NHS London Weighting Calculator 2026/27
Working in or around London? The High Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) adds 5% to 20% on top of your basic pay — with minimum and maximum amounts that catch out the lower and higher bands. Check what your post is really worth with this NHS London weighting calculator.
NHS London weighting — officially the High Cost Area Supplement, or HCAS — is an extra payment on top of your Agenda for Change salary if you work in a qualifying London or fringe area. It is 20% of basic pay in Inner London, 15% in Outer London and 5% in the Fringe zone, each with a minimum and a maximum cash value. A Band 5 nurse starting in Inner London earns £32,073 basic plus £6,414.60 HCAS, a gross salary of £38,487.60 — and takes home £2,351.10 a month, against £2,040.21 for the same nurse outside a high cost area. That is a £310.89 a month uplift, not the £292 a month some calculators show: the difference is that HCAS is pensionable, so the pension contribution comes off before income tax is worked out, and any calculator that taxes first understates your take-home pay. Use the calculator above for your own band, zone and hours.
London weighting by band — entry points 2026/27
| Band | Basic salary | Inner London 20% | Outer London 15% | Fringe 5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 2 | £25,272 | £5,794 | £4,870 | £1,346 |
| Band 3 | £25,760 | £5,794 | £4,870 | £1,346 |
| Band 4 | £28,392 | £5,794 | £4,870 | £1,420 |
| Band 5 | £32,073 | £6,415 | £4,870 | £1,604 |
| Band 6 | £39,959 | £7,992 | £5,994 | £1,998 |
| Band 7 | £49,387 | £8,746 | £6,137 | £2,270 |
| Band 8a | £57,528 | £8,746 | £6,137 | £2,270 |
| Band 9 | £112,782 | £8,746 | £6,137 | £2,270 |
Entry points shown, rounded to the nearest pound. Notice the pattern: Bands 2 and 3 sit on the minimum in every zone (20% of a Band 2 salary is only £5,054 — the £5,794 floor pays more), while from Band 7 up the maximum binds everywhere. Only Bands 4–6 in inner and outer London actually receive the headline percentage.
How London weighting (HCAS) works
The High Cost Area Supplement is a recruitment and retention payment for posts based in London and the surrounding fringe, paid as a percentage of basic salary on top of your band pay: 20% for inner London posts, 15% for outer London and 5% for the fringe areas around the capital. Each zone has a cash minimum and maximum, so the real percentage varies by band. A Band 5 nurse in inner London at the entry point gets the full 20% — £6,414.60 a year — taking total gross pay to £38,487.60 and adding £310.89 a month to take-home pay after pension, tax and National Insurance.
HCAS is pensionable and taxable in full: it counts towards your NHS Pension (and can lift you into a higher contribution tier, because tiers are set on total pensionable pay) and towards thresholds such as the £100,000 personal-allowance taper. It is paid pro-rata to part-time staff, and it follows the post, not the person — move to a post outside the zones and it stops. Unsocial-hours enhancements are calculated on your basic pay excluding HCAS, so London weighting does not inflate your Saturday or Sunday rates.
Sources: NHS Employers Agenda for Change pay scales 2026/27 (HCAS included); NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (Section 4 / Annex 4 — HCAS zones).
The three zones — and how to tell which you are in
Your zone depends entirely on where your workplace is, not where you live. Inner London covers the central boroughs — Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster, Camden, Islington, City & Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Wandsworth and Greenwich — at 20%, minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746 a year. Outer London covers the surrounding boroughs — Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Harrow, Havering, Haringey, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Waltham Forest — at 15%, minimum £4,870, maximum £6,137. The Fringe zone covers parts of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex at 5%, minimum £1,346, maximum £2,270. If you are unsure, your contract or payslip states your zone — it is set by your trust’s official location, and it does not change if you move house. HCAS does not change your AfC band or spine point; it sits alongside your salary as a separate supplement.
How HCAS is calculated, in three steps
First, take the percentage of your basic salary: 20%, 15% or 5% by zone. Second, apply the floor and the cap: if the percentage figure falls below the zone minimum you are topped up to it, and if it exceeds the maximum you are capped at it. Third, add the result to your basic salary — that is your new gross pay, and it is the figure tax, National Insurance and pension are all worked out on. The floor matters most at the bottom of the bands: a Band 2 on £25,272 would get only £5,054.40 at 20%, so Inner London tops it up to £5,794, and a Band 3 on £25,760 would get £5,152, also topped up to £5,794. The cap matters most at the top: a Band 7 on £49,387 would get £9,877.40 at 20%, so Inner London caps it at £8,746, giving a gross salary of £58,133. Part-time staff get HCAS pro-rata — half the hours means half the supplement, on the same percentage, floor and cap logic applied to the full-time figure first.
What HCAS is worth, band by band
Entry-point gross salaries with HCAS, 2026/27 (HCAS in brackets):
Band 2 (£25,272): Inner £31,066 (£5,794) · Outer £30,142 (£4,870) · Fringe £26,618 (£1,346).
