How much armed forces pension will you get?

How much army pension you get depends on your scheme: for service since 2015 it is 1/47th of each year's pensionable earnings, revalued each year.

How much is army pension worth? It turns on three things: which scheme your service sits in, what you were paid each year and, for older service, your rank. This page explains how the Ministry of Defence (MOD) says the current scheme works, turns the formula into pounds, and shows where the older schemes and the 2015 remedy change the picture. Where a forces pension is only one strand of your retirement income, a short submission through the form on this page tells an FCA-authorised adviser's firm about all of them; the enquiry itself carries no fee.

Your own record sits with the scheme administrator, DBS Veterans UK, on 0800 085 3600, a number the MOD describes as a UK freephone. MoneyHelper gives free, impartial information, but GOV.UK notes that Pension Wise appointments do not cover career average pensions, and AFPS 15 is one.

How the 2015 scheme builds your pension

GOV.UK's Understanding your armed forces pension lists three main schemes, AFPS 75, AFPS 05 and AFPS 15, and puts anyone who joined on or after 1 April 2015 in the 2015 scheme. For pension earned now, that is the one that matters: from 1 April 2022 all serving members build future pension in AFPS 15, and benefits already earned under earlier schemes are kept.

Unless another source is named, the AFPS 15 rules on this page come from the MOD's scheme booklet, Your Pension Scheme Explained (cover dated May 2023). It describes Career Average Revalued Earnings, or CARE: "Every year, the MOD adds 1/47th of your annual pensionable earnings for that year to your individual ‘pension pot’." The MOD's September 2026 factsheet on calculations shows the same sum with round numbers: pensionable earnings of £47,000 divided by 47 build £1,000 a year of pension, worked out under scheme rules rather than by how an investment fund performs.

Three details decide each year's slice.

• What counts as pay. Pensionable earnings are basic pay, excluding allowances, expenses, bonuses, financial incentives, Loan Service Pay and any form of Recruitment and Retention Pay. Your total remuneration is therefore not the figure divided by 47.
• No cap and no payments in. There is no maximum number of years that can count, and members make no contributions; GOV.UK adds that the scheme is unfunded and paid from the public purse. See armed forces pension contributions.
• Two years to qualify. A deferred pension needs at least 2 years of qualifying service, or a pension transferred in from another scheme.

The built-up pot is then revalued every year under the scheme rules, the 2026 factsheets say; the 2023 booklet described that growth as based on the Average Weekly Earnings index. No rate is quoted here, because it changes each year and your statement shows the figure applied to you. Once in payment, the pension rises each year in line with CPI inflation; armed forces pension increases covers the latest rise.

Our working: what 1/47th does to a pay figure

The sums below are our working, done on 20 October 2026 from the MOD's 1/47th rule. They assume pensionable earnings stay at £30,000 in every year and ignore revaluation, any older-scheme service, the remedy and any lump sum. £30,000 is a round number, not the pay of any rank, and the results are not a forecast.

Each row is £30,000 divided by 47, multiplied by the years and rounded to the nearest pound. In practice pay changes as people are promoted or as pay awards arrive, so each year of service adds a different slice, and revaluation lifts the earlier slices. That is why an answer by rank alone, or by years alone, can be wrong, and why no average figure is given here: it would blend schemes and careers that are calculated differently.

Leaving before pension age: deferred pension and the Early Departure Payment

Two ages apply, and which one is yours depends on when you leave. The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 sets them: for members of the armed forces the normal pension age "must be 60", while the deferred pension age is State Pension age, or 65 if that is higher. The booklet follows this: leave at 60 or over and the pension is paid immediately; leave earlier and you become a deferred member, paid from State Pension age. GOV.UK's one-line summary, "You can claim this pension at your state pension age, or age 55 at a reduced rate", describes that second case: the pension of someone who leaves before 60. A deferred pension can be paid from 55, reduced because it will be paid for longer. It is not paid automatically: claim it approximately 3 to 6 months before it is due. Armed forces pension age and deferring an armed forces pension go through the dates.

Age 55 and the uniformed services exception

The general normal minimum pension age rises from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028. Section 10 of the Finance Act 2022 sets a separate, lower figure for a "uniformed services pension scheme", which it defines to include a scheme for members of the naval, military or air forces of the Crown. For those schemes the age stays at 55 from 6 April 2010 on. The age at which your scheme actually pays is set by its own rules, as above; the Act decides only the earliest age at which tax rules permit a pension to be paid. For the wider rule, see when you can start taking a pension.

