time week. Hours worked above your contracted hours but below 37.5 a week (36 in Scotland) are paid at plain time — your normal hourly rate. Contractual overtime rates (time-and-a-half, double time on public holidays for Bands 1 to 7) only apply above the full-time threshold.

Sources and independence

Source: NHS Employers — 2026/27 Agenda for Change pay circular (salaries and hourly rates).

Source: NHS Employers — Agenda for Change handbook: part-time provisions and Section 2 (unsocial hours).

Source: NHS Business Services Authority — NHS Pensions: part-time and WTE tiering.

This is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the NHS. Figures are for England under Agenda for Change for 2026/27 unless stated; Scotland (36-hour week from April 2026), Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements. The calculator is an estimate only: always check your contract and ESR record for your actual hours, band and step.