Armed forces pension increases: how the yearly rise works

The armed forces pension increase from 6 April 2026 is 3.8% for pensions that began before 7 April 2025, and a part-year rise for newer ones.

Below: where the percentage comes from, why someone who left recently gets less, who waits until 55, and how pension still being built is revalued. Veterans juggling a forces pension with other savings may want a second view: a few answers given on the form on this page prompt a free return call from an FCA-authorised adviser's firm.

The April 2026 rise and where the percentage comes from

Armed forces pensions are public service pensions, and those are raised each year by a Treasury order. The Pensions Increase (Review) Order 2026, SI 2026/256, was made on 9 March 2026 and came into force on 6 April 2026. For periods from that date it lets the pension authority raise the annual rate "for a pension which began before 7th April 2025, by 3.8 per cent". Newer pensions get a fraction of that, covered below. On a round £10,000 a year, 3.8% adds £380, taking the pension to £10,380 (our own worked example, calculated 20 October 2026, not anyone's actual pension).

The Order's Explanatory Note sets out the chain. Section 59 of the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 obliges the Treasury to make the order once the Work and Pensions Secretary has directed an increase, and the percentage matches the rise that Secretary of State has given to additional pension entitlements for service after 5 April 1978. The older Pensions (Increase) Act 1971 decides when a pension counts as having begun and who qualifies.

The MOD's booklets for AFPS 75, AFPS 05 and AFPS 15 describe the same rule for a pension in payment: it goes up each year with the Consumer Price Index, measured each September and applied the following April. They add that a pension in payment "is not affected by the Armed Forces annual pay increase". Which scheme you belong to is covered in which armed forces pension scheme you are in, and the starting amount the rise applies to in how much armed forces pension you get.

The full-year rises set by the last five orders, for the oldest pensions, were:

The 2024 entry is the "No. 2" order, made because of an error in the earlier SI 2024/331. These are the Treasury's yearly percentages, not what a particular pension rose by: that depends on when it began and on the points below.

If you left in the last year: the part-year rise

Under section 8(2) of the 1971 Act, a pension is treated as beginning on "the day following the last day of the service in respect of which the pension is payable". For someone leaving with an immediate pension, that is generally the day after their last day of service. Where it falls on or after 7 April 2025, the 2026 Order scales the 3.8% by the number of complete months between that date and 6 April 2026, divided by 12. Section 59(8) of the 1975 Act counts an incomplete month of at least 16 days as complete.

The Explanatory Note sets out the result month by month. Four of its rows, as printed:

Take a round £10,000 pension that began on 1 October 2025, after a last day of service on 30 September. That falls in the second row, so the rise is 1.9%: £190, taking it to £10,190 (our arithmetic again). To work out your own, multiply the annual pension by the percentage for its beginning date; Veterans UK's figure is the one that counts, and its rounding may differ. The Order applies the same month-based scaling to certain deferred lump sums that become payable during the year.

Before 55: when a rise starts to apply

Section 3 of the 1971 Act sets the conditions. A pension for the pensioner's own service is not increased until the pensioner reaches 55 or has retired because of physical or mental infirmity. A third route, having a dependant or being disabled by infirmity, has applied since 1993 only in limited cases tied to earlier service. A pension that comes from a pension credit, such as a former spouse's share after divorce, is not increased before 55; how a split works is in armed forces pension and divorce.

The scheme booklets show what that means for someone who leaves with a pension before 55, or with a payment that is not a pension:

• AFPS 75, immediate pension. Someone who leaves before 55 with the qualifying service gets a fixed sum until 55. At that point, the MOD says, it is "increased to take account of the total rise in the cost of living since your Service ended", and after 55 it rises each year with CPI.
• AFPS 75, preserved pension. Veterans UK's guide to deferred and preserved pensions gives one example payable at 60 that "would be revalued in line with indexation", and another whose value keeps rising each year with CPI.
• AFPS 05, Early Departure Payment. From 55, the booklet says, the income "increases to 75% of the value of your deferred pension"; it stops at 65, when the deferred pension becomes payable. The booklet read does not describe any other yearly increase to the payment.
• AFPS 15, Early Departure Payment. From 55 the income "is adjusted to take account of annual increases in the Consumer Price Index". The deferred pension is paid from State Pension age.

