NHS pension eligibility: most NHS employees aged 16 to 75 can join, as can GPs, dentists, locums and staff of some other employers granted access.

Whether you can join depends on who employs or engages you, and on your age. Some groups have their own conditions, such as locums, bank staff and people working for a private company that provides NHS services. Some jobs and employers fall outside these groups. Where yours does, the contract itself matters, and an FCA-authorised adviser can examine it with you by phone; use the form on this page.

NHS pension eligibility criteria: who can join?

NHSBSA, which runs the scheme in England and Wales, says "You may be eligible to join the NHS Pension Scheme if you're an employee between the ages of 16 and 75." Its 2015 Members Guide (V13, May 2024) is more specific, describing the scheme as "open to any NHS workers aged between 16 and 75" in these groups:

  • staff directly employed by the NHS;
  • medical, dental and ophthalmic practitioners and trainees;
  • general medical practice staff;
  • eligible staff of independent providers granted access to the scheme;
  • eligible staff of employers granted direction or determination status by the Secretary of State;
  • non-general practitioner providers; and
  • freelance locum medical practitioners.

NHSBSA says that all new and active members have been in the 2015 Scheme since 1 April 2022. Which section older service sits in is covered in working out which NHS pension scheme applies to you. Eligible staff are enrolled automatically, except freelance locum medical practitioners (see below), and the auto enrolment guide explains what that means for your pay slip. This page covers England and Wales only; Scotland has its own scheme.

Can self-employed people, GPs and locums join the NHS pension?

Some self-employed people can. NHSBSA says the scheme also applies to people working under a contract for services, "including" GPs, general dental practitioners and ophthalmic medical practitioners. Freelance GP locums are on the eligible list too, but they are the exception to automatic enrolment: the guide says they "need to opt to join the Scheme".

Bank staff can be members too: the guide treats bank staff and freelance GP locums as in pensionable service "if they are at work and paying into the Scheme". The wording of the lists is about named roles, so a self-employed person in some other line of work should not assume they qualify. For other kinds of self-employment, an adviser can explain the position without charge if you ask on the form here.

Which employers can offer the NHS pension? Direction and determination bodies

Not every organisation that delivers NHS services is an NHS body, so access can depend on the employer. An NHSBSA guide for staff of such employers (V1, 01.2020) says a Direction is made under the Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1967, and a Determination under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013. Each is described as "a legal document" that gives the organisation access to the scheme.

The guide separates two kinds. An open one lets the employer offer the scheme to "new recruits who meet the terms of the legal documents". A closed one covers named staff, mainly people compulsorily transferred out of the NHS, and new recruits cannot be enrolled under it. If you have applied for a job with a private provider of NHS services, ask the employer which kind it holds before assuming you will be in the scheme.

Taking on a second role does not automatically bring it into the scheme. The guide says an additional role with a direction employer is not pensionable under the same code, although "if your employer has other access routes into the NHS Pension Scheme you may be eligible to contribute". A self-employed GP who works for a closed direction employer, or for a university medical school, cannot pension that income either. Employer access, part-time hours and past service can each change the answer, so put your own circumstances to an FCA-authorised adviser by sending the short form here.

Who cannot join the NHS pension scheme?

The Members Guide lists five situations in which you are not eligible to join the 2015 Scheme:

  • you are over 75;
  • your only NHS post is an honorary appointment;
  • you are employed through a General Dental Services or Personal Dental Services contract and are not a practitioner;
  • you are receiving benefits from the 1995 Section (the exception is an ill health pension, where you are under 50 when you rejoin); or
  • you are eligible under protection arrangements to keep contributing to the 1995/2008 Scheme.

The same guide adds that at 75 you "must claim all your untaken benefits and cease membership of the Scheme".

Rejoining after opting out, a break or retirement

Eligibility is not a one-off test. After opting out, the guide says you can apply to your employer to rejoin if you still meet the conditions, and adds "You may not rejoin if you are absent from work for any reason." The scheme's own rules are set out in the opt-out guide.

NHSBSA's joining page covers two other routes back in. If you return to pensionable NHS work after more than five years, you join the 2015 Scheme and get a one-off chance to transfer in your deferred benefits. Members who have retired and taken their full pension can go back to work once 24 hours or more have passed, and rejoin. The earnings side of that is in taking your NHS pension and still working.

If you retired on ill health grounds, the route depends on the pension tier. An NHSBSA factsheet on rejoining from 1 April 2023 says someone on a Tier 1 ill health pension "can rejoin the 2015 Scheme straight away", while a Tier 2 ill health pension holder can rejoin only after one year beginning with the first day they return to work. Neither can rejoin after taking a serious ill health lump sum. The benefits themselves are covered in ill health retirement in the NHS pension.

More about NHS pension scheme eligibility

Is there a minimum number of hours, or a waiting period?

The 2015 guide says eligible staff are automatically enrolled and made members "from the day you start or restart in the NHS". Part-time work can be pensionable too: NHSBSA's calculating membership factsheet (V3, 04/2015) says you are classed as part time if you work fewer than the whole-time standard hours for your job, and work in one or more part-time jobs "can be pensionable up to a maximum of the standard whole time hours".

Is there an upper age limit for joining?

Yes. NHSBSA gives 75 as the maximum age for joining or rejoining, and its ill health return-to-work factsheet says you cannot join the 2015 Scheme at age 75 or over. A member who reaches 75 must claim any untaken benefits and leave the scheme.

What does tier 2 mean for NHS pension eligibility?

It can mean two things. A Tier 2 ill health pension affects when you may rejoin, as above. The contribution tiers are separate: they set what you pay according to your pensionable earnings, not whether you can join, and the NHS pension rates guide explains them.

Can I join if I am on a work visa?

Yes. NHSBSA says that on a work visa you can access the scheme while working for the NHS "or other employer who offers access to the Scheme", and it publishes a factsheet for employees on a work visa.

Do the same rules apply in Scotland?

No. This page follows the England and Wales guide. Scotland has a separate NHS scheme with its own eligibility rules, described in how the Scottish scheme differs.

Where to confirm your own eligibility

NHS Pensions can answer questions about your record and your employer holds your enrolment details, so start there. MoneyHelper, which is backed by government, also gives free pensions guidance. The enquiry form here is open to anyone who wants NHS service weighed against other savings, and the adviser who rings back is FCA-authorised and charges nothing for the call. For what the scheme is, see the NHS pension explained, and years of service needed to qualify covers how long you must be a member to get a pension.

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