To opt out of the NHS pension, you and your employer both complete form SD502; a refund of contributions is possible only under two years' membership.

An NHS pension opt out takes one paper form, signed by you and completed by payroll, and what becomes of contributions already taken depends on how long you have been a member. The rules below are those of NHS Pensions, part of the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), for England and Wales; Scotland comes near the end. Questions about how this fits your own NHS years? An FCA-authorised adviser will discuss them by phone at no cost; request the call with the form on this page. Whether staying in is worth it is covered on is the NHS pension worth it.

The SD502 form, who completes it, and when it bites

NHSBSA's member page is unambiguous: "You and your NHS employer must complete the form. This is the only way to opt out of the NHS Pension Scheme." That form is the Application to leave the NHS Pension Scheme (SD502); the version on the member hub on 20 October 2026 carries print code SD502 - (V24) 06/2025. The Opting Out member factsheet (footer 04.2025, V6) rules out letters, emails and verbal requests. It can be typed, but must be printed and signed.

You complete Part 1 and pass both parts to payroll, which completes Part 2; GPs in England send it through the PCSE online portal and GPs in Wales to their Local Health Board. It cannot be signed before you have joined, and it goes to your employer, not to NHS Pensions. Your employer cannot hand you a blank copy, the factsheet explains, because auto enrolment rules stop employers issuing opt out forms; you download it, or ask the Member Helpline for one.

The form's tick-box reasons include "Temporary opt out due to other financial priorities", and its declaration includes "I understand that I cannot opt out retrospectively". So timing matters:

  • Received before the end of your first pay period. The factsheet says you are treated as never having joined; the employer hands back any contributions locally and corrects tax and National Insurance. The form itself tells anyone opting out from the start of their NHS employment to complete it "within the first month", so check with payroll which cut-off it works to.
  • Received later. Deductions stop from the first day of the next pay period after receipt, or after a later date you write on the form.

Each form covers one job and the employer it names, so leaving several NHS jobs takes a form for each. The factsheet treats practitioners differently: opting out covers all practitioner-related posts, although a concurrent hospital post can carry on contributing.

Getting contributions back: the two-year line

NHSBSA's refund claim, the RF12 (print code RF12 - (V14) 05/2024), is the route to money back, and its first condition is that "your total membership in the NHS Pension Scheme is less than two years", with the 1995 Section, 2008 Section and 2015 Scheme counted together. The SD502 does not start this: it is "NOT an application form for a refund of contributions". If payroll received the SD502 inside the opt out window, the employer refunds locally; otherwise NHS Pensions pays, if you are eligible, once the RF12 arrives.

The RF12 rules out a refund where, at the date you last paid contributions, you:

  • continue "any pensionable work (including bank employment) in the NHS without having a total break of at least 24 hours";
  • have transferred pension rights in from a defined contribution scheme such as a personal pension, SIPP or stakeholder pension, however short your membership;
  • have reached normal pension age in the 2015 Scheme, or are 60 or over in the 1995 Section or 65 or over in the 2008 Section;
  • already receive an NHS pension.

You fill in Part A for the NHS employer where you last paid in, which completes Part B; NHS Pensions aims to pay within its statutory one-month target. The RF12 adds that AVCs are refunded automatically alongside your main contributions. Your employer's contributions are not returned, according to the Leaving Early and Transferring Out Guide (cover print code (V17A) 04.2024).

Tax comes off, because contributions were taken before tax. The RF12 gives 20% on refunds up to £20,000; the Guide sets out the full rule as "Income Tax at a rate of 20% for refunds up to £20,000 and 50% on the amount over £20,000." Where any membership was before 6 April 2016, there is also a deduction for buying you back into the State Second Pension. See NHS pension tax relief.

With two years or more, the Guide's option is to leave your benefits deferred in the Scheme, usually paid from your Normal Pension Age; what happens to your NHS pension if you leave covers deferring and transferring. If you may come back, read the rejoining section before claiming.

What the form says you give up

The SD502's own list of what you give up by opting out is: your right to any further benefits from the Scheme in that employment; "a pension payable for life fully guaranteed by the Government"; for 1995 Section members, a retirement lump sum that is usually tax free; for anyone who opted out before 1 April 2008 and does not rejoin, the option of giving up some pension for a bigger lump sum; enhanced ill health retirement benefits; and life assurance cover as a lump sum, with pension benefits for dependants including children. Above that list it gives the employer's share, printed on the June 2025 form as 23.7% of salary; the current employer rate is on NHS pension employer contributions.

