Which pays more?
Two jobs. Tap the one that takes home more each month. After each guess the game shows both monthly take-home figures and the reason for the gap.
This is information, not financial advice.
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What the game is
Each game has ten rounds. In each round two cards show a job or a salary, the gross pay for a year and the deductions that apply to it. Some cards show a nurse or other NHS worker on a point of the Agenda for Change scale. Others show a teacher on a point of the teachers' pay scale, a plain salary, or a full-time job on the National Living Wage.
You pick the card that you think takes home more a month. The game then reveals both figures, marks your answer and gives a short line of explanation, with a link to the full working. Your score and your streak build as you go.
Why gross pay does not decide take-home
The salary on a job advert is the pay before anything comes off. Several things decide what reaches the bank account, and some of them depend on the job or the place.
Pension contributions make the biggest difference in this game. NHS staff and teachers pay into their schemes at a percentage that rises with pay. A higher salary can move someone into a higher contribution tier, and that can take away more than the pay rise adds.
Where someone lives matters too. Scotland sets its own income tax rates and bands. On many salaries a person in Scotland pays a little more income tax than a person on the same pay in England, and on lower salaries a little less.
Student loan repayments are a share of pay above a threshold, and each plan has its own threshold. Two people on the same salary can take home different amounts if one of them repays a loan.
In every game at least some rounds are surprises, where the card with the higher gross pay takes home less.
Where the figures come from
Every take-home figure comes from the same sums as the site's calculators. The take-home pay calculator covers the plain salaries and the National Living Wage cards. The NHS cards use the NHS pay calculator and the official Agenda for Change pay points. The teacher cards use the teacher pay calculator and the official pay scales for each area. The sources page lists each rate and scale with a link to where we found it.
The game uses the current tax year and assumes the standard tax code with no other income. Nothing you do in the game is saved on your device. Your best score lasts until you close the page.
How to play
- Read both cards. Note the gross pay and the deductions listed under it.
- Tap the card that you think takes home more each month.
- Read the result and the reason, or follow "See the working" for the full sum.
- Press "Next" for the next round. After ten rounds you see your score, and "Play again" starts a new set of jobs.