NHS doctor salary 2026/27: every grade in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

From 1 April 2026, NHS doctors in England earn a basic salary of £41,226 as a Foundation Year 1 doctor, rising to £77,348 at the top of specialty training (ST7 and ST8). Specialty doctors on the 2021 contract earn £63,696 to £102,689, specialists £104,401 to £115,341, and consultants £113,565 to £150,569. These figures come from NHS Employers' Pay and Conditions Circular (M&D) 1/2026 R2, published 24 July 2026.

All groups in England received a 3.5% uplift to basic pay for 2026/27, the figure recommended by the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB). For resident doctors (formerly called junior doctors), a later agreement between the government and the BMA also restructured the pay scale from five nodal points to ten, aligned with stages of training. Scotland and Wales publish their own scales, set out below. Northern Ireland had not published a 2026/27 scale when we checked.

Basic salary is only part of what most doctors earn. Resident doctors are also paid for additional hours, nights, weekends and on-call. Those payments are covered here too, with the official rates. For a quick look at net pay, use the NHS take-home pay calculator.

Doctors are not on Agenda for Change, the pay system for nurses and most other NHS staff. Each group of doctors has its own national contract and pay scale:

• Resident doctors in training (foundation, core and specialty training) are on the 2016 terms and conditions in England, paid by nodal point according to their stage of training.
• Specialty doctors and specialists, often called SAS doctors, are on the 2021 contracts and progress by years of experience.
• Consultants are on the 2003 contract in England and progress through pay thresholds by years as a consultant.
• Salaried GPs have a national minimum and maximum, with the actual salary agreed with the practice.
• Locally employed doctors (trust grade, clinical fellows) are employed on local terms. Employers can mirror national scales but do not have to.

Each year the government responds to the DDRB's recommendations, and NHS Employers publishes the resulting pay circular for England. The Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland publish their own. All figures in this guide are full-time basic annual salaries for 2026/27 unless stated otherwise, before tax, pension and National Insurance.

The ten-point structure from 1 April 2026, from Annex A of circular (M&D) 1/2026 R2:

Grade	Stage of training	Nodal point	Basic salary
Foundation Doctor Year 1	FY1	1	£41,226
Foundation Doctor Year 2	FY2	2	£47,610
Core or specialty registrar	CT1 / ST1	3a	£55,355
Core or specialty registrar	CT2 / ST2	3b	£55,355
Core or specialty registrar	CT3 / ST3	4a	£67,325
Core or specialty registrar	CT4 / ST4	4b	£67,998
Specialty registrar	ST5	4c	£67,998
Specialty registrar	ST6	5a	£76,582
Specialty registrar	ST7	5b	£77,348
Specialty registrar	ST8	5c	£77,348

Dentists in training have a parallel table: dental core training runs from £55,355 to £67,325, and dental specialty training from £67,325 to £77,348. Doctors training less than full time receive an annual allowance of £1,000 on top of pro-rata salary.

The same circular sets locally employed doctor codes (MT01 to MT10) that mirror these ten points, for employers that choose to use them. It states that there is no requirement to use these values, as local terms are a matter for local determination. If you are offered a trust grade or clinical fellow post, ask which point, if any, it mirrors.

Total pay for resident doctors depends heavily on the rota. The circular sets these elements for 2026/27:

Additional hours and nights

Hours in your work schedule beyond the basic full-time hours are paid as additional pay, and certain hours attract a 37% enhancement as defined in paragraphs 16 to 18 of Schedule 2 of the 2016 terms and conditions (in practice, mainly night work). Your work schedule, which the employer must send before you start, shows how many hours fall into each category.

On-call availability allowance

Nodal point	Annual allowance
1 (FY1)	£3,299
2 (FY2)	£3,809
3a and 3b	£4,429
4a	£5,386
4b and 4c	£5,440
5a	£6,127
5b and 5c	£6,188

It is paid only to doctors on on-call rotas as the contract defines them.