Who qualifies for an Early Departure Payment, and when a deferred pension can be claimed, are in the scheme comparison and deferring an armed forces pension. A payment that has not started rising yet, or rises in a step, is hard to compare with the headline figure. If the years between leaving and State Pension age are the gap you are trying to plan for, sketch that gap via the form on this page; someone from an FCA-authorised adviser's firm then rings to discuss it, free.

Pension still being built: AFPS 15 revaluation

The rise above is for a pension in payment. For a serving AFPS 15 member, the MOD's booklet (cover dated May 2023) says each year's pension is added to a pot that grows with inflation, and that this growth, "known as indexation, is based on the Average Weekly Earnings index". How each year's pension is earned is set out in the guide to how much pension you will get.

The legal rule is regulation 26 of the Armed Forces Pension Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/2336). It takes the percentage from the year's Treasury revaluation order: an increase or decrease in prices or earnings, "as the scheme manager may determine to be applicable to a description of pension". For the year 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026, the Public Service Pensions Revaluation Order 2026, SI 2026/254, specifies two figures: prices up 3.8% (the Consumer Prices Index to September 2025) and earnings up 4.8% (average weekly earnings to September 2025).

Neither the regulation nor the Order says which figure was applied to armed forces pension accounts, so this page does not state one; Veterans UK can confirm what was applied to yours. For someone who leaves part-way through a scheme year, regulation 26 also sets a retirement index adjustment: the percentage multiplied by the complete months from the start of the leaving year to the last day of pensionable service, divided by 12.

Why your own rise may differ from 3.8%

The figure on your own pension can differ from the headline because:

• it began on or after 7 April 2025, so the part-year scaling applies;
• it has not yet reached the point where rises apply, as in the under-55 section;
• it is an Early Departure Payment, which follows the scheme's own rules described above;
• you also have a guaranteed minimum pension from the same employment: article 4 of the Order then reduces the amount the increase is worked on by the rate of that guaranteed minimum pension, unless the Treasury direct otherwise.

For any of these, the first call is the scheme administrator, Veterans UK; its statement and forecast routes are in getting an armed forces pension statement. How a forces pension sits with a State Pension or benefits is in the State Pension guide and armed forces pension and benefits. Where more than one pension is involved, an FCA-authorised adviser's firm can talk the pieces through by telephone, without charge, once veterans outline them using the form on this page.

Payments for injury, illness or death caused by service are separate from the service pension. GOV.UK says War Pension Scheme payments (service before 6 April 2005) go up each year with the Consumer Price Index, and that the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme's Guaranteed Income Payment (service from that date) is "a tax free, index linked monthly payment". The 2026 war pension rates are in war widow's pension rates, and how these awards differ from the service pension is in disability, war pension and medical discharge rules.

Questions about armed forces pension increases

When do armed forces pensions increase?

Each April. The scheme booklets say CPI is measured each September and the increase applied the following April; the 2026 Order came into force on 6 April 2026.

Does the armed forces pay rise change my pension?

Not once the pension is in payment: the booklets say the annual pay award does not affect it. Pay awards to serving personnel are a separate matter.

What was the armed forces pension increase for 2025?

The Pensions Increase (Review) Order 2025, SI 2025/343, authorised 1.7% for pensions that began before 8 April 2024, with a part-year fraction for later ones.

Do other public service pensions rise the same way?

The same Order covers public service pensions generally, but each scheme has its own detail. See civil service, NHS, police, teachers' and local government pension increases.

Sources

Legislation on legislation.gov.uk, read 20 October 2026: Pensions Increase (Review) Order 2026, SI 2026/256 and its Explanatory Note; Public Service Pensions Revaluation Order 2026, SI 2026/254; SI 2025/343; SI 2024/372; SI 2023/338; SI 2022/333; Pensions (Increase) Act 1971, section 3 and section 8(2); Armed Forces Pension Regulations 2014, regulation 26. Ministry of Defence and Veterans UK: AFPS 75 scheme booklet, AFPS 05 scheme booklet, AFPS 15 scheme booklet (May 2023) and guide to deferred and preserved pensions (May 2024). GOV.UK: War Pension Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, both updated 6 November 2025.