Guess the take-home

See a salary. Guess what lands in the bank each month. The closer you get, the more points you score.

Round1 of 10

Points0

1. Round 1
2. Round 2
3. Round 3
4. Round 4
5. Round 5
6. Round 6
7. Round 7
8. Round 8
9. Round 9
10. Round 10

Gross salary a year

Deductions

See the working

Guess the monthly take-home

Arrows move £10. Page Up and Page Down move £100.

Lock in

Move the slider, then lock in your guess.

Monthly take-home

Points

This is information, not financial advice.

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What the game is

Each game has ten rounds. A round shows one job: a plain salary, a nurse or other NHS worker on an Agenda for Change pay point, a teacher on a point of the pay scale, or a full-time job on the National Living Wage. The card lists the gross pay for a year and the deductions that apply, such as a pension scheme or a student loan.

You move the slider to your guess for the monthly take-home and lock it in. The game then shows the real figure, how far away you were and your points for the round. A guess within £25 scores the full 100 points. After that, every £5 further away costs a point.

Why the guess is harder than it looks

Most people know their salary but not what it turns into each month. Income tax only starts above the personal allowance, and the rate steps up in bands. National Insurance has its own threshold and rates. A pension scheme takes a percentage before tax, and a student loan takes a share of pay above its own threshold.

That is why two people on similar salaries can take home quite different amounts. An NHS worker pays into the NHS Pension, a teacher into the Teachers' Pension, and someone in Scotland pays Scottish income tax. The card tells you which of these apply, so the clues are all there.

Where the figures come from

Every answer comes from the same sums as our take-home pay calculator, NHS pay calculator and teacher pay calculator, using the 2026/27 rates and the official pay scales. After each round, "See the working" opens the full sum for that job. The sources page lists every rate with a link to where we found it.

If you like this game, try Which pays more?, where you compare two jobs side by side.

How to play

1. Read the card: the job, the gross pay and the deductions.
2. Move the slider to your guess for the monthly take-home. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move it by £10 and Page Up and Page Down by £100.
3. Press "Lock in" to see the real figure and your points.
4. Press "Next" for the next round. After ten rounds you see your total out of 1,000.

The game stores nothing on your device. Your score lasts until you close the page.