No Civil Service pension scheme is best for everyone: new joiners choose alpha, a career average pension, or partnership, an invested pot.
Which Civil Service pension scheme can you actually join?
Alpha and partnership are different kinds of pension, so the answer turns on the reader. The Civil Service Pension Scheme says that when you start a career in the Civil Service, "you have the option of joining either the alpha or partnership pension scheme". The scheme's alpha guide gives partnership or opting out as the alternatives for anyone who does not want alpha, and partnership chosen within one month of joining is backdated to the first day of service. Pay, age and plans decide which fits. Talking all three over costs nothing: an FCA-authorised adviser will call about the scheme choice, and the form on this page only collects contact basics.
Classic, classic plus, premium and nuvos are the older sections. The scheme's guides say classic closed to new entrants on 1 October 2002, premium on 30 July 2007 and nuvos on 1 April 2015, and that after 31 March 2015 nobody is in classic plus unless they are a protected member. They matter if you already hold one, and they are covered further down.
Alpha and partnership side by side
| alpha | partnership | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Defined benefit: a pension based on your earnings over your career and your years of membership | Defined contribution: benefits depend on contributions and the growth of the fund |
| Build-up | 2.32% of pensionable pay each year, adjusted in line with prices | A pot invested in a fund of your choice |
| You pay | A percentage of pensionable earnings set by your pay band | Nothing required; up to 100% of pensionable earnings if you wish |
| Employer adds | A percentage of pensionable earnings, set by the scheme | An age-related amount, plus a match of your contributions up to 3% |
| Pension age | State Pension age or 65 if later; earlier means a reduction; minimum age 55, or 57 from 6 April 2028 for joiners from 4 November 2021 | Minimum age as for alpha, with no need to retire |
| Guarantee | A pension based on your earnings and service, not on investment returns | The Government cannot guarantee the account |
Source: Civil Service Pension Scheme, Alpha or partnership, Partnership pension account and Changes to the Minimum Pension Age pages.
What goes in: your contributions and your employer's
Alpha members pay a percentage of pensionable earnings that rises with pay: from 4.6% on the lowest band to 8.05% on the highest in 2026/27, according to the scheme's contribution page. The bands and how they apply are in civil service pension contribution rates, and what the government puts in as employer is in employer contributions to the civil service pension.
Partnership turns the equation round. Paying in is optional, yet the employer still contributes an age-related share of pensionable earnings:
- under 31: 8%
- 31 to 35: 9%
- 36 to 40: 11%
- 41 to 45: 13.5%
- 46 or over: 14.75%
The age is taken at the last 6 April. The scheme says that if you contribute as well, the employer matches you on top, up to 3% of pensionable earnings, so the match stops growing once you pay in 3%. What the pot is worth at retirement depends on what goes in and the return on the investment after charges. Investment values can fall as well as rise, so the pot could be worth less than the money paid in.
Retirement age, ill health and family benefits
On age, partnership does not require you to stop work. Alpha pays in full from State Pension age or 65 if later, and a reduced pension is possible earlier. The scheme says the minimum pension age for alpha and partnership rises from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028 for members who joined from 4 November 2021. Those who joined between 6 April 2006 and 3 November 2021 keep 55, and members affected by the 2015 remedy keep 55 in alpha. Early retirement is covered in taking a civil service pension early.
The lump sum differs. Alpha lets you exchange part of the pension, 25% of the total value of the benefits, for a tax-free lump sum, subject to HMRC limits. A partnership pot can usually give up to 25% as tax-free cash, with the rest used for an annuity, drawdown or cash, and the scheme warns that flexible options can bring the money purchase annual allowance into play. See pension drawdown.
For ill health, both schemes use the Scheme Medical Adviser. In alpha, a member whose health will permanently prevent them doing their current job can have the pension paid early, and it can be increased if they are unlikely to do any sort of employment. In partnership, the scheme says the outcome could be a lump sum when you leave, separate from the pot.
For family, alpha pays a pension to a spouse, civil partner or partner and any dependent children if you die with at least one year of service. Partnership passes on the pot, and the Legal & General trustees decide who receives it, taking your nomination into account. Death in service has its own lump sum rules, set out in what happens to a civil service pension on death. Because death and family terms differ so much between the two, an adviser can lay them beside your household when they ring you back after this page's form.
Who might alpha or partnership suit?
This is not advice; these are points people weigh. Is the civil service pension good looks at alpha in more depth.
- Alpha may suit someone who wants a pension worked out from pay and service rather than from investment returns, and who expects a long career in the Civil Service.
- Partnership may suit someone who wants control over the money and flexible access from the minimum pension age, who may move jobs and take a pot with them, or who wants a pot that can be left to someone on death. The scheme says the pension fund "is yours, no matter what" if you leave, but the value depends on investment returns.
- Partnership members also carry the risk of investments falling, and of a smaller pot if they pay in nothing.
Nothing is final: the scheme lets a partnership member switch to the defined benefit scheme at any time, once per 12 calendar months, while moving to partnership after the first month is not backdated. The scheme asks for the switching form to reach HR two months before the date you want to switch.
The closed schemes: classic, classic plus, premium and nuvos
A new joiner cannot choose these. From the scheme's factsheet:
- Classic is a final salary section: reckonable service times pay, divided by 80, plus an automatic tax-free lump sum worth three times the pension, with full benefits from 60.
- Premium divides by 60 instead, has no automatic lump sum, and is also payable in full from 60.
- Classic plus uses the classic calculation for service before 1 October 2002 and premium after, with the lump sum on the earlier service.
- Nuvos builds 2.3% of pensionable earnings each year, with full benefits at 65.
For a pension amount under these, see how much civil service pension you will get. Moving a pension elsewhere has its own rules, in transferring a civil service pension out.
Could the McCloud remedy alter which scheme looks best?
For some members, yes. The scheme says the Deferred Choice Underpin gives eligible members a choice, for 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022, between older scheme benefits and alpha, made shortly before retirement and not changeable afterwards. The scheme adds that the annual pension figure is only one part of that decision. See the McCloud remedy and your civil service pension for how it works.
Civil Service pension choice questions
Is alpha better than nuvos?
Nuvos is closed to new members, so for a new starter the question does not arise. Nuvos builds 2.3% of pensionable earnings a year and alpha 2.32%, and pension ages and the service needed for a family pension differ.
Is partnership better than alpha for a young starter?
It depends on how long they expect to stay, their view of investment risk and what they value. Partnership gives flexible access to a pot; alpha gives a pension worked out from pay and service.
What happens to a partnership pot if I leave the Civil Service?
The scheme says the fund is yours, though the employer's contributions stop. Depending on your new job, you may keep paying in, leave it invested or transfer it, and the scheme says to understand what you would give up first.
Can a new starter get free help choosing?
The scheme says it cannot give financial advice. For a partnership pot, the scheme points anyone aged 50 or over to a free Pension Wise appointment for guidance on their options.
Still stuck between alpha and partnership? The short form here asks only for contact basics, and an adviser rings back without charge.