Weekend allowance

Doctors rostered for weekend work at least one weekend in eight receive a percentage of full-time basic salary:

Weekend frequency	Allowance	Example at FY1	Example at ST3 (4a)
1 in 2	15%	£6,184	£10,099
Less than 1 in 2 to 1 in 3	10%	£4,123	£6,733
Less than 1 in 3 to 1 in 4	7.5%	£3,092	£5,050
Less than 1 in 4 to 1 in 5	6%	£2,474	£4,040
Less than 1 in 5 to 1 in 6	5%	£2,062	£3,367
Less than 1 in 6 to 1 in 7	4%	£1,650	£2,693
Less than 1 in 7 to 1 in 8	3%	£1,237	£2,020
Less than 1 in 8	None	None	None

Flexible pay premia

• General Practice Registrar Enhancement: £11,508 a year, payable to ST1 to ST4 during general practice placements.
• Psychiatry core training: £4,679; psychiatry higher training: £4,679 on a three-year programme or £3,509 on a four-year programme.
• Histopathology (ST1 and above): £5,614.
• Academia: £5,614.
• Emergency medicine (ST4 and above) and dual qualification in oral and maxillofacial surgery: values depend on the length of the training programme.

Specialty doctor (2021 contract)

Years of experience in the grade	Basic salary
0 to 2	£63,696
3 to 5	£73,383
6 to 8	£81,804
9 to 11 (after a threshold)	£90,548
12 and above	£102,689

Specialist (2021 contract)

Years of experience in the grade	Basic salary
0 to 2	£104,401
3 to 5	£108,484
6 and above	£115,341

Many international doctors with several years of experience join the NHS as specialty doctors, and some later move to specialist posts or apply for specialist registration through the Portfolio pathway. The circular also sets locum rates for SAS doctors providing short-term cover: £1,221.57 a week (£122.16 per programmed activity) for a specialty doctor and £2,002.22 a week (£200.23 per programmed activity) for a specialist.

Consultant (2003 contract)

Threshold	Years completed as a consultant	Basic salary
1	0 to 2	£113,565
2a	3	£120,249
2b	4 to 7	£123,672
3	8 to 13	£135,645
4	14 and above	£150,569

Consultants may also hold National Clinical Impact Awards, whose values the government increased with effect from 1 April 2025. Local awards are closed to new entrants.

Salaried GPs

The salaried GP range rose by 3.5% to a minimum of £78,699 and a maximum of £118,759 from 1 April 2026. The actual salary is agreed with the employing practice within that range. GP partners are self-employed and are not covered by these figures.

The Scottish Government publishes doctors' pay in NHS Circulars. PCS(DD)2026/02 (12 August 2026) confirms a 3.5% uplift to basic pay across NHS medical and dental staff, and the residents addendum to PCS(DD)2026/01 (9 July 2026) sets resident doctors' salaries from 1 April 2026.

Resident doctors

Scotland still uses the older banding system: basic salary plus a banding supplement that depends on the hours and intensity of the rota (from 20% for band 1C to 100% for band 3, with a 5% supplement for non-banded FHO1 posts).

Grade	Basic salary range
Foundation house officer 1 (FHO1)	£37,316 to £41,977
Foundation house officer 2 (FHO2)	£46,286 to £52,340
Specialty registrar (StR)	£49,217 to £77,389
Specialty registrar (fixed term) and core training	£49,217 to £65,112

For example, an FHO1 on the minimum point in a 1A post (50% supplement) has a total salary of £55,975, according to the circular's table.

Senior grades

Grade	Basic salary range
Consultant (new consultants, pay points 1 to 8)	£115,331 to £153,247
Specialty doctor (2022 Scotland contract)	£66,404 to £103,475
Specialist	£104,401 to £115,342
Salaried GP	£79,861 to £119,198

Our profile of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland's largest health board, shows how these scales apply at one employer.

The Welsh Government's pay circular M&D(W) 01/2026 (Version 2, May 2026) applies a 3.5% uplift to basic pay from 1 April 2026 for consultants, resident doctors, SAS doctors and salaried GPs. It also notes that locally employed doctors in Wales are employed against national terms, so the uplifts apply automatically to local pay scales.

Resident doctors: the new 2026 contract

Wales is moving resident doctors to a new contract, the Terms and Conditions of Service of Resident Doctors and Dentists (Wales) 2026, from 1 August 2026, with the older contract closed to new entrants. The 2026/27 values are:

Grade	Basic salary (2026/27)
F1	£41,400
F2	£51,750
Registrar, spine point 1 (years 1 to 2)	£56,925
Registrar, spine point 2 (years 3 to 4)	£64,170
Registrar, spine point 3 (years 5 to 6)	£70,380
Registrar, spine point 4 (years 7 to 8)	£76,590
Registrar, spine point 5 (years 9 to 10)	£80,730

On the older contract, still uplifted while in use, basic pay is £36,629 to £40,973 for FHO1, £44,988 to £50,628 for FHO2 and £47,946 to £74,328 for a full specialty registrar.

