NHS STP Salary 2027: Trainee Pay (Band 6), London Weighting and Progression

The NHS STP salary is Agenda for Change Band 6. NSHCS says the 3-year training post is salaried at Band 6, and from 1 April 2026 the Band 6 starting point is £39,959 a year (about £3,330 a month before tax, our calculation: the annual figure ÷ 12). In London you also get the high cost area supplement: £47,951 in inner London, £45,953 in outer London and £41,957 in the fringe. Your master’s tuition is fully funded, and once you qualify, clinical scientist posts are generally Band 7, starting at £49,387.

This guide puts every STP pay figure in one place: the Band 6 pay table with London rates, what you take home each month, whether your pay rises during the three years, what the 2027 cohort can expect, and what you can earn after qualifying. The figures come from NSHCS, NHS Employers and other official pages, linked beside them; nothing comes from job adverts or salary surveys, and our own calculations are labelled.

NSHCS: About the STP (15 June 2026); NHS Employers: Pay scales for 2026/27; NHS Health Careers. Take-home: our arithmetic on GOV.UK and NHSBSA 2026/27 rates.

NSHCS itself only names the band; for the amounts it sends you to the NHS Employers pay scales. Everything in the table comes from those two sources plus NHS Health Careers and the NHS terms and conditions handbook. NSHCS: About the STP · NSHCS: FAQs about the STP.

This is the full Band 6 scale for 2026/27, with the totals NHS Employers publishes for each high cost area. The entry point is the standard starting point for someone new to the NHS; if you already work in the NHS, see the section on existing staff below. Band 6 staff become eligible for the intermediate point after 2 years and for the top after 3 more, subject to the progression standards; the next section explains what that means on a 3-year programme.

Annual figures before tax, from 1 April 2026, from the NHS Employers pay scales for 2026/27 (annual and HCAS tables).

“London weighting” in the NHS is the high cost area supplement (HCAS). It is a percentage of basic pay with a floor and a ceiling, set in annex 9 of the NHS terms and conditions. It is pensionable, but it does not count as basic pay when overtime or unsocial hours payments are worked out.

The zones follow the 2005 primary care trust boundaries in annex 8 of the handbook. Inner London covers Camden, City and Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth and Westminster. Outer London covers Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Croydon, Kingston, Richmond & Twickenham, and Sutton & Merton (the annex’s PCT names). The fringe zone is listed by the old primary care trust names: Dartford, Gravesham & Swanley; Basildon; Billericay, Brentwood & Wickford; Epping Forest; Harlow; Thurrock; Dacorum; Hertsmere; Royston, Buntingford & Bishop Stortford; South East Hertfordshire; St Albans & Harpenden; Watford & Three Rivers; Welwyn Hatfield; Bracknell Forest; Slough; Windsor, Ascot & Maidenhead; Wokingham; East Elmbridge & Mid Surrey; East Surrey; Guildford & Waverley; North Surrey; and Surrey Heath & Woking. Because these are 2005 boundaries, not today’s council areas, confirm with the employer whether the advertised post qualifies for the supplement, and at which rate, before you choose your sub-preferences. NHS terms and conditions handbook, annexes 8 and 9.

A practical point from NSHCS: when you accept an STP offer you commit to training at that location for the full 3 years, and NSHCS says you should not expect to be moved later. Choose locations with the cost of living as well as the pay in mind. NSHCS: application process FAQs.

Gross pay is not what lands in your account. Below is our estimate for a full-time trainee, using the 2026/27 rates: NHS Pension contributions at the NHSBSA tier for your annual pay (9.8% for pay between £35,156 and £52,778), Income Tax with the standard £12,570 personal allowance, and employee National Insurance at 8%. The Band 7 inner London row is higher on all three: its pay falls in the 10.7% pension tier, part of it is taxed at the 40% higher rate, and National Insurance is 2% on monthly pay above £4,189.

These are our estimates, rounded to the nearest pound, so the parts may not add up exactly to the total. They assume you are in the NHS Pension Scheme, tax code 1257L, England’s tax rates (Scotland’s differ), National Insurance category A, and no student loan or salary sacrifice. They also assume pension contributions are taken out of pay before Income Tax, which GOV.UK lists as one of the ways tax relief is given automatically; check your payslip. Rates: GOV.UK Income Tax · GOV.UK National Insurance · NHSBSA contribution tiers · GOV.UK pension tax relief.

Student loan. If you repay a Plan 2 undergraduate loan, you pay 9% of income over £29,385, which is about £79 a month on £39,959 (our arithmetic). A Postgraduate Loan adds 6% of income over £21,000, about £95 a month. The STP master’s is fully funded, so you should not need a new loan for it. GOV.UK: student loan thresholds.

Two different things can raise your pay while you train. Neither has a guaranteed amount or date for the 2027 cohort, but they work differently.

1. The national pay award. NSHCS says the STP salary “will increase with any agreed pay changes”. Agenda for Change awards usually take effect from 1 April, subject to the award as announced; some recent pay-scale articles were published after 1 April (see the dates below), so check the effective date and payroll timing of any award when it is announced. A trainee on the expected September 2027 start who finishes around September 2030 would be in post for the 2028/29, 2029/30 and 2030/31 pay years, so any agreed changes effective during your employment apply; the award’s effective date and payroll timing remain subject to announcement.

