To top up a Civil Service pension, alpha members can buy added pension or an effective pension age; any member can pay AVCs, partnership members more.
Which route is open depends on your section, and whether extra saving beats your other options depends on your pay, age and other pensions. Which top-up, if any, fits your section and other savings? An FCA-authorised adviser will weigh that with you, phoning back without charge when your details arrive via the form on this page. This page sets out the ways in and what each one involves; how the pension builds is in how much Civil Service pension you get, and the wider verdict is in whether the Civil Service pension is good.
How can I top up my Civil Service pension?
There are four routes, and they are different kinds of product.
| Route | Who can start it | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Added pension | Active alpha members | Extra annual pension, bought by lump sum or monthly payments |
| Effective pension age (EPA) | Active alpha members | A slice of pension payable one, two or three years early without a reduction |
| Civil Service AVC scheme | Members of the scheme | A separate invested pot with Legal & General |
| Extra partnership contributions | Partnership members | A bigger defined contribution pot |
The scheme's own answer to "How can I pay more into my pension?" for alpha is added pension or AVCs; EPA is a separate option for retiring earlier. Members of classic, premium, classic plus and nuvos can no longer start added pension; the older-sections part below covers what they can still do.
What does added pension buy, and how is it paid for?
Added pension is "an amount of extra annual pension you can buy which will be combined with your Civil Service pension when you choose to take it". It rises with the cost of living every year, before and after it comes into payment, and at retirement you can choose to give up some of it for a tax-free lump sum. Your employer pays nothing towards it.
You can pay monthly or by one lump sum. Monthly contracts start on 1 April and run to 31 March of the scheme year, so they cannot stop early unless you leave the scheme. A lump sum can be paid at any point in the year, but only one is allowed a year; paid through salary, it cannot be split over several months of pay or be more than a month's salary after standard pension and National Insurance deductions. The minimums are £10 a month or a £100 lump sum, and a lump sum needs 12 months in service.
For 2026/27 the scheme's overall limit on alpha added pension is £9,600 of extra yearly pension, a limit that "may be reduced if you're also buying EPA". Cost depends on your age and details, and the scheme says you must use its Added Pension Calculator before applying. Your employer tells you each year's deadline; for 2026/27 monthly purchases it was 6 March 2026.
The calculator works out the cost; whether that beats putting the same money elsewhere is something an adviser can help with, at no cost, after you ask for a call-back.
Is there tax relief on added pension, and what about the annual allowance?
Tax relief is automatic when the money comes from your salary. A lump sum paid by BACS or cheque is different: the scheme says no relief is applied and you claim it from HMRC.
Buying added pension, "particularly by lump sum", raises the value of your pension from one year to the next, and the scheme warns you could become liable for an annual allowance tax charge. HMRC's annual allowance is £60,000 unless the tapered or money purchase annual allowance applies, and what counts towards it is explained in the annual allowance guide. Added pension bought in alpha and in an older section both count towards it.
Effective pension age: paying to retire earlier
EPA is not a way to a bigger pension but to an earlier one. Alpha members pay higher contributions on top of their normal ones. In return a separate EPA portion accrues, in place of the standard alpha pension that would otherwise have built up while you pay for it. It can be paid in full one, two or three years before your normal pension age, but not before age 65.
- It can only start on 1 April, and you commit for the whole scheme year; it cannot be cancelled part way through.
- To build it from your start date you must apply within three months of joining alpha.
- The cost is fixed each scheme year but can change for the next one, and it gets tax relief like normal contributions.
- You cannot buy it if you have bought the maximum alpha added pension, and it cannot usually be paid for in arrears.
- If your normal pension age moves with the State Pension age, the EPA option moves with it.
Taking pension early without EPA is covered in early retirement from the Civil Service pension.
What if I am in classic, premium, classic plus or nuvos?
The scheme says that from 1 April 2022 you can no longer apply for new added pension purchases in those sections. Contracts already running continue to their end date or until you cancel. Added years cannot be bought in alpha, because alpha is not based on years of reckonable service.
If you moved from one of those sections into alpha, alpha added pension and your earlier added pension are separate, with their own limits, so you can still buy alpha added pension even if you reached the maximum earlier. In classic, classic plus and premium, added pension automatically provides for dependants; in nuvos and alpha, you choose. You can also buy an EPA while holding the maximum added pension from your earlier section.
Paying more into partnership or the AVC scheme
Partnership is a defined contribution account, so more in means a bigger pot, not a promised pension. Paying in is optional. If you choose to, extra from the employer comes in step with yours, capped at 3% of pensionable earnings, so a member paying 5% would see 3% added. The employer's age-related contribution is separate and is paid even if you put in nothing. There is no limit on what you can pay in, and relief is given on payments up to the greater of your taxable earnings or £3,600, subject to the annual allowance. Your own payments come out after tax, the basic-rate relief is claimed for you, and higher-rate relief is claimed from HMRC.
The Civil Service AVC scheme is a separate invested fund. Contributions are deducted from pay, with tax relief up to 100% of taxable earnings. They go into Legal & General's Target Date Fund by default, you can switch to other funds, and you can increase, decrease or suspend contributions at any time. The scheme says benefits may come as income, a lump sum or both. Values in either route can fall as well as rise, so you may get back less than you paid in. For AVCs in general, see whether AVC pensions are worth it.
Is topping up worth it? What to weigh
- Added pension grows with the cost of living but has no employer money; a partnership match is only available inside partnership.
- EPA buys timing, not extra income, and ties you to a full year at a time.
- AVCs are flexible but carry investment risk and charges.
- Extra saving can push you toward the annual allowance, which a lump sum makes likelier.
The scheme points members to MoneyHelper for guidance. Whether added pension, an AVC or neither suits you turns on facts only you have. To weigh it against your other pensions, an FCA-authorised adviser rings back, with no fee, if you ask via the form here.
Added pension, AVCs and EPA: quick answers
Can I buy added years in the Civil Service pension?
Not in alpha. The scheme says alpha is not based on years of reckonable service, so you buy added pension instead. Older sections no longer take new added pension purchases either.
Does my employer match extra Civil Service pension payments?
Not on added pension, where the employer pays nothing. In partnership the employer adds to what you pay, up to 3% of pensionable earnings.
How do I stop paying for added pension?
Ask the scheme through its contact page or in writing, and it will tell your employer to stop the deductions. The request must arrive before the new scheme year starts, and a written request needs a wet signature.
Can I just increase my Civil Service pension contributions?
The scheme's routes are added pension, AVCs and EPA for alpha, and extra payments in partnership. How alpha's normal rates are set is in the Civil Service pension rates guide.