Understanding Take Home Pay
Income Tax
Tax rates and bands are usually updated every April. The 2025/26 tax bands and rates are as follows:
Rate |
Threshold from April 2025 (拢) |
Percentage (%) |
| Basic | 37,700 |
20 |
| Higher | 37,701 to 125,140 |
40 |
| Additional | Over 125,140 | 45 |
In addition, there is an allowance, below which no tax is deducted. The current basic personal allowance is 拢12,570. If you are coming from abroad or you do not have a current P45, you will be taxed without any allowances until we receive notification from HMRC of your allowance code.
Please note that tax is applied on a cumulative basis every month; you do not earn 拢12,570 without paying any tax at all, rather the allowance is spread equally over the year.
If you decide to join one of the University鈥檚 pension schemes or are auto-enrolled into a pension scheme, then tax is applied to your pay after your pension contribution has been deducted.
(HMRC have a website that gives a useful )
National Insurance
National Insurance rates are usually updated every April. The current NI rates and bands are as follows:
Earnings limits per month |
Employee's contribution |
| Up to 拢1,048 |
0% |
| 拢1,049 to 拢4,189 | 8% |
| Over 拢4,189 |
2% |
Please note that NI is not cumulative, if you earn in excess of 拢1,048 any month, you will pay NI on the amount above that.
Pension
The 神马福利影片 operates 2 pension schemes: grades FA1-FA4 may join or be auto-enrolled into 神马福利影片 Defined Contribution Plan, FA5-FA9 may join or be auto-enrolled into USS.
The current contribution rates are:
Scheme |
Contribution rate (%) |
| UWPS (Defined Benefits Scheme) not available to new starters |
5.5 |
| Defined Contribution Plan | 3,4 or 5 |
| Defined Contribution Plan (auto-enrollment) |
3 |
| USS |
6.1 |
Take-home pay
An individual鈥檚 monthly take-home pay will obviously depend upon their individual circumstances. As a very general guidance based on the standard personal allowance of 1257L your take-home pay on the following salaries would be approximately:
Salary (拢) |
Gross pay per month (拢) |
Tax (拢) |
狈滨(拢) |
Pension (拢) |
Take-home pay (拢) |
| 25,000 (opted out of a pension scheme) |
2,083 |
207 |
83 |
0 |
1,793 |
| 25,000 (in DCP 5% salary sacrifice pension scheme) |
2,083 |
186 |
75 |
104 |
1,718 |
| 30,000 (opted out of a pension scheme) |
2,500 |
291 |
116 |
0 |
2,093 |
| 30,000 (in USS salary sacrifice pension scheme) |
2,500 |
260 |
104 |
153 |
1,984 |
| 50,000 (opted out of a pension scheme) |
4,167 |
624 |
250 |
0 |
3,293 |
| 50,000 (in USS salary sacrifice pension scheme) |
4,167 |
573 |
229 |
254 |
3,110 |
| 80,000 (opted out of a pension scheme) |
6,667 |
1,619 |
301 |
0 |
4,746 |
| 80,000 (in USS salary sacrifice pension scheme) |
6,667 |
1,457 |
293 |
407 |
4,511 |