2. The step within Band 6. Under the Agenda for Change rules (annex 23), Band 6 staff become eligible for the intermediate point (£42,170 in 2026/27) after 2 years in the band, on their pay step date, if the standards are met: an appraisal completed in the last 12 months with outcomes in line with the organisation’s standards, no formal capability process, no live formal disciplinary sanction, and statutory and/or mandatory training completed (a fifth standard applies only to line managers). The pay step date is the anniversary of starting in the current band, so for a new starter in Band 6 in September 2027 the 2-year eligibility date would be September 2029. Continuous previous NHS service counts as reckonable service for pay step eligibility, so how any earlier service is treated is a point to confirm with HR. NSHCS does not say how these rules apply to trainees. Its only comment, to a Band 6 NHS employee asking whether they keep pay progression on the STP, is to speak to the trust’s HR department “as funding is only provided to the minimum salary point”. That answer is about funding: it neither exempts trainees from the Agenda for Change progression rules nor says an employer may withhold a step that applies. So when you get an offer, ask HR to confirm in your contract your starting point, whether earlier NHS service counts, your pay step date and how progression works for you.

Extra payments: NSHCS says trainees are supernumerary, released from other duties for the whole programme, and “should not be taken out of their training to provide routine services or to do on-call sessions”. So do not assume on-call or overtime income when you budget.

Whether you work evenings, weekends or bank holidays is for your employer to decide, NSHCS says. NSHCS: FAQs about the STP · NHS terms and conditions, section 1 and annex 23.

Applications for the 2027 STP generally open in January for a September start. The 2027/28 pay year starts on 1 April 2027; any award’s rates, effective date and payroll timing are subject to announcement. On 8 November 2026 we found no 2027/28 pay scales: NHS Employers’ latest pay scales were for 2026/27, and on 19 October 2026 it published its written evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body for the 2027/28 pay round (final decisions on awards are made by the government). So the latest published starting rate is £39,959 (2026/27); the rate that will apply in September 2027 is not yet known. Some recent pay-scale articles were published after 1 April, so an award could also reach payslips after you start; check its effective date and payroll timing when it is announced. Check NSHCS for the confirmed 2027 recruitment timetable. NHS Employers: evidence to the NHS PRB 2027/28 · NSHCS: applying for a direct entry post.

For a sense of scale, this is how the Band 6 starting point (the STP starting salary) has moved in recent years, from each year’s NHS Employers pay scales:

The percentages are our arithmetic, and past rises are no forecast. Note the publication dates: some pay-scale articles were published after the 1 April effective date. If you searched for the “NHS STP salary 2025” or “2026”: the starting point was £38,682 in the 2025/26 pay year and is £39,959 in 2026/27. 2023/24 · 2024/25 · 2025/26 · 2026/27.

Completing the STP makes you eligible to apply to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) to register as a clinical scientist. NHS Health Careers says “Trainee clinical scientists train at band 6 level, and qualified clinical scientists are generally appointed at band 7”, and that with experience and further qualifications, including Higher Specialist Scientist Training (HSST), you could apply for posts up to band 9. Its specialty pages list clinical scientists at Bands 6, 7 and 8a and consultant clinical scientists at Bands 8a to 8d, with Band 9 in some specialties.

Pay rates: NHS Employers 2026/27. Bands: NHS Health Careers, radiotherapy physics · clinical biochemistry · cardiac sciences. London totals for Bands 8d and 9 are our calculations using the official rates and the £8,746 cap; the others are NHS Employers’ published totals. The role labels in the first column are our shorthand for the NHS Health Careers ladder; the band for any post is on the job advert.

Under the NHS terms and conditions, pay on promotion is set at the minimum point of the new band, and your pay step date resets to the day you start in it. So if you are appointed to a Band 7 post after qualifying, you would normally start at the Band 7 entry point (£49,387 in 2026/27) and become eligible for the intermediate point (£51,932) after 2 years and for the top (£56,515) after 3 more, subject to the same standards. That is a rise of £9,428 on the Band 6 entry point, before any pay award, and £7,217 if you had already reached the Band 6 intermediate point (our arithmetic). NHS terms and conditions, section 1 and annex 23.

Two cautions from NSHCS. There is no guarantee of a job when you finish: you apply for clinical scientist posts once you are registered with the HCPC. And there is no tie-in: you are not bonded to the NHS afterwards. If you are an in-service trainee, your employment simply continues. NSHCS: FAQs about the STP · NHS Health Careers: STP and HSST.

NSHCS: direct entry vs in-service · NSHCS: FAQs about the STP · NHSBSA contribution tiers.

The figures on this page are the Agenda for Change rates NHS Employers publishes for England, and the NSHCS recruitment covers England. NSHCS says health authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland manage their own STP recruitment, and Welsh health authorities are responsible for their own STP recruitment, with details of the Welsh programme on the Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) website. The NHS terms and conditions handbook notes that employers in the other UK countries refer to their own pay documents, so check the pay with the health board or employer that advertises the post. NSHCS: FAQs about the STP.

On the official figures, the trade is clear. You are paid a full Band 6 salary from day one (for a new starter, the 2026/27 entry rate is £39,959 outside London), with no tuition fees for a master’s degree, an NHS pension and NHS leave. When you qualify you can apply for Band 7 clinical scientist posts, starting at £49,387, and the band structure runs to Band 9 for consultant clinical scientists.

The costs are less visible. You commit to one location for 3 years, possibly away from family; some training happens away from base; you should not count on on-call or overtime pay; your step within Band 6 depends on the Agenda for Change rules and standards and on your start date, so confirm it with HR; and a qualified post is not promised at the end. The bigger hurdle is getting a place: NSHCS calls entry extremely competitive. Our guide to STP competition ratios sets out the numbers.

The salary comes with a place, so the first step is the application on Oriel. NSHCS says applications generally open in January for a September start. Direct entry applicants then take the situational judgement test, and only those above its threshold are longlisted; shortlisting and interviews follow. Our STP application guide covers the timeline and entry requirements, our application questions guide the written answers, and our interview questions guide the interview. The free practice questions on this page use the SJT’s 1 to 5 appropriateness scale, as NSHCS describes it. NSHCS: longlisting and the SJT.