2026/27 tax year
How we calculate take-home pay
The rules and rates behind every figure on Beatwise, where each one comes from, and what we assume when you don't tell us. The rates on this page are the ones the calculator is using today.
From salary to take-home
- Your salary comes from the pay scale for your rank and pay point, plus any allowances you add.
- Any salary sacrifice you add, such as cycle to work or a car lease, comes off before tax and National Insurance.
- Your pension contribution comes off next. It reduces the pay you're taxed on, but not the pay National Insurance is worked out on.
- Income tax is worked out from your tax code and the bands for where you live.
- National Insurance, any student loan repayments and any other deductions you add come off.
- What's left is your take-home. Monthly figures are a twelfth of the year, and four-weekly figures a thirteenth.
What we assume
- Tax code 1257L, unless you enter your own.
- Full-time hours, unless you enter part-time hours.
- No other income, and no allowances or deductions other than the ones you add. Other allowances you add are taxed but don't count towards your pension.
- Officers in the 2015 police pension scheme, and PCSOs in the Local Government Pension Scheme. British Transport Police contribution rates aren't published, so we use 10% unless you enter your own.
Pay scales
England and Wales pay comes from the Home Office determination under Police Regulations Annex F. The scales in use today apply from 1 September 2026. The official tables for these haven't been published yet, so they're calculated (see below).
Police Scotland uses its own scales, from 1 April 2026. PSNI officers are paid on the England and Wales scales plus the Northern Ireland Transitional Allowance (£4,283 a year).
Officers in the Metropolitan and City of London police get London weighting and the London allowance. Forces around London can pay a South East Allowance, up to £3,105 a year. All pay scales
Official and calculated figures
When a pay award is announced as a percentage, the official pay point tables can follow months later. Until they do, we apply the award to the previous official scales and round each point to the nearest £3, as published pay points are. Every page using those figures says they're calculated, and we switch to the official tables when they're published.
Where a rank's middle pay points aren't published, we estimate them evenly between the published ones and mark them “approx.”. They don't get their own pay pages.
Constables appointed before April 2013 are shown on PP7, the top of their scale, because everyone on that scale has had enough service to reach it.
Income tax
| England, Wales and NI | Rate |
|---|---|
| Personal allowance, up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate, up to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate, up to £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional rate, above £125,140 | 45% |
| Scotland | Rate |
|---|---|
| Personal allowance, up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Starter rate, up to £16,537 | 19% |
| Basic rate, up to £29,526 | 20% |
| Intermediate rate, up to £43,662 | 21% |
| Higher rate, up to £75,000 | 42% |
| Advanced rate, up to £125,140 | 45% |
| Top rate, above £125,140 | 48% |
The personal allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 earned over £100,000.
National Insurance
8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 a year, and 2% on earnings above that. The same rates apply across the UK.
Pension contributions
| Police officers (2015 scheme) | Rate |
|---|---|
| Pay of £37,035 or less | 12.88% |
| More than £37,035, less than £79,588 | 13.88% |
| £79,588 or more | 14.22% |
| Police Scotland (one rate for all) | 13.7% |
| PCSOs (LGPS) | Rate |
|---|---|
| Pay up to £18,400 | 5.5% |
| Pay up to £29,000 | 5.8% |
| Pay up to £47,300 | 6.5% |
| Pay up to £59,800 | 6.8% |
| Pay up to £84,000 | 8.5% |
| Pay up to £119,100 | 9.9% |
| Pay up to £140,400 | 10.5% |
| Pay up to £210,700 | 11.4% |
| Over £210,700 | 12.5% |
Rates apply to your actual pensionable pay. London weighting counts towards it; most other allowances don't.
Student loans
| Plan | Repayments start above | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 a year | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 a year | 9% |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £33,795 a year | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 a year | 9% |
| Postgraduate | £21,000 a year | 6% |
Overtime and the shift log
An officer's basic hourly rate is their annual salary × 6/12520, as set out in Police Regulations Annex F. Overtime, rest days worked and public holidays are paid at multiples of it, using the rules in Annexes G and H. Allowances such as London weighting don't count towards the hourly rate. Overtime rates and rules
For PCSOs, the hourly rate is annual salary divided by 52.143 weeks and then by contracted weekly hours.
The monthly estimate places each overtime payment in the month your force is likely to pay it, based on what you tell us about your force's timing.
What isn't covered
- Police Scotland and PSNI overtime rules, which we haven't checked against their regulations yet.
- The older police pension schemes (1987 and 2006).
- Anything specific to your force that isn't in the national pay scales.
If your payslip regularly differs from the estimate, check your tax code first: it's the most common cause.
Sources
- The Police Regulations 2003Pay, overtime, rest days and public holidays (Annexes F, G and H)
- Home Office circularsPay determinations for England and Wales, including London weighting and the South East Allowance (Annex U)
- Police Scotland and PSNI pay scalesPay for Police Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Transitional Allowance
- Income tax ratesEngland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Scottish income taxScottish rates and bands
- National Insurance ratesEmployee Class 1 rates
- Student loan repaymentsThresholds and rates for each plan
- Police pension contribution ratesPolice Pension Scheme 2015 tiers
- Local Government Pension SchemeContribution bands for PCSOs
Rates last checked 27 October 2026. Every change and correction is listed on Updates and corrections.