Senior grades

Grade	Basic salary range
Consultant (minimum to point 7, reached after 23 years)	£114,099 to £166,585
Specialty doctor (2021 contract)	£64,292 to £102,689
Specialist (2021 contract)	£104,401 to £115,343

The Welsh consultant scale starts slightly higher than England's and has a higher top point, but takes longer to reach it. Our profile of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board covers one of the largest Welsh employers.

Doctors' pay in Northern Ireland is set by the Department of Health through HSC (TC8) circulars. When we reviewed this guide, the department had not published a 2026/27 pay circular for hospital medical and dental staff. Its most recent circular, HSC (TC8) 05/2025 dated 2 December 2025, implemented the 2025/26 award. In a statement on 24 June 2026 the Health Minister said he remained committed to implementing the DDRB's recommended 3.5% award for 2026/27, but was unable to do so without an agreed budget for his department, and that there was no scope for awards beyond the review bodies' recommendations.

Until a 2026/27 circular appears, Northern Ireland doctors remain on 2025/26 rates, and any award may be backdated when it is paid. Check the Department of Health's workforce policy pages for the current circular before comparing an offer from Northern Ireland with one elsewhere in the UK.

Grade (basic, 2026/27)	England	Scotland	Wales
First-year foundation doctor	£41,226	£37,316 to £41,977 plus banding	£41,400 (2026 contract)
Second-year foundation doctor	£47,610	£46,286 to £52,340 plus banding	£51,750 (2026 contract)
Top of specialty training	£77,348	£77,389 plus banding	£80,730 (2026 contract)
Specialty doctor	£63,696 to £102,689	£66,404 to £103,475	£64,292 to £102,689
Specialist	£104,401 to £115,341	£104,401 to £115,342	£104,401 to £115,343
Consultant	£113,565 to £150,569	£115,331 to £153,247	£114,099 to £166,585

Northern Ireland is not shown because no 2026/27 scale had been published when we checked. Direct comparisons of resident pay are imperfect: Scotland adds banding supplements to basic pay, while England pays separately for additional hours, nights, weekends and on-call, and Wales is moving to a new contract during the year.

Each contract moves you up the scale in a different way, which matters when you compare offers or plan a route.

Resident doctors

In England, pay follows your stage of training, not your age or total years since graduation. Moving from FY2 to CT1 takes you from £47,610 to £55,355; reaching ST3 takes you to £67,325; ST6 brings £76,582. Because the points are tied to training stages, a doctor who leaves a programme and returns, or who works less than full time, moves through them at the pace of their training. Specific pay protection rules apply to some doctors who change specialty or return to training.

Specialty doctors and specialists

On the 2021 contracts, pay rises with years of experience in the grade, in steps every three years for specialty doctors. The step from £81,804 to £90,548 comes after a threshold at eight years, so check how the employer handles threshold progression. Specialists move from £104,401 to £108,484 after three years and to £115,341 after six.

Consultants

In England, consultants pass through five thresholds over 14 years: £113,565 at appointment, £120,249 after three years, £123,672 after four, £135,645 after eight, and £150,569 after 14. Scotland's scale has eight pay points reached by seniority, and Wales has seven, with the top Welsh point reached after 23 years.

An illustrative path in England

A doctor who enters UK training at CT1 and becomes a consultant would see basic pay rise from £55,355 to £113,565 on appointment, before any extra pay for out-of-hours work. Many international doctors follow a different path, through locally employed and specialty doctor posts, where the starting point depends on the employer and on how overseas experience is recognised.

• Your first post is probably not a training post. Most international doctors start as locally employed doctors, where pay is set by the employer. Ask which national point the post mirrors and how extra hours are paid. Our guide on what to do after passing PLAB 2 covers first jobs.
• Experience can count for SAS posts. Specialty doctor pay rises with years of experience in the grade, so ask how your overseas experience will be treated when the salary is set.
• The visa has a salary test. The Health and Care Worker visa requires a minimum salary that depends on the job, so check your offer with the sponsorship salary checker and read our Health and Care Worker visa guide.
• Deductions are significant. Income tax, National Insurance, NHS pension contributions and the GMC annual fee (£481 from 1 April 2026) all come out of gross pay.
• Compare like with like. A Gulf salary package often includes housing and allowances; UK basic pay does not. Our page on working as a doctor in the UK covers the wider costs, and the UK country guide covers living costs and the health system.

If you are still choosing a route, our guides to GMC registration without PLAB and the PLAB route explain how doctors get to the point of a UK offer.