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Human Resources

NHS Pension

National Health Service Pension Scheme (NHSPS)

 Eligibility

National Health Service Pension Scheme (NHSPS) membership can be continued for any staff who have participated in the scheme in the preceding 12 months. The College cannot offer the scheme to anyone who would be joining the scheme as a new member.

 The NHS Scheme

The NHSPS is a public sector pension scheme and membership can be continued for any staff who have participated in the scheme in the preceding 12 months. The College cannot offer the scheme to anyone who would be joining the scheme as a new member. All grades are eligible under the above criteria.

Please note that you must complete part 1 of application form SD65 and return it to the Pensions Office within 3 months of starting with the College. The NHS Pensions Agency require you to fill in this form if you wish to continue in the NHSPS during your employment with the College. If you do not complete the SD65 your application will not be accepted by the Pensions Agency and your contributions will be transferred to the appropriate College Scheme or refunded.

If you are an existing NHS Pension Scheme member your current benefits will be based on either:

  • NHS Pension Scheme -  1995 section (Amended April 2008 Terms) for pre April 2008 members who have not opted to transfer to the new scheme.
  • NHS Pension Scheme - 2008 section (New members with effect from 1 April 2008) for members who opted to transfer to the new scheme or joined the NHS post April 2008.
  • New NHS Pension Scheme - 2015 section (Arrangements beyond 1 April 2015) for members who opted to transfer to the new scheme or joined the NHS post April 2015.

The NHSPS is approved by the Inland Revenue and is contracted-out of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS). An Explanatory Booklet should have been provided when you joined the NHSPS, which provides a more detailed explanation of the scheme (If you require another copy please contact the College Pensions Office), the key features of which are as follows:

Contributions

  • Your contributions from 1 April 2024 are:

     

    Pensionable pay range from 1 April 2024 Contribution rates from 1 April 2024, based on actual annual pensionable pay
    Up to £13,259 5.2%
    £13,260 to £26,831 6.5%
    £26,832 to £32,691 8.3%
    £32,692 to £49,078 9.8%
    £49,079 to £62,924 10.7%
    £62,925 and above 12.5%

     

  • The University currently contributes 23.7% of your pensionable pay to the NHSPS in order to guarantee your benefits.
  • You may increase your retirement benefits by paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs), either to purchase additional pension through the NHSPS, or building up a capital fund in a "money purchase" facility or Stakeholder provided by  Standard Life, or alternatively, in a “Free Standing AVC (FSAVC)” facility with the provider of your choice.

Please note that the facility to purchase added years was withdrawn with effect from 1 April 2008 and has been replaced by the Additional Pension (AP) Scheme. The Increasing your Benefits Factsheet gives further details.

Your contributions to the NHSPS qualify for tax relief at your highest marginal rate. The relief is given at source through the payroll for your NHS contributions and Prudential and Standard Life FSAVCs. Contributions paid to any other Free Standing AVC arrangement are not usually deducted through Payroll, so do not attract tax relief at source. Your provider can tell you more about how you obtain tax relief on these contributions.

Main benefits

NHS Pension Scheme - Amended April 2008 Terms

  • A pension of 1/80th of pensionable salary for each year of pensionable service.
  • A Cash Lump sum - of three times the pension.

Please note the tax-free cash at retirement is in addition to pension.

New NHS Pension Scheme (New members with effect from 1 April 2008)

  • A pension of 1/60th of pensionable salary for each year of pensionable service.

Other Benefits

  1. Immediate life cover – a lump sum equal to two times your pensionable pay together with a pension for your dependants should you die before retirement whilst in employment.
  2. An inflation-proofed pension – regular income, plus a tax-free lump sum (New NHS Pension Scheme members will have to commute pension for a lump sum), when you retire based on your years and salary within the scheme whilst a member.
  3. Long-term illness cover (after two years' membership in aggregate) – an inflation-proofed pension for life, and a tax-free lump sum (New NHS Pension Scheme members will have to commute pension for a lump sum) if you can't go on working because of long-term illness.
  4. Job move simplicity – moving from one NHS member institution to another is straight forward.
  5. Quality benefits – a public sector scheme recognised as providing generous terms which overall are unlikely to be matched elsewhere.
  6. Flexibility – you can, depending on circumstances, start receiving your pension before the scheme's normal retirement of 65. New NHS Pension Scheme members can opt to draw down their benefits pre retirement.

NHS Pension Scheme - section 2015 (New members with effect from 1 April 2015)

A pension of 1/54th of each year's pensionable earnings revalued by CPI plus 1.5%.

Other Benefits

    1. Immediate life cover – a lump sum equal to two times your relevant pensionable pay together with a pension for your dependants should you die before retirement whilst in employment.
    2. An inflation-proofed pension – regular income, plus a tax-free lump sum (section 2015 members will have to commute pension for a lump sum), when you retire based on your years and salary within the scheme whilst a member.
    3. Long-term illness cover (after two years' membership in aggregate) – an inflation-proofed pension for life, and a tax-free lump sum (section 2015 members will have to commute pension for a lump sum) if you can't go on working because of long-term illness.
    4. Job move simplicity – moving from one NHS member institution to another is straight forward.
    5. Quality benefits – a public sector scheme recognised as providing generous terms which overall are unlikely to be matched elsewhere.
    6. Flexibility – you can, depending on circumstances, start receiving your pension before the scheme's normal retirement of SPA.  2015 section members can opt to draw down their benefits pre-retirement.

Please note that nothing stated in this summary can override the Rules of the Scheme.

If you have any queries, please contact the Pensions Office at pension@qmul.ac.uk.

 

NHS Helpful links

NHSPA website

AskNHS

NHS Member Hub

 

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