Specialty registrar pay 2026/27

Take-home pay a month

£3,245.31

£38,943.71 a year from a salary of £55,355.00

Your details

Grade and pay point

Share of full time %

Percent of a full-time post

I pay into this pension scheme

Student loan Postgraduate loan as well

Where your salary goes
	A year
Salary	£55,355.00
NHS Pension (10.7%)	£5,922.99
Income tax	£7,370.60
National Insurance	£3,117.70
Take-home pay	£38,943.71

How this was worked out

Pension rate: pay of £55,355.00 is in the tier from £52,779 to £67,668, so 10.7%
Salary: £55,355
Pension (net pay): £55,355 × 10.7% = £5,922.99, taken off before tax
Personal allowance: £12,570. Payroll applies it as tax code 1257L, which gives £12,579 of tax-free pay.
Taxable income: £49,432.01 − £12,579 = £36,853.01
Basic rate: £36,853.01 × 20% = £7,370.60
Income tax: £7,370.60
National Insurance: (£50,270 − £12,570) × 8% = £3,016, plus (£55,355 − £50,270) × 2% = £101.70, total £3,117.70
Take-home pay: £55,355 − £7,370.60 − £3,117.70 − £5,922.99 = £38,943.71

Tax year: 2026/27. Tax code: 1257L. Income tax nation: England.
Pension: NHS Pension Scheme contribution at the tier for the selected pay. Student loan: none unless selected in the calculator.
Full-time basic pay, for a full tax year. Money is rounded to the nearest penny.

Specialty registrars in England are paid £55,355 to £77,348 in 2026/27, from ST1 to ST8. After the NHS Pension, income tax and National Insurance that is about £3,245.31 to £4,135.15 a month.

Resident doctor pay in England, 2026/27
Grade	Grade code	Pay point	Salary	Pension	Take-home a year	Take-home a month
ST1 / SpR1	MS01	Nodal point 3a	£55,355	£5,922.99	£38,943.71	£3,245.31
ST2 / SpR2	MS02	Nodal point 3b	£55,355	£5,922.99	£38,943.71	£3,245.31
ST3 / SpR3	MS03	Nodal point 4a	£67,325	£7,203.78	£45,287.23	£3,773.94
ST4 / SpR4	MS04	Nodal point 4b	£67,998	£8,499.75	£44,899.99	£3,741.67
ST5 / SpR5	MS05	Nodal point 4c	£67,998	£8,499.75	£44,899.99	£3,741.67
ST6 / SpR6	MS06	Nodal point 5a	£76,582	£9,572.75	£49,234.91	£4,102.91
ST7 / SpR7	MS07	Nodal point 5b	£77,348	£9,668.50	£49,621.74	£4,135.15
ST8 / SpR8	MS08	Nodal point 5c	£77,348	£9,668.50	£49,621.74	£4,135.15

Pay scale: www.nhsemployers.org/system/files/2026-07/Pay-and-Conditions-Circular-%28MD%29-1-2026-R2.pdf

Stages and nodal points

Registrar pay follows the stage of training. ST1 and ST2 share one salary at points 3a and 3b. ST3 is point 4a, and ST4 and ST5 share the salary at points 4b and 4c. ST6 is point 5a, and ST7 and ST8 share the top salary at points 5b and 5c. The table has 8 rows, one for each stage.

The circular lists the older specialty registrar grade, SpR, beside each ST stage on the same pay.

Where tax and pension change

At ST1 and ST2 the pension deduction keeps taxable pay below the higher rate threshold. From ST3, part of basic pay is taxed at the higher rate.

ST4 is the first stage in the top NHS Pension tier. Because the tier rate applies to the whole salary, ST4 and ST5 take home a little less than ST3 on basic pay, although their gross pay is higher. From ST6 the pay rise is large enough to lift take-home clearly above ST3 again.

Rotas and other income

Registrars often work on-call rotas and weekends, which add allowances to basic pay. Those allowances are taxed as pay but are not in this table. For a quick check on a total salary including allowances, the take-home pay calculator takes any figure, although it does not apply NHS Pension tiers.

Questions

What does an ST3 doctor take home?

The ST3 row in the table gives the exact figure for 2026/27. It is the first registrar stage with part of basic pay taxed at the higher rate.

Why do ST4 and ST5 take home less than ST3?

Their salary is in the top NHS Pension tier, so the contribution rate is higher on the whole of their pay. The extra deduction outweighs the small rise in salary.

What is the most a registrar earns in basic pay?

ST7 and ST8 share the top salary, £77,348 in 2026/27, which leaves about £4,135.15 a month.