The Early Departure Payment

The Early Departure Payment (EDP) is a separate benefit, not part of the pension; receiving one does not mean the deferred pension has disappeared or been merged into it. The two MOD documents word the condition slightly differently. The May 2023 booklet: "you will have to reach age 40 or over (but before the age of 60) and serve as a Regular for at least 20 years. This is known as the 20/40 EDP point, since both the 20 and 40 year marks have to be passed." The September 2026 calculations factsheet: eligible Regular personnel "who leave at or after age 40 with at least 20 years' qualifying service meet the commonly described 20/40 point." After a break in service of more than 5 years, another 20 years or more are needed on returning.

For someone who leaves on or after that point but before 60, the booklet sets out what is paid:

• a tax-free lump sum of 2.25 times the annual deferred pension;
• a taxable monthly income worth 34% of the annual deferred pension, increased by 0.85% of the deferred pension for each year served beyond the 20/40 point;
• the income stops when State Pension Age is reached, and the deferred pension then becomes payable.

The booklet's table shows the increment at work: someone who is 44 on leaving with 24 years' service gets an income of 37.4% of the deferred pension. On our working (20 October 2026), an assumed deferred pension of £10,000 a year would carry an EDP lump sum of £22,500 and an income of £3,400 a year at the 34% rate. AFPS 05 also has an EDP, on its own age and service conditions.

When comparing leaving dates, the MOD suggests checking the EDP position and the later pension together. Medical discharge is dealt with separately in armed forces disability and medical discharge pensions, and for the general picture see ill health retirement. If you are weighing a leaving date against the EDP and the later pension, the form on this page accepts questions like that, and whoever replies from an FCA-authorised firm works from what you write.

AFPS 75 and AFPS 05: the older schemes

Many people hold benefits in an earlier scheme as well. Which one applies depends on when you joined, as GOV.UK's guidance sets out below; which armed forces pension you are on compares them in detail.

• AFPS 05: for those who joined between 6 April 2005 and 31 March 2015. People aged 45 or over on 1 April 2012 stayed in it; younger members moved to AFPS 15. The pension can be claimed at 65, or at 55 at a reduced rate, and it comes with an automatic tax-free lump sum of 3 times the pension.
• AFPS 75: for those who joined between 1 April 1975 and 5 April 2005. Paid service after age 18 (21 for officers) counts. The pension can be claimed at 60 for benefits earned up to and including 5 April 2006, and 65 for those earned after, again with a lump sum of 3 times the pension.

AFPS 75 is worked out on a different basis. The MOD's AFPS 75 booklet, dated July 2020 and so written before the 2022 move into AFPS 15 and the remedy, says that for the vast majority it rests on final rank and length of reckonable service, with the same rank and service normally bringing the same pension, and that a full pension can be worth 48.5% of representative pay. It also gives an immediate pension to a member who leaves before 55 with at least 16 years' service as an officer, or 22 as another rank. Treat those as the 2020 description: the scheme rules and your own statement decide. Rates for each rank are published as the tri-service pension codes, whose April 2026 edition applies to AFPS 75 members whose last day of service is on or after 31 March 2026. Read the code for your rank rather than a general table.

Legacy and AFPS 15 benefits are calculated under different rules and can start at different ages, the MOD's 2026 multiple-schemes factsheet warns, so one slice of pension can start years before another.

The 2015 remedy (McCloud) and your figure

When the 2015 scheme began, some older members stayed in a legacy scheme for longer while younger ones moved across. The MOD's remedy factsheet says the courts found this difference in treatment amounted to unlawful age discrimination. For eligible service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, members are given a choice between their legacy scheme and AFPS 15, made only when service ends. It does not reopen future accrual in the legacy schemes, and it broadly concerns people with relevant service before 1 April 2012 and eligible service in the remedy period.

For the amount, the point is that your total can differ depending on which option is chosen for that period. The highest annual pension is not always the whole answer, because options can affect lump sums and survivor benefits too, and that the choice covers only the remedy-period benefits rather than all of your service. The Remediable Service Statement is the document that lays the options side by side. Who is affected and how the choice is made is on the armed forces pension remedy.

