Yes: you normally get an NHS, teachers’ or civil service pension and the State Pension, because they are separate pensions that are paid on top of each other.

You do not have to choose between them. What catches people out is that years in a public-sector scheme before April 2016 can leave the State Pension below the full rate. Set your forecast against your scheme statement with an FCA-authorised adviser, and any shortfall can be explained free; public-sector members use the form on this page.

Do I get both my public-sector pension and the State Pension?

Almost always. The NHS Pensions members’ guide says the scheme "is completely separate from State Pension arrangements or any other pension schemes you may be a member of", so "you will normally get a separate State Pension as well as your NHS Pension". DWP pays the State Pension from your National Insurance record; your scheme pays its pension from your pay and service.

On the State Pension side, the test is your National Insurance record, whichever scheme you belonged to. According to GOV.UK, 10 qualifying years are needed for any new State Pension, and 35 for the full rate if your record started after April 2016. In DWP’s 2026 to 2027 rates the full new State Pension comes to £241.30 weekly. The next section covers why your figure may come out lower.

Why might my State Pension be lower if I worked in the NHS, teaching or the civil service?

The usual reason is "contracting out". The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) says all public service schemes, "for example NHS, Teachers, Police, Firefighters and Local Government, were contracted out". While your scheme was contracted out you paid less National Insurance and did not build the earnings-related Additional State Pension that sat above the basic one.

Contracting out stopped on 5 April 2016. Anyone contracted out will "usually need more than 35 qualifying years" for the full new rate, GOV.UK says. DWP explains that a deduction was made to your starting amount, on both the old-rules and new-rules calculations, so a long public-sector career can still give a forecast under the full rate. Being contracted out does not leave gaps: those years still count as qualifying years. How contracting out affects your State Pension has the worked examples.

The shortfall can narrow. DWP says every qualifying year you add after 5 April 2016 lifts the starting amount, and keeps doing so up to the full rate or your State Pension age, whichever arrives first. Voluntary contributions do not always raise the pension for someone who was contracted out, so look at the forecast before paying anything. Topping up with voluntary National Insurance goes through the options.

How do I check what I will actually get from each?

Start with the State Pension forecast, which GOV.UK says shows how much you could get at State Pension age along with your National Insurance record. To see whether you were contracted out, look at payslips from before 6 April 2016 for the category letters D, E, L, N or O. GOV.UK adds that most people in work before April 2016 spent time contracted out.

Then ask your scheme for a statement of what it will pay, which is a separate figure from the forecast. Getting a pension forecast goes through the steps for both. Asking an adviser to read the two documents together costs nothing when you go through this page’s form.

What do the NHS, teachers’ and civil service schemes say?

NHS Pension Scheme

In the 2015 scheme, normal pension age "is the same as your State Pension Age or age 65, if that is later". The guide (print code V13, 05.2024) adds that members paid a lower rate of National Insurance before 6 April 2016 because they contributed to the scheme instead of the additional State Pension. That ended with the single-tier pension, which may affect take-home pay but, it says, does not affect your NHS pension. That guide is for the 2015 NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales; in Scotland, NHS and teachers’ scheme pensions are handled by the SPPA, so check with it instead. NHS pension age covers the other schemes’ ages.

Teachers’ Pension Scheme

Teachers’ Pensions says contracting out let members pay lower National Insurance in return for benefits equivalent to the Additional State Pension. No scheme could contract out from 6 April 2016, and benefits built up before or since are unaffected. The retirement age differs by type of benefit: the later of State Pension age and 65 for career average benefits, and 60 or 65 for final salary benefits, depending on when you entered service. See teachers’ pension age.

Civil Service Pension Scheme

The guide for Premium members says members "were contracted-out of S2P between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2016" and "paid lower rates of National Insurance contributions". Your new State Pension "will take into account any period you were contracted out", plus your National Insurance from 6 April 2016. For the scheme pension itself, see how much civil service pension you could get.

Are both taxed, and do they affect each other?

HMRC says the State Pension is taxable income, with nothing deducted before it reaches you. Tax is due only where your total taxable income, the State Pension among it, is higher than your personal allowances. If you also have a scheme pension or wages, HMRC will usually change your tax code to collect the tax due through them. Is the State Pension taxable? has worked examples.

Whether Pension Credit or other benefits are affected is in how the State Pension affects other benefits, and the State Pension explained covers the basics.

Questions public-sector workers ask about the State Pension

Is the NHS pension a State Pension?

No. The NHS Pension Scheme is a workplace scheme and the State Pension is a separate payment from DWP. Teachers’ and civil service pensions are workplace schemes in the same way.

Do NHS workers get less State Pension?

Time in a contracted-out scheme before April 2016 can lower the starting amount. Contracting out sets out how, and your forecast shows the effect.

Why do teachers not get the full State Pension?

Often because of contracting out, as above, or because there are fewer than 35 qualifying years. Teachers’ Pensions confirms the scheme could contract out of the Additional State Pension until 6 April 2016.

Is the new State Pension unfair to people who were contracted out?

Your date of birth decides which State Pension you get. GOV.UK says the new one is for men born from 6 April 1951 and women born from 6 April 1953. Within that group, the deduction is the reason a contracted-out person’s figure can be lower. New State Pension or old: the differences explains starting amounts.

Is the age my scheme pension starts tied to State Pension age?

Not necessarily. The NHS 2015 scheme and the career average part of the teachers’ scheme use State Pension age or 65, whichever is later, but final salary benefits in the teachers’ scheme have their own age.

Who can I ask for free?

Your scheme administrator for the scheme pension and DWP for the State Pension; NHS pension advice and teachers’ pension advice list the free routes. Both pensions can be talked through together by an FCA-authorised adviser; add a phone number to the call-back form here.

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