What happens to your NHS pension if you leave? With two or more years' membership you can leave it in the scheme as a deferred pension.

What you can do when you leave the NHS depends mainly on how long you were a member, and on whether you are retiring, being made redundant or moving on. An FCA-authorised adviser can start from your NHS service and cover the rest of your plans; to arrange that, use this page's form and wait for the call. The rules below come from NHS Pensions guides for England and Wales; Scotland has its own section.

What happens to my NHS pension if I leave the NHS?

NHS Pensions' Leaving Early and Transferring Out Guide lists three options for a member who leaves without retiring. Which are open turns on whether you have two years' qualifying membership, and earlier 1995/2008 membership counts towards that total in the 2015 Scheme.

OptionUnder two yearsTwo years or more
Leave it in the scheme (deferred)No, unless a personal pension was transferred inYes
Transfer to another registered schemeYes, if under normal pension age and within 12-month time limitsYes, if time limits are met and the scheme pays defined benefits
Refund of your own contributionsYes, if under normal pension age and no personal pension was transferred inNo

A deferred pension is, in the 2015 Members Guide's words, "a pension which is not in payment and is not being added to through active scheme membership." Transfers out have their own limits (can you transfer an NHS pension); stopping contributions while staying in the job is opting out.

Your deferred NHS pension: when it is paid and how it keeps up

The Leaving Early guide says "A deferred pension is usually payable from your Normal Pension Age." That is 60 for the 1995 Section and 65 for the 2008 Section; in the 2015 Scheme it equals your State Pension age or 65, whichever is higher. See NHS pension age by section, or which NHS scheme you are in if unsure.

Deferred benefits rise each April in line with inflation over the twelve months to the previous September; the annual NHS pension increase has the detail. When the time comes, form AW8P claims the pension.

Two earlier routes exist. From minimum pension age, and once you have left NHS employment, you may be able to claim early at a reduced rate: taking an NHS pension early. Permanent incapacity for regular work of like duration before normal pension age may let NHS Pensions pay early on health grounds: NHS ill health retirement.

Leaving also changes the cover around the pension: the guide says "If you leave the Scheme these enhanced pension benefits may no longer be payable", meaning the enhanced ill health, life assurance and family benefits of an active member.

Redundancy, voluntary redundancy and dismissal

The 2015 Members Guide says "If you are retired prematurely because of redundancy your benefits may be paid immediately." That needs at least two years' qualifying service, minimum pension age, two years' continuous employment, and contractual terms letting you claim the redundancy pension in place of all or part of the cash payment. After minimum pension age you may instead take the cash and have the pension at normal pension age. Whether benefits are unreduced or partly reduced depends on your contract.

Taking the pension at once means your employer uses the redundancy payment towards the extra cost and pays you any balance. If the payment falls short, your employer covers the gap only where your contract says so; otherwise you can pay all of it, part of it, or accept partly reduced benefits.

Since the redundancy pension turns on your contractual terms, ask your employer's pensions team, before you accept a voluntary redundancy offer, whether those terms let you take the pension in place of the cash. If you were dismissed, ask NHS Pensions to confirm your position in writing; the adviser's call, once this page's form has gone in, can cover how that sits with your wider plans.

Under two years' membership: why a refund can wait

A refund returns your own contributions, not your employer's, less a National Insurance deduction and an Income Tax charge of 20% on up to £20,000 and 50% above, rates HMRC's pension schemes rates page also gives (October 2026). The 2015 Members Guide warns "Taking a refund of your own contributions is usually the least beneficial outcome for you compared with long term pension provision." It adds that membership separated by a break of five years or less is linked, so delaying a refund may suit you if your plans are unsettled.

A refund is not compulsory straight away. 2015 Scheme members must take one if they rejoin after a break of more than five years; 1995/2008 members must take a refund or consider a transfer unless they rejoin within 12 months of leaving. Leaving for study or training that will benefit the NHS, or for work comparable to NHS work, may avoid that break if you ask NHS Pensions for approval as soon as possible after starting and return as soon as reasonably practicable. Claiming is covered on cashing in an NHS pension.

Coming back: rejoining after a break

In the 2015 Scheme, rejoining after five years or less links the earlier period to the new one, and the pension built up before the break gets full in-scheme revaluation for each scheme year of the gap at the Treasury rate plus 1.5%, which could be positive or negative. After more than five years the periods stay separate: in-scheme revaluation stops for the earlier one and it is revalued by Pensions Increase on retirement. Pensionable work in another public service scheme during the gap is ignored when counting the five years.

Some 1995/2008 members have protection allowing a return to the same section after a break of under five years, if they come back before normal pension age. Others rejoin the 2015 Scheme with a final salary link for the older benefits. After a longer break, someone previously in the 1995 Section and under 60, or the 2008 Section and under 65, gets a one-off chance to move deferred benefits into the 2015 Scheme.

One warning applies to anyone planning a return: "It is important to note that if you are intending to return to NHS employment and take a refund of your contributions or transfer out you may be giving up all your existing pension rights in the NHS Pension Scheme." Drawing a pension and then working again is covered on taking an NHS pension and still working.

Leaving NHS Scotland

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) runs the scheme in Scotland. SPPA says "If you contribute to an NHS Scotland pension for more than two years, your benefits will be preserved for you when you leave." You can rejoin before normal pension age, but a break of more than five years puts you in the 2015 scheme. How the Scottish NHS scheme differs compares the two. Northern Ireland has its own HSC Pension Scheme, run by the HSC Pension Service, which publishes its own guide to leaving the scheme.

Leaving the NHS: what members ask about their pension

Do I have to apply to keep my NHS pension when I leave?

No. You do not need to apply to defer, and NHS Pensions will write to you. Tell it if your address changes.

What happens to an NHS AVC fund when I leave?

An NHS Money Purchase AVC fund is deferred automatically with your main benefits. It stays invested, the return is not guaranteed, and Pensions Increase does not apply to it. A refund of the main scheme means it cannot stay invested.

Will my family still get death benefits if I leave?

The Leaving Early guide says "Should you die before or after you take your deferred benefits then life assurance and family benefits may be payable." Amounts are on NHS pension death benefits.

Setting a leaving decision beside your other plans

Free help is available from the NHS Pensions helpline, MoneyHelper and Pension Wise where eligible; final salary pensions explains how this kind of pension differs from a pot. Savings, State Pension and family cover all interact with an NHS exit, which is where an FCA-authorised adviser, contacted via this page's form, can help.

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