Lump sums, transfers and other things that change the amount

AFPS 15 does not pay an automatic lump sum, but you can give up part of the pension to create one. Up to 25% of your overall pension benefits can be taken as a lump sum, at 12 to 1, so every £1 of pension permanently given up produces £12. On our working, giving up £1,000 of yearly pension would produce £12,000 and leave the pension £1,000 a year lower for life. The decision must be made in the 6 months before the pension is due and cannot be reversed. How the tax-free cash is treated more widely is in the tax-free lump sum guide.

Transfers are limited. GOV.UK says the government has prevented transfers from unfunded public service defined benefit schemes, such as the AFPS, to funded defined contribution schemes in the UK or abroad; an AFPS 15 pension can only go to a scheme that does not allow drawdown. How to transfer a pension covers the general rules, and our guide to final salary pensions explains the defined benefit idea. Whether your pension affects benefits is answered in armed forces pensions and Universal Credit, and what happens to dependants in armed forces pension death benefits.

How to get your own figure

The MOD's tools factsheet separates four documents that are easy to confuse, which is why figures disagree.

• Benefit Information Statement. A snapshot of benefits already built up at the date it is produced, not a forecast of a guaranteed retirement figure. One is sent each year shortly after your birthday.
• The Armed Forces Pension Calculator. A projection based on what you enter, not your actual pension data, and not a final award.
• A pension forecast. A more individual estimate from your pension records and assumptions, which can go out of date if service, pay or the leaving date changes. Serving personnel can request one on MODNET or with Form 12 by post, and people who have left can request a deferred pension forecast online or with Form 14, according to Veterans UK. Service personnel are entitled to one written forecast a year at no cost.
• Remediable Service Statement. For members affected by the remedy; it is not simply another general forecast.

Before comparing two figures, check the date each was produced and the pay, service and leaving date assumed. Getting an armed forces pension statement or forecast goes through the steps. The scheme's own administrators, MoneyHelper's free information and, for some decisions, a financial adviser are the options; GOV.UK notes you will usually have to pay for an adviser's services.

Questions about armed forces pension amounts

How much is army pension per month?

There is no standard monthly figure. For service under the 2015 scheme it depends on pensionable earnings in each year, so the pension built each year is that year's earnings divided by 47 before revaluation; divide by 12 for a rough monthly sum. Older service depends on rank under AFPS 75 and on the rules of AFPS 05.

Is there an official armed forces pension calculator?

Yes. GOV.UK lists the Armed Forces Pension Calculator, which projects benefits from the schemes. It works from the details you enter, so treat the result as an estimate.

How many years' service do you need for a military pension?

Under AFPS 15, two years of qualifying service bring a deferred pension, payable from State Pension age, or from 55 at a reduced rate. An Early Departure Payment needs age 40 and 20 years as a Regular. Among other conditions, a leaver who has served at least 12 years and is not entitled to an EDP, an ill-health award or an immediate pension can receive a Resettlement Grant, and still has a deferred pension to claim later.

How much is an army pension after 22 years?

It depends on the scheme. Under AFPS 75, 22 years as an other rank is one of the conditions in the July 2020 booklet for an immediate pension, and the amount follows the rank codes. Under AFPS 15 the amount follows pay, not rank, and whether an Early Departure Payment applies depends on reaching 40 as well as 20 years.

Is the armed forces pension the same as a war pension or compensation?

No. This page covers the service pension; injury and disability payments are separate, and medical discharge, disability and war pensions sets out the difference.

If your service spans more than one scheme, or a leaving date is coming up, the next step is the same: collect your latest statement and any forecast. Entering their main points on the form on this page results in someone at an FCA-authorised firm ringing you back to cover timing, the lump sum option and your other income.

Sources: GOV.UK, Understanding your armed forces pension, Armed forces pensions (October 2026), Veterans UK forms, Tri-service pension codes April 2026 and Personal pensions: get help; the Ministry of Defence's AFPS 15 booklet (May 2023), AFPS 75 booklet (July 2020) and Pension Awareness Week 2026 factsheets (September 2026), all hosted on GOV.UK; Public Service Pensions Act 2013, section 10, and Finance Act 2022, section 10, on legislation.gov.uk. Read 20 October 2026.