Police Back Pay Calculator
What your September payslip should say — and what you are owed if it does not
The 3.5% award takes effect on 1 September 2026. If your force's payroll cannot implement it in time, the increase is backdated and arrives later as arrears. This works out the new figure, the arrears owed, and what actually reaches your bank once tax, National Insurance and pension come off.
Your position on 1 September
Set your rank and pay point on the new scales. Everything else is derived from the confirmed 3.5% award.
By default the old rate is derived as the new scale point divided by 1.035. If you moved pay point recently, or your payslip shows something else, enter the annual basic pay from your August payslip instead.
Monthly take-home
£2,453.87
was £2,395.24
You keep, per month
+£58.63
from £95.73 gross — 61% retained
Back pay owed
£95.73
£58.63 of it reaches your bank
Payslip-by-payslip reconciliation
Every pay run of the 2026/27 tax year, modelled on a cumulative tax code — the figures to check your real payslip against.
- Basic
- £3,431.86
- Arrears
- —
- Pension
- £461.24
- Tax
- £384.62
- NI
- £190.71
- Basic
- £3,431.86
- Arrears
- —
- Pension
- £461.24
- Tax
- £384.62
- NI
- £190.71
- Basic
- £3,431.86
- Arrears
- —
- Pension
- £461.24
- Tax
- £384.62
- NI
- £190.71
- Basic
- £3,431.86
- Arrears
- —
- Pension
- £461.24
- Tax
- £384.62
- NI
- £190.71
- Basic
- £3,431.86
- Arrears
- —
- Pension
- £461.24
- Tax
- £384.62
- NI
- £190.71
- Basic
- £3,431.86
- Arrears
- —
- Pension
- £461.24
- Tax
- £384.62
- NI
- £190.71
- Basic
- £3,527.58
- Arrears
- £95.73
- Pension
- £486.97
- Tax
- £417.77
- NI
- £206.02
| Month | Basic | Arrears | Pension | Tax | NI | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr | £3,431.86 | — | £461.24 | £384.62 | £190.71 | £2,395.28 |
| May | £3,431.86 | — | £461.24 | £384.62 | £190.71 | £2,395.28 |
| Jun | £3,431.86 | — | £461.24 | £384.62 | £190.71 | £2,395.28 |
| Jul | £3,431.86 | — | £461.24 | £384.62 | £190.71 | £2,395.28 |
| Aug | £3,431.86 | — | £461.24 | £384.62 | £190.71 | £2,395.28 |
| Sep | £3,431.86 | — | £461.24 | £384.62 | £190.71 | £2,395.28 |
| Octcatch-up | £3,527.58 | £95.73 | £486.97 | £417.77 | £206.02 | £2,512.54 |
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| Mar | •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• | |||||
Unlock the rest of the tax year
- • Every pay run to March 2027, with tax, NI and pension split out
- • The exact arrears figure to check against your catch-up payslip
- • Pension tier and National Insurance effects priced in pounds
- • Also unlocks the full Police Salary Report on the main calculator
One-off payment. No subscription.
Estimate only. Modelled on the confirmed 3.5% England and Wales award effective 1 September 2026, a standard cumulative tax code and 12 monthly pay runs. Your own payslip can differ because of your tax code, student loan deductions, salary sacrifice, overtime, non-pensionable allowances and local payroll treatment. Allowances are treated as pensionable in line with the main salary calculator.
Why the rise is smaller than 3.5% in your bank
A pay award is announced as a percentage of gross pay, but three deductions sit between that number and your account. Pension contributions come off first, at a rate set by which contribution tier your pensionable pay falls into. Income tax is charged on what is left. National Insurance is charged on the full gross.
For most officers that means roughly two thirds of the headline increase survives to become take-home pay. The exception is the officer whose pay crosses a pension contribution threshold on 1 September. Police pension tiers are stepped rather than tapered, so the higher percentage applies to all of your pensionable pay, not only the part above the threshold. Cross a tier and the share of the award you keep drops sharply.
The calculator flags that automatically if it applies to your rank and pay point.
How arrears are taxed when the award lands late
Arrears are treated as earnings in the month they are paid, not in the months they relate to. Income tax handles this well: on a normal cumulative tax code, payroll recalculates the tax due on your pay to date each month, so a catch-up run corrects itself and the year-end position is the same as if you had been paid on time.
National Insurance does not work that way. It is assessed against each pay period separately, using monthly thresholds, and it is never recalculated across the year. A lump sum of arrears can therefore push a single month's earnings above the monthly upper earnings limit, where the rate drops from 8% to 2%. Depending on where your normal monthly pay sits, that can leave you slightly better or slightly worse off than if the money had arrived on schedule. The calculator prices the difference.
Common questions
When does the 2026 police pay rise get paid?
The 3.5% award for England and Wales takes effect on 1 September 2026. Most forces apply it in the September payroll run, but where local payroll cannot implement it in time the increase is fully backdated to 1 September and paid as arrears in a later month.
How much back pay am I owed if my force pays late?
Back pay is the difference between your old and new annual pay, divided by twelve, multiplied by the number of monthly pay runs still paid at the old rate. One month late on a £1,760 annual increase is roughly £147 gross; three months late is roughly £440 gross.
Is police back pay taxed?
Yes. Arrears are treated as pay in the month they are received, so income tax, National Insurance and pension contributions all come off. Income tax under a cumulative tax code self-corrects across the year, but National Insurance is charged against the thresholds for the single month the lump sum lands in.
Why do I keep less than the headline percentage?
A 3.5% gross rise is reduced by income tax, National Insurance and pension contributions before it reaches your bank. Most officers keep roughly two thirds of the increase. If the rise pushes your pensionable pay across a pension contribution threshold, the higher rate applies to all of your pay and you can keep considerably less.
Can a pay rise leave me worse off?
It is rare but possible at the edges of a pension contribution tier. Police pension contribution rates step up in bands, and the higher rate applies to your whole pensionable pay rather than only the part above the threshold. An officer just below a threshold before the award and just above it afterwards keeps much less of the increase than colleagues elsewhere on the scale.
Does this calculator include overtime?
No. This tool models basic pay, force allowances and the confirmed award. Use the Police Overtime Calculator for casual overtime, rest day working and public holiday rates.
Why does my payslip not match this exactly?
The model assumes a standard cumulative tax code and twelve monthly pay runs. Your payslip can differ because of your tax code, student loan deductions, salary sacrifice arrangements, overtime, non-pensionable allowances and how your force's payroll treats arrears.
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