Data sources
Illustrative calculators built from published UK pay frameworks, handbooks and GOV.UK statutory guidance, with review dates and confidence labels on each page.
Last updated:
How we use sources
Each pay dataset in this project records its scale year, effective date and primary publisher (for example NHS Employers Agenda for Change, STPCD, NJC Green Book, Civil Service pay remit). Leave, sick pay and maternity rules reference sector handbooks or published terms stored as structured JSON alongside the calculators.
Calculator pages show a Sources and confidence or Assumptions panel where relevant. The homepage trust strip shows the latest dataset review date (08-06-2026). Significant content and data changes are listed on the changelog.
We aim to cite official publishers rather than third-party summaries. When a source moves or a pay award lands, we update datasets and rebuild the site. We do not hot-patch live pages outside a build.
Confidence labels
High confidence: we use published national rates or handbook terms directly (for example AfC spine points, STPCD ranges, statutory SSP/SMP references, 2026/27 tax thresholds).
Medium confidence: we use typical framework rules or illustrative allowances (HCAS minima, TLR ranges, generic unsocial hours) that payroll may apply differently.
Employer-specific: academies, trusts, councils and departments may pay spot salaries, market supplements or local spinal column points not in our datasets. Treat those outputs as a starting point only.
Pay frameworks
- NHS Employers: AfC pay scales 2026/27: NHS and social care band pay (reviewed 08-06-2026)
- School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions (STPCD): teachers’ pay spine and TLR
- Civil Service pay scales: departmental grades and remit
- Local government pay (NJC): councils and related bodies
- Police officer pay: police ranks and scales
- GOV.UK: public sector pay collection: pay award announcements and guidance
Leave, sick pay and family leave
- NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook: AfC leave and sick pay
- GOV.UK: maternity pay and leave: SMP and leave rights
- GOV.UK: paternity pay and leave: SPP and leave rights
- Acas: sickness absence: statutory and occupational sick pay context
- GOV.UK: holiday entitlement calculator: statutory leave baseline
Tax and statutory pay (2026/27)
- GOV.UK: rates and thresholds for employers 2026/27: income tax and NI
- GOV.UK: maternity and paternity calculator: statutory amounts
- Acas: SSP changes 2026: statutory sick pay
Take-home calculators on this site use England, Wales and Northern Ireland income tax bands unless stated otherwise. Scotland has different rates. Student loan and tax code options on take-home tools are illustrative.
Allowances and enhancements
NHS HCAS, schools TLR, London weighting, unsocial hours and local supplements are often not in basic spine data. See our HCAS and TLR allowances guide and per-role allowances calculators. HCAS minima follow NHS Employers published amounts from 1 April 2026 in our NHS dataset.
TLR amounts follow STPCD statutory ranges. Civil Service London weighting and NJC local supplements are employer-specific; we use published framework hints where available.
How data is stored in this project
Pay scales live in data/datasets/*.json with _meta blocks for source URL and last reviewed date. Leave, sick pay and maternity rules use separate JSON rule files referenced at build time. Tax thresholds for take-home tools follow the stated UK tax year in the build.
When NHS Employers, STPCD or NJC publish updates, we adjust datasets, re-run node build/build-pages.js, and upload the full dist/ folder. There is no live database on the public site.
Report an error
If a spine point, leave tier or statutory figure looks wrong, contact us with the page URL, the value you expected and a link to the official source. Confirmed fixes ship in the next site build.