Which NHS Pension Scheme Am I In?
Most NHS staff with service before April 2022 are in more than one. Here is how to check, what each scheme builds up, and why holding a blend of two is normal rather than a complication.
The short answer. If you work in the NHS today, you are building up in the 2015 Scheme — everyone moved there on 1 April 2022, whatever they were in before. If you also worked in the NHS before that date, you additionally hold benefits in the 1995 or 2008 Section. Holding two is the normal position, not a complication.
How to Check, in Order of Reliability
- Your Total Reward Statement or Annual Benefit Statement. This is the only place that reflects your actual record, including any breaks in service or transfers in. Your employer or scheme administrator provides it.
- Your join date, against the table below. A good guide, and wrong often enough that it is not proof.
- Ask your administrator — NHSBSA for England and Wales, SPPA for Scotland, HSC Pension Service for Northern Ireland.
| If You Joined | You Built Up In | Status Now |
|---|---|---|
| Broadly, joined before 1 April 2008. | 1995 Section | Closed to new build-up on 1 April 2022 |
| Broadly, joined between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2015. | 2008 Section | Closed to new build-up on 1 April 2022 |
| Everyone accruing since 1 April 2022, and anyone who joined from 1 April 2015. | 2015 Scheme | Still building up |
Those date ranges are broad on purpose. A break in service, a transfer in from another scheme, or a return after time away all change which section applies, and none of them show up in a join date.
What Each Scheme Builds Up
The three differ in how they measure your pension, not just in when you can take it.
| Scheme | Builds Up | Normal Pension Age | Automatic Lump Sum |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 SectionFinal salary | 1/80th | 60 | Yes, automatic |
| 2008 SectionFinal salary | 1/60th | 65 | No |
| 2015 SchemeCareer average (CARE) | 1/54th | Your State Pension age, or 65 if that is later | No |
Source: NHS Employers — Comparing the different sections of the NHS Pension Scheme (checked 2026-08-16). The 2015 accrual and its revaluation are additionally sourced to the regulations themselves, SI 2015/94.
Final salary — the 1995 and 2008 Sections — works out your pension from your pay near the end of your career, multiplied by your years of service. Career average, the 2015 Scheme, builds a slice each year based on that year's pay and revalues each slice until you retire.
The practical difference: under final salary a late promotion lifts your whole pension, while under career average it lifts only the years after it. Neither is simply better. Career average tends to suit steady earners and people who go part time later, final salary tends to suit steep late-career progression.
The pension calculator works out what a year in the 2015 Scheme buys you at your band, and the contributions calculator shows what you pay for it.
Why Almost Everyone Has a Blend
From 1 April 2022 every active member accrues in the 2015 Scheme, whatever section they were in before. Benefits already built up in the 1995 or 2008 Section are kept, calculated under that section rules and payable at that section normal pension age. Most staff with meaningful service therefore hold a blend, not a single scheme.
So a nurse who joined in 2012 holds 2008 Section benefits for the service up to April 2022, and 2015 Scheme benefits since. Two pensions, two normal pension ages, paid from the same scheme. That is the ordinary case for anyone with a decade or more of service, and it is why NHS pension statements look more complicated than people expect.
The McCloud Remedy, Briefly
A court found that the way staff were moved into the 2015 Scheme in 2015 disadvantaged younger members. The fix, usually called the McCloud remedy, gives anyone with service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 a choice for that period only: have it treated as 1995 or 2008 Section service, or as 2015 Scheme service.
There is nothing to do about this now. The choice is made when you take your benefits, not before. Your administrator sends you a Remediable Service Statement setting out both options with your own figures, and that statement is the authoritative document — not this page, and not any calculator.
We do not model the comparison, deliberately. It turns on your own service record and a choice only you can make, and a third-party figure that disagreed with your official statement would create confusion rather than resolve it.
Does This Work the Same across the UK?
The three-scheme structure and the normal pension ages are the same in all four nations, because all three descend from the same 2013 public service pension reforms. What differs is administration and cost: contribution tiers and employer rates are set separately in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scotland runs 9 contribution tiers where the others run 6.
The contributions calculator holds all three sets for 2026/27.
Common Questions
Which NHS Pension Scheme Am I In?
If you are still working in the NHS, you are building up in the 2015 Scheme, whatever you were in before. Everyone moved there on 1 April 2022. If you also worked in the NHS before that date, you additionally hold benefits in the 1995 or 2008 Section, which are kept and paid under that scheme's own rules. Your Total Reward Statement or Annual Benefit Statement shows which apply to you.
Can I Be in More than One NHS Pension Scheme at Once?
You build up in only one at a time — currently the 2015 Scheme for everyone still working. But you can hold benefits from earlier periods in the 1995 or 2008 Section at the same time. That is the normal position for anyone with meaningful service, not an edge case.
What Is the Difference between the 1995, 2008 and 2015 NHS Pension Schemes?
1995 Section builds up 1/80th of pay a year as final salary, with a normal pension age of 60, and pays an automatic lump sum of three times the annual pension. 2008 Section builds up 1/60th of pay a year as final salary, with a normal pension age of 65. 2015 Scheme builds up 1/54th of pay a year as career average, with a normal pension age of your state pension age, or 65 if that is later.
Do I Need to Do Anything about McCloud Right Now?
No. The remedy is applied when you take your benefits, not before. If you have service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 you will be offered a choice at that point, and your scheme administrator sends you a Remediable Service Statement with your own figures. There is nothing to act on now.
What If I Do Not Know Which Scheme I Am In?
Check your Total Reward Statement or Annual Benefit Statement, which your employer or scheme administrator provides. Your join date is a good guide but not proof, because breaks in service and transfers change the picture.