Which NHS pension scheme am I in? Since 1 April 2022 everyone paying in is in the 2015 Scheme; where older service sits depends on the date you joined.

For a long NHS career, the real answer is usually several at once. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), whose member guide covers England and Wales, says a pension claimed today can include up to three different parts, paid together as one monthly amount. Below: how to place each part by date, and where to confirm it on your own record. If you would like those parts looked at against the rest of your retirement planning, an adviser with FCA authorisation will ring you, free of charge, once your details arrive through the form on this page.

Work from the dates, not the names

Three dates do most of the sorting. On 1 April 2008 a new section opened to new joiners, according to NHSBSA's Useful Dates list, a January 2018 document written for NHS employers. On 1 April 2015 the 2015 Scheme replaced both older sections for new employees. On 1 April 2022 everyone still paying in moved to the 2015 Scheme. The membership page now describes only two schemes, the 1995/2008 Scheme and the 2015 Scheme, with the first containing two sections.

The guide for the older scheme explains that what you were entitled to "will depend upon your type of employment, when you joined or rejoined this Scheme and any decisions you may have already made". That last phrase matters: a one-off Choice exercise, whose regulations were laid in 2009, let eligible members move their whole 1995 Section membership into the 2008 Section. For anyone who opted across, an NHSBSA factsheet says membership up to 31 March 2008 moved into the 2008 Section too.

Section or schemeWho it covered, with sourceHow the pension is built, with sourceWhen it stopped taking contributions
1995 SectionExisting members; the name was given to the original scheme after the April 2008 changes (NHSBSA Useful Dates, for employers, January 2018)1/80th of pensionable pay per year, final salary based on the best of the last 3 years (NHSBSA overview, February 2024)31 March 2022 (NHSBSA, Your NHS Pension since 1 April 2022)
2008 SectionNew joiners from 1 April 2008, plus members who opted across in the Choice exercise (NHSBSA Useful Dates, January 2018; NHSBSA optants factsheet)1/60th of reckonable pay per year (NHSBSA overview, February 2024)31 March 2022 (NHSBSA, Your NHS Pension since 1 April 2022)
2015 SchemeNew NHS employees from 1 April 2015 and older-scheme members not eligible to stay (NHSBSA 1995/2008 Members Guide, May 2024), and, from 1 April 2022, every active member whatever their age (NHSBSA, Your NHS Pension since 1 April 2022)Career average: 1/54th of each year's pensionable earnings, revalued (NHSBSA overview, February 2024)Open: all new and active members are in it (NHSBSA, Membership of the NHS Pension Scheme)

For how each formula turns into money, the NHS pension calculator page does the arithmetic; this page only places you. NHSBSA's three possible parts are the 1995 Section, the 2008 Section and the 2015 Scheme. A member who joined before 2008 and is still working usually holds 1995 Section service (2008 Section if they opted across), including any remedy period service returned to the older scheme (see below), plus 2015 Scheme service since 1 April 2022. Someone joining the NHS for the first time after 1 April 2015 would expect 2015 Scheme service only; a rejoiner should check, because the guide ties entitlement to when you "joined or rejoined".

Special Class and mental health officer status

Special Class status is not a fourth scheme. It is a feature of some 1995 Section memberships that changes the age you can claim without a reduction. For England and Wales, NHSBSA's guide says nurses, midwives, health visitors and physiotherapists "in post on or before 6 March 1995" who have not had a break in pensionable employment of five years or more "may have the right" to retire from a normal pension age of 55 without reduction, and mental health officers in post by that date with at least 20 years of MHO membership, and no break of five years or more, may also be able to retire from 55. The guide adds that further criteria apply, set out in separate Special Class and MHO information. Scotland uses a different test, given below.

The 2015 Scheme has no such provision, though if you already have the status it "will remain along with any 1995 Section benefits you built up". Whether you hold it is for NHSBSA to confirm from your record; the age rules themselves are on NHS pension age.

What 1 April 2022 changed, and what it left alone

NHSBSA's page for the move says that if you were an active member of the 1995/2008 Scheme, you "automatically moved" to the 2015 Scheme and have built benefits there since. Service before 1 April 2022 stays in the older scheme and can be taken in the same way and at the same time as before, and a final salary link is kept as long as there is no break in membership of more than five years. How much each pays in is a separate matter, covered on NHS pension contribution rates.

Affected members were sent a letter about the changes in January 2022, so post from that month is one place to look. For whether staying in is good value, see is the NHS pension worth it; this page does not rank the sections.

Remedy period service: rolled back in 2023, chosen at retirement

The 2015 reforms did not apply to everyone. NHSBSA explains that members with full protection did not have to move to the 2015 Scheme at all, members with tapered protection could stay in their existing scheme for longer, and members with no transitional protection had to move on 1 April 2015. The Court of Appeal later ruled that this treatment was age discrimination against younger members. The correction covers the remedy period, between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022.