Band 3 (£25,760): Inner £31,554 (£5,794) · Outer £30,630 (£4,870) · Fringe £27,106 (£1,346).
Band 5 (£32,073): Inner £38,487.60 (£6,414.60) · Outer £36,943 (£4,870) · Fringe £33,676.65 (£1,603.65).
Band 6 (£39,959): Inner £47,950.80 (£7,991.80) · Outer £45,952.85 (£5,993.85) · Fringe £41,956.95 (£1,997.95).
Band 7 (£49,387): Inner £58,133 (£8,746 capped) · Outer £55,524 (£6,137) · Fringe £51,657 (£2,270).
In take-home terms, the uplift is smaller than the headline supplement because HCAS is taxed, NI’d and pensioned like ordinary salary — but larger than rival calculators suggest, because they tax it before deducting pension. Band 5 entry: Inner £2,351.10 a month (uplift £310.89), Outer £2,268.52 (£228.31), Fringe £2,127.55 (£87.34), against £2,040.21 with no HCAS. Band 2 entry: Inner £1,985.36, Outer £1,935.03, Fringe £1,775.04. Band 7 entry: Inner £3,378.53, Outer £3,254.94, Fringe £3,062.16, against £2,933.86 with no HCAS — an Inner uplift of £444.67 a month. The full band-by-band table is on our NHS pay scales page, and unsocial hours on top of HCAS are on our unsocial hours page.
The pension-tier side effect
HCAS is pensionable, and that has a consequence calculators often bury: it can push you into a higher pension tier, because the tier is set by your total pensionable pay — basic plus HCAS. A Band 5 nurse at entry pays 8.3% without HCAS, but with Inner London HCAS the pensionable pay of £38,487.60 sits in the 9.8% tier, so the pension line is £3,771.78 a year instead of £2,702.23. A Band 3 at entry steps from 6.5% to 8.3% with Inner or Outer HCAS (Fringe pay stays in the 6.5% tier). The tier step trims the uplift — which is exactly why the uplift is £310.89 a month at Band 5 entry inner, not the £534.55 a month the raw supplement works out at before deductions. It also builds you a bigger pension: every year in the 2015 CARE scheme accrues one fifty-fourth of your pensionable pay, HCAS included, and your employer contributes 23.7% on top of the same figure.
HCAS vs the London Living Wage, and part-time HCAS
London weighting (HCAS) and the London Living Wage are different schemes that are often confused. HCAS is an NHS employer supplement, a percentage of your AfC salary with zone minimums and maximums, paid only to staff in qualifying areas. The London Living Wage is an independently calculated hourly rate reflecting the cost of living in London, the same rate across all of London, paid by Living Wage employers — it is not an NHS benefit and it does not vary by zone. For part-time staff, HCAS is straightforward: it is pro-rata to your contracted hours. A Band 5 nurse at entry working half-time in Inner London gets half of £6,414.60, which is £3,207.30 a year, on top of half the basic salary — and the pension tier is set by what you actually earn, so part-time HCAS rarely triggers the tier step that full-time HCAS does.
London weighting questions
What are the NHS London weighting rates for 2026/27?
Inner London 20% of basic pay, minimum £5,794, maximum £8,746 a year; Outer London 15%, minimum £4,870, maximum £6,137; Fringe 5%, minimum £1,346, maximum £2,270. HCAS is taxable, subject to National Insurance and pensionable.
Which London weighting zone am I in?
Your zone is set by your workplace’s location, not your home address. Inner covers the central boroughs, Outer the surrounding boroughs, Fringe parts of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex. Your contract or payslip states your zone.
Is London weighting based on where I live or work?
Where you work. Your trust’s official location decides your zone, and moving house does not change it.
Is HCAS pensionable and taxable?
Yes to both, and subject to National Insurance as well. HCAS is part of your pensionable pay, so your pension contribution is worked out on basic pay plus HCAS — and because pension comes off before income tax, it reduces the tax charged on the supplement.
Why isn’t my HCAS exactly 20% of my salary?
Because of the minimum and maximum. If 20% of your salary falls below £5,794 you are topped up to it; if it exceeds £8,746 you are capped at it. Lower earners often receive more than the headline percentage, higher earners less.
Do part-time NHS staff get London weighting?
Yes, pro-rata to contracted hours. Half-time in Inner London at Band 5 entry means half of £6,414.60, which is £3,207.30 a year, on top of half the basic salary.
What is the difference between HCAS and the London Living Wage?
HCAS is an NHS employer supplement, a percentage of AfC salary with zone minimums and maximums. The London Living Wage is an independently set hourly rate, the same across London, paid by Living Wage employers — not an NHS benefit and not zoned.
Does London weighting change my AfC band?
No. HCAS sits alongside your salary as a separate supplement. It does not change your band, spine point or progression — but it does count toward your pensionable pay, which can move your pension tier.