The cover itself is detailed on NHS ill health retirement and what happens to your NHS pension when you die. The form also warns that the 12 month limit for asking to transfer earlier pension into the Scheme runs from when you were first eligible to join, and that opting out may affect a transfer in if you rejoin later.

Where an allowance charge, other savings or your health complicate things, the SD502 is worth pausing over: an FCA-authorised adviser can talk it through with you before signing, at no cost, if you leave a number in this page's form.

Being put back in: re-enrolment every three years

An opt out is not permanent. The factsheet says employers are "obliged to re-enrol all eligible employees by conducting an auto enrolment exercise every three years", and the SD502's notes say that if you stay opted out your employer will normally put you "back into pension saving in around 3 years". The employer writes to tell you, and staying out means another SD502.

A new employer, the SD502 adds, will normally enrol you straight away. GOV.UK's general workplace pension guidance has an exception: where someone chose to leave within the 12 months before they would have been re-enrolled, the employer does not have to re-enrol them, though it can. The workplace pension rules guide has the statutory side, and can I pause my pension contributions explains why a pause rarely lasts.

Opting back in

To return, write to your employer. The factsheet says you go back in from the first day of the pay period after it receives your letter, or after a later date you name, and the date cannot be backdated, so the time outside builds nothing. You cannot rejoin during an absence from work; NHSBSA's joining page sets 75 as the upper age, and anyone coming back from 1 April 2023 builds benefits in the 2015 Scheme.

How long you were out matters for earlier service. The Leaving Early guide says 2015 Scheme membership from before a gap of up to five years links with your new membership, and after a longer gap it does not. Someone who took a refund during a gap of up to five years may repay it within six months of rejoining so the refunded membership counts again. The 1995 and 2008 Sections have their own rules in the same guide; to see which applies to your years, start with which NHS pension scheme am I in.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

In Scotland the scheme is administered by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA), whose opting-out page sets different rules. Opt out within three months of being enrolled and your employer refunds your contributions automatically, less tax. Between three months and two years you can apply for a refund, transfer to another public service scheme, or put off the refund; if you neither claim nor return to pensionable work within 5 years, SPPA gets in touch to pay it.

Where benefits stay in the Scottish scheme, SPPA warns that death in service and ill health retirement benefits may be reduced and that the annual pension increase follows CPI without the enhancement; a full refund leaves nothing behind. Added Years and Additional Pension contracts are cancelled after an opt out of more than 12 months. Since a November 2024 amendment, Scottish practitioners can opt out of single employments using the same form as other staff, and SPPA says that from 1 April 2025 it does not accept opt out forms the employer has not completed first. NHSBSA's 2015 Members Guide is written for England and Wales, so the rules above cover Welsh staff. This page does not cover Northern Ireland. How the Scottish scheme differs sets the two side by side.

NHS pension opt out: common questions

How long does it take to opt out?

Deductions stop from the first day of the next pay period after payroll receives the form, or the pay period after a later date written on it. A refund is a separate claim; NHS Pensions aims to pay within a month, though in some cases it has to make further enquiries first.

Can I opt out of the NHS pension for a year, or temporarily?

The SD502 lists a temporary opt out among its reasons, but the route is the same: opt out, then write to your employer when you want back in. Re-enrolment or a new job can end the gap sooner, and no pension builds meanwhile.

Can I reduce my NHS pension contributions instead of opting out?

Member contribution rates are tiered by pay, according to the 2015 Members Guide, with the current tiers on NHS pension rates. Whether any other way of paying less exists is a question for payroll or NHS Pensions.

Can my employer make me opt out?

No. The SD502 says your employer cannot ask or force you to opt out, and that if this happens you can tell the Pensions Regulator.

Your next step

Free help with the mechanics is available from payroll, the NHS Pensions member helpline, MoneyHelper and, if you are eligible, Pension Wise. To set NHS service beside your savings and family cover, this page's enquiry form brings a free phone call from an FCA-authorised adviser.

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