For members with no protection or tapered protection, any 2015 Scheme service in those years was returned to the 1995/2008 Scheme on 1 October 2023, a step called rollback. The choice comes later, after you retire: whether to take 1995 or 2008 benefits, or 2015 Scheme benefits, for that remedy period service. You are affected if you joined a public service pension scheme on or before 31 March 2012 and had continuous pensionable service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 (or your retirement date if earlier), or left after 31 March 2012 and returned within five years; your service must also have been in the legacy scheme, or would have been but for the discrimination; and you must not have given up your transitional protection. Anyone who joined after 31 March 2012 is not affected. A decision tree on the NHSBSA site lets you check.

When the time comes you receive a Remediable Service Statement showing both sets of benefits and then 12 months from its date to decide. If you do not reply, the scheme says "we'll update your benefits permanently to pay you 1995 or 2008 benefits" for the remedy period. A Remedy Benefits Illustrator lets you try the comparison before the statement arrives. The scheme answers membership questions itself. If you would rather talk through your own remedy-period numbers with a professional, the form on this page is also where you can request a callback from an adviser who is FCA-authorised, no charge. More on the remedy is on the McCloud remedy page.

Where to look on your own record

NHSBSA's membership page says that if you have questions about your membership you can send a membership enquiry form, and it lists a membership statement request for the 1995/2008 Scheme. The practical places to start are these.

  • Total Reward Statement. NHSBSA's guide describes these as online statements showing pay, annual leave, local benefits and "NHS pension benefit information (if applicable)", refreshed once a year with data from your employer.
  • My NHS Pension. The online service gives members who have not yet claimed access to their Annual Benefit Statement, earnings history and employment history. Registering needs, among other things, an 8 digit membership number, found on your Total Reward Statement, on personal letters from NHSBSA, or on your payslip if your employer uses the Electronic Staff Record.
  • Your employer's pay or HR team. Questions about your employment or the pension data held in My NHS Pension go to your employer, or to the scheme's membership page.
  • Years of service and breaks. A break in membership of more than five years ends a final salary link, and the Special Class rules above turn on a break of five years or more, so dates of any gap are worth having to hand. Qualifying periods are covered on NHS pension years of service.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

This page describes the England and Wales scheme. NHSBSA's guide notes that the NHS has separate pension schemes in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the dates above should not be assumed to carry across. The Scottish Public Pensions Agency says its 2015 scheme replaced the previous schemes on 1 April 2015, that its 1995 section closed to new members on 1 April 2008, and that earlier members "may have been transitioned to the 2015 scheme already" or will be "at an agreed date in the future, depending on your protection status". Its Special Class test also differs from the England and Wales wording: you "MUST have joined the NHS Superannuation Scheme BEFORE 1 April 1995". In Northern Ireland the HSC Pension Service runs its own scheme; its eligibility guide says people starting HSC employment for the first time on or after 1 April 2008 may not join its 1995 section. For anyone in either place, how the Scottish scheme differs and the relevant agency are the places to check.

Which NHS pension scheme am I in: common questions

Which is the best NHS pension scheme: 1995, 2008 or 2015?

This page does not rank them. NHSBSA's overview shows different build-up rates, pay bases and lump sum rules, and NHSBSA explains that it offers a choice for remedy period service because moving everyone back to the legacy scheme would leave some worse off, as "some members may find they're better off with 2015 Scheme benefits". Which suits a given record is what the Remediable Service Statement and illustrator are for.

Can I still be in the 1995 or 2008 Section today?

Not as an active member in England and Wales: those sections closed on 31 March 2022 and active members moved to the 2015 Scheme. Your earlier service stays in them, and may be paid alongside 2015 Scheme benefits.

What happens to death benefits under each scheme?

Each part of your record may carry its own death benefit rules, so the answer depends on the sections you hold. What happens to an NHS pension on death covers it.

Is the 2015 Scheme a final salary pension?

No. NHSBSA describes it as career average, with each year's pension revalued. The older sections are final salary based, which final salary pensions explains.

I joined before 1995. Does that change anything?

It can. For Special Class status the England and Wales guide refers to being in post on or before 6 March 1995; Scotland's test is different (see above). Ask the scheme to confirm what your record shows.

How do I find out which section I have if I have lost my paperwork?

Ask NHSBSA or your employer for a membership statement, or register for My NHS Pension. If your record spans several employers, say so.

Having untangled your sections, you may want them set beside your State Pension and any other savings; the form on this page can book a callback, free, from an FCA-authorised adviser.

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