Are pension scheme accounts publicly available? Often yes: the public-sector schemes and many workplace schemes publish theirs, and you can ask for a copy.

What you can see, and how fast, depends on how your pension is set up. A scheme run by trustees follows different rules from a plan sold by a provider. Cannot tell whether your scheme is trust-based or contract-based, or who should be sending you a report? Complete the form on this page in a couple of minutes, and an FCA-authorised adviser will place your scheme when they ring.

Are pension scheme accounts publicly available?

It depends on the type of scheme. The large public-sector schemes put their annual reports on official websites. Local Government Pension Scheme funds publish one each, and the NHS and teachers’ schemes are on GOV.UK. A workplace scheme run by trustees has to prepare an annual report and give a copy to members who ask. A plan run by a provider is different again: the document to look for there is the provider’s governance report, covered below.

For many trust-based schemes, some parts must go on a website free of charge even where the full accounts do not; the next section but one sets out which.

What does the law let you ask your scheme for?

The right comes from the 2013 disclosure regulations (SI 2013/2734), which extend to England, Wales and Scotland. Regulation 12 says “A document containing the information listed in Part 2 of Schedule 3 must be prepared within seven months of the end of each scheme year”. The document must be given to a member, or other “relevant person”, who asks, and the request has to be made “within five years of the end of the scheme year to which the information relates”. A relevant person includes a prospective member, a spouse or civil partner, a beneficiary and a recognised trade union.

The timescale is short: “The document must be given within two months of the date the request is made.” You are only owed a copy if you have not been given that document before.

Part 2 of Schedule 3 includes “A copy of the appropriate audited accounts or auditor’s statements”. A separate list in the same Schedule, available on request under regulation 11 with the same two-month limit, covers the trust deed and the scheme rules. Put your request in writing and keep a copy, so the two months have a clear start date.

The right sits in the regulations for occupational schemes, meaning those run by trustees or managers. It is not unlimited: regulation 4 says regulation 12 does not apply to certain public service schemes, including those where there is no requirement for assets to be set aside in advance to pay the benefits. That is why many public-sector reports are published differently, as set out further down.

What must a workplace scheme publish online?

For certain trust-based schemes that provide defined contribution benefits, the Pensions Regulator explains that the law requires a chair’s statement within seven months after each scheme year closes, and that “Certain parts of the statement must be publicly available, free of charge, on a website.” Its list of what goes online includes:

  • the statement of investment principles for the default arrangement, with the information about its review
  • the charges and transaction costs paid by members for each default arrangement and each fund members can choose
  • the examples showing how those costs affect a member’s accrued rights
  • the explanation of whether the scheme represents good value for members

Regulation 29A carries the same idea: the information “must be made publicly available free of charge on a website”. If you ask for a paper copy, the trustees need only send one where it would be unreasonable for you to use the website. How those workplace charges are capped and set out is covered in workplace pension charges.

The full chair’s statement must also be available on request and inside the scheme’s report and accounts. The Regulator adds that in many cases it will be appropriate to publish the statement online in its entirety.

Personal and workplace personal pensions: the governance report

A trust-based scheme is overseen by trustees, and regulation 12 gives members the annual report right above. A contract-based scheme, such as a workplace personal pension, is a contract between you and a provider. For personal pension schemes the 2013 Regulations give the managers a different list of regulations to follow from the one that includes regulation 12, so do not assume the same request will work.

What these plans have instead is oversight from an independent governance committee or, at some providers, a governance advisory arrangement. Under the FCA’s rules, the committee’s chair is responsible for an annual report, and “the Chair of the IGC will ensure the annual report is produced by 30 September each year, in respect of the previous calendar year”. The rules apply to a firm that operates a workplace scheme with at least two relevant policyholders. The firm must make the committee’s three most recent annual reports available, and FCA guidance says it can do so by placing them prominently on its website and providing them on request, so start on the provider’s site, then ask.

Which side of this line you are on may not be obvious from an old employer plan’s paperwork, and the answer decides which route to a report applies. In the form on this page, ask for a call and the adviser can place yours.

Where do you find a public-sector scheme’s report?

Start with the scheme’s own site or the department that runs it.

  • NHS Pension Scheme. The annual report and accounts 2025 to 2026, covering 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, was published on GOV.UK on 15 July 2026 and applies to England and Wales. The NHS Business Services Authority also keeps its resource accounts and valuation reports together on one page. For what the scheme offers, see whether the NHS pension is worth it.
  • Teachers’ Pension Scheme. The Department for Education’s Teachers’ Pension Scheme (England and Wales) Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25 sits on GOV.UK; search there for any later edition.
  • Local Government Pension Scheme. In England and Wales each administering authority must prepare a pension fund annual report. Regulation 57 says “The authority must publish the pension fund annual report on or before 1st December following the Scheme year end.” It must include the fund account and net asset statement. Look on your own fund’s website.

For another public scheme, search for its name with “annual report and accounts”, or ask the scheme directly. The LGPS guide sets out how that scheme works.

What if the scheme is slow or will not send it?

Write to the trustees or administrator, quote regulation 12 and the two-month limit, and keep the date. If nothing comes, the scheme’s own complaints process is the next step, then the Pensions Ombudsman. Who regulates what in UK pensions explains where each body fits. If you are weighing up how to take a defined contribution pot, Pension Wise gives free guidance on the options.

If what you want is your own figures rather than the scheme’s accounts, your yearly statement is the place; how to read a pension statement walks through it. Lost track of a scheme altogether? Finding a lost pension comes first.

Common questions on getting a copy

Do I have to pay to see the annual report?

The online items for trust-based schemes must be free of charge. For a copy sent on request, ask the scheme to confirm in writing if it mentions a fee.

Can a spouse or union ask for it?

Usually. A relevant person includes a member’s spouse or civil partner and a recognised trade union as well as the member, though a union is owed the information only once an employer has told the trustees it is recognised.

Does the annual report show my own pension?

No. It covers the whole scheme: audited accounts and related documents. Your own figures are in your annual benefit or pension statement.

When one plan’s costs are the real worry, an adviser can go through the charges on your own policy in a free phone call; this page’s form, which asks only for contact details, sets that up.