Your NHS pension value is on your annual benefit statement, which may be part of your Total Reward Statement. A transfer value (CETV) is a separate request.

NHS Pensions prints more than one kind of value. Lining them up with your other savings is easier alongside an FCA-authorised adviser; to compare those figures on a free call back, ask for one from the form on this page.

Where to find your NHS pension value

NHSBSA gives active and deferred members an annual benefit statement (ABS), also known as a Total Reward Statement (TRS), and says the service is free of charge. A TRS goes to NHS staff on the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system, and it covers your wider employment package as well as your pension. A stand-alone ABS goes to members at Direction Bodies, approved non-NHS organisations, smaller NHS organisations such as GP practices and employers that do not use ESR. Deferred members, who have left but keep an entitlement, get an ABS too. The pension figure sits in the ABS either way.

Statements refresh yearly, using what your employer has reported to NHSBSA up to 31 March. With ESR access you can view yours there; otherwise register for My NHS Pension, the online service that shows your ABS. To register you need your National Insurance number, your 8 digit membership number and two registration codes. You will find the membership number on a TRS, on personal letters from NHS Pensions and on an ESR payslip. You cannot register if you left with under two years of membership, or if a refund or transfer has left you with no membership in the scheme. For help, NHS Pensions answers on 0300 330 1346, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Your nominations are not currently displayed on the ABS in My NHS Pension. Our page on the NHS pension nomination form covers how to check them.

How to read the value on your statement

The pension figure is in the standard benefits table. It has two columns: your benefits, which means pension, a lump sum where your scheme has one and any adult dependant pension, and the current estimated value of each. NHSBSA says the table estimates what your pension may be worth at the current time, using the latest information.

It does not show what you will be paid. The same NHSBSA page says the table is not an estimate of what your pension will be worth when you retire; retirement estimates are for 1995/2008 Scheme members, not other members. A hypothetical annuity cost may also be printed, and that is for information only, not one of your benefits. If you take your pension early, the benefits in the statement will be reduced for early retirement.

The statement also lists estimated death benefits, your membership and your contributions. To see how a figure is built from pay and years, read how the NHS pension is calculated; for the early-claim reduction see taking the NHS pension early. Weighing a statement figure against State Pension, tax and other pots is the sort of job an FCA-authorised adviser handles, and the short form here is where you ask for the call back, which costs nothing.

If your statement is missing

My NHS Pension sometimes does not show a statement. An active member's employer may be able to give a different type of estimate, and NHSBSA asks you to check with them first. It is putting its own estimates first for members up to one year from retirement, members who are terminally ill and members who need one for a court order or legal proceedings; anyone else who sends the form will not get an estimate at this time.

How to ask for a transfer value (CETV)

NHSBSA defines a transfer value as the capitalised value of the benefits you have built up, at the calculation or guarantee date. The scheme actuary's factors for your age at the calculation date convert your pension rights to a cash equivalent.

For a move to another UK scheme, NHSBSA points you to its transfer out guide and application pack on its leaving the scheme page. If you are an active member, or left in the past year, your employer should also complete an FA11a form, and you return it with the pack. You need a separate FA11a for each employment. Divorce valuations use different forms (see the NHS pension on divorce) and a move overseas has its own pack.

The pack asks whether the receiving scheme is known. If it is not, you get an estimated transfer value. If you are still in NHS pensionable employment, NHSBSA says a transfer is not possible and the most it can give is an estimate, not a guaranteed amount. Once you have left and the receiving scheme is known, NHSBSA normally issues a Statement of Entitlement within three months of your application and guarantees the amount for three months. For the general idea, see what a pension transfer value is.

What a transfer value costs and how often you can ask

NHSBSA says you are entitled to one free transfer value in any 12 month period, and further requests are charged for. Its chargeable-request form (V6, print code 20240620, still the version linked from its leaving the scheme page in October 2026) sets out the schedule, with all charges including VAT at 20%.

Type of requestCharge
First request, or none provided in the last 12 monthsNo charge
Another request within 12 months of an earlier CETV£408
Replacement guaranteed CETV, forms not returned within three months of the guarantee date (deferred member)£408
Request when all liability has been discharged, or you already receive benefits£408

The form says the charges are reviewed each year, with any increase no higher than CPI at the preceding September, so check the current form before paying. Once the receiving scheme is known, a Statement of Entitlement carries no charge, but a later one within the same 12 months does.

Before you act on a transfer value

The transfer guide says that from 6 April 2015 transfers to schemes providing flexible benefits, money purchase included, are not permitted for members with two or more years' qualifying membership; can you transfer an NHS pension? sets out what that leaves. NHSBSA also warns that a transfer to a scheme that is not a registered pension scheme is an unauthorised payment, with a personal tax liability of 55% of the payment, and it recommends considering financial advice, adding that the transfer is at your own risk and you may lose discretionary benefits.

Pension scams often rest on attractive offers to move a pension pot, and the warning signs are set out on the FCA's pension scams page. NHS pension advice lists who can help, and whether the scheme is worth it covers what you would give up.

This page covers the scheme for England and Wales. NHS Scotland and HSC Northern Ireland have their own schemes, so members there should ask their scheme administrator for statements and transfer values.

Statement figures and NHS pension quotes explained

What does pension value mean on an NHS statement?

It is the current estimated value of the benefits listed in the standard benefits table. It is not what you will be paid at retirement, and it is not a transfer offer.

Can I work out my NHS pension value myself?

The figure NHSBSA stands behind is the one on your statement. To see how pay and years of service build a pension, our NHS pension calculation guide works through it.

How do I get an NHS pension quote?

Start with your annual benefit statement. If it is missing, ask your employer first, then NHSBSA.

What does pension recipient mean?

It means someone who is being paid a pension. NHSBSA describes these members as getting NHS Pension benefits: My NHS Pension shows them payslips and P60s, while annual benefit statements go to active and deferred members.

Can I ask for a transfer value while still working for the NHS?

You can ask for an estimate, but NHSBSA says a transfer is not possible until you have left pensionable employment and it cannot guarantee the amount before then.

Putting the figures side by side

A statement value, a retirement figure and a transfer value are different numbers, and an NHS pension rarely stands alone. Statement numbers are easier to judge with someone who reads them often; this page's short form brings an FCA-authorised adviser to your phone, and the call is free.

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