Bank shifts, overtime or agency?
Three ways to work the same extra shift, and they are not equivalent. The difference is not mainly tax — it is the pension, and whether the hours count towards it.
The three routes compared
| Route | Typical gross rate | Pensionable? | Tax and NI | Roughly net per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contractual overtime | £20.02 | Usually not | 28.0% | £14.42 |
| NHS bank | £20.02 | Usually yes, if in the scheme | 28.0% plus pension | £12.45 |
| Bank, unsocial | £26.03 | Usually yes | 28.0% plus pension | £16.19 |
| Agency | £27.03 | No | 28.0% plus umbrella deductions | £18.10 |
Rates vary enormously between trusts and specialties, so treat the gross column as illustrative. The structure of the comparison is what matters and that does not vary.
What each route actually costs you
Overtime is the simplest. It is taxed at your marginal rate and, in most trusts, is not pensionable, so nothing else comes off it.
Bank work through the trust's own bank is normally pensionable if you are a scheme member, which means the pension contribution applies — and, more importantly, that the extra pay counts towards your pension tier. Enough bank work can push you into a higher tier, and that higher percentage then applies to your substantive pay too. The tier trap page sets out where those boundaries fall.
Agency pays the highest headline rate and is not pensionable. If you are engaged through an umbrella company, employer National Insurance and a margin come out of the assignment rate before your gross is worked out, which is why the advertised rate and the money in your account differ so much. The umbrella page explains the whole waterfall.
The question worth asking first
Before comparing rates, work out whether the extra hours will push your pensionable pay across a tier boundary. If they will, agency or non-pensionable overtime may be worth more than bank work at a higher headline rate, because bank work would raise the contribution percentage on everything you earn.
That is a genuinely counter-intuitive result and it is the reason this page exists. No other NHS calculator computes it.
The bands this sits on
| Band | Salary | Pension tier | Take-home a year | A month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 2 | £25,272 | 6.5% | £20,402 | £1,700.15 |
| Band 3 | £27,476 | 6.5% | £21,874 | £1,822.84 |
| Band 4 | £31,157 | 8.3% | £23,884 | £1,990.36 |
| Band 5 | £39,043 | 9.8% | £28,570 | £2,380.84 |
| Band 6 | £48,117 | 9.8% | £34,392 | £2,866.00 |
| Band 7 | £56,515 | 10.7% | £39,708 | £3,309.04 |
| Band 8A | £64,750 | 10.7% | £43,956 | £3,663.00 |
| Band 8B | £77,368 | 12.5% | £49,629 | £4,135.74 |
| Band 8C | £91,609 | 12.5% | £56,821 | £4,735.05 |
| Band 8D | £108,814 | 12.5% | £65,509 | £5,459.09 |
| Band 9 | £129,783 | 12.5% | £73,386 | £6,115.53 |
Every figure there is computed from the NHS Employers 2026/27 scale with the England and Wales pension tier applied to actual pensionable pay, using the same engine that runs the calculator. It is not a copy of a published table, which is why it cannot fall out of step with the calculator on the page.
Elsewhere in this section, this page compares bank work, overtime and agency on the same shift.
Questions people actually ask
Is NHS bank work pensionable?
Usually yes if you are already a scheme member, which means it counts towards your contribution tier as well as attracting a contribution itself.
Is agency work worth more than bank?
On the headline rate, usually. After umbrella deductions and with no pension, sometimes not. The comparison also depends on whether bank hours would move your pension tier.
Figures on this page are for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027) and were last checked on 29 August 2026. Every rate we use is listed on the sources page.