Foundation Year 1 is the first year as a qualified doctor, and from August 2026 new FY1s start on the reformed scale. The basic salary below is the new 2026/27 rate agreed in June 2026 (DDRB 3.5% plus nodal point reform, backdated to 1 April 2026). Nights, weekend and on-call enhancements are paid on top and are not included.
If your basic pay is £41,226 a year, after income tax, National Insurance and the NHS Pension your take-home is about £29,970 a year — that’s £2,498 a month, £576 a week, before rota enhancements.
| Year | Month | Week | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross basic pay | £41,226 | £3,436 | £793 |
| Income tax | −£4,923 | −£410 | −£95 |
| National Insurance | −£2,292 | −£191 | −£44 |
| Pension contribution | −£4,040 | −£337 | −£78 |
| Take-home pay | £29,970 | £2,498 | £576 |
Effective deduction rate: 27% of gross, leaving 73p in every pound. Marginal rate: 36%, so an extra £100 puts about £64 in your pocket. NHS Pension contributions are tiered by pay; at £41,226 the 2026/27 member rate is 9.8%, which is what the table deducts.
Basic pay is the floor, not the ceiling: almost every resident doctor rota adds substantial extra pay on top — a percentage enhancement for nights (37%), weekend frequency allowances, and on-call availability supplements. Depending on the rota these commonly add 20–50% to basic pay, and they are deliberately not included in the figures here. Enhancements are also not pensionable, so they do not change the pension tier either.
Student loans are the other big deduction most FY1s face: a Plan 2 loan takes 9% of income over £29,385 and a postgraduate loan another 6% over £21,000 — neither is included above. Our salary calculator models both.
Figures based on the resident doctor basic pay scale agreed in the June 2026 government offer (DDRB 3.5% plus nodal point reform, accepted by BMA members and backdated to 1 April 2026) and the NHS Pension member contribution tiers effective 1 April 2026, at 2026/27 tax rates. A further pay award is due in April 2027 when the DDRB next reports. Actual take-home depends on your exact tax code, student loan plan (most doctors carry Plan 2 and often a postgraduate loan — not included here), and pension membership. Sources: Government offer to resident doctors, June 2026 · BMA guide to the June 2026 offer · NHS Employers — pension contribution tiers
Next steps on the scale
FY2 take-home pay · The full resident doctor pay scale, FY1 to ST8
More take-home pages
Take-home pay by job · Band 5 nurse · Band 7 nurse · Paramedic · Midwife · Teacher (England) · Police constable · Salary calculator · Tax code checker · Student loan overpayment calculator