From April 2026, the full new state pension is £241.30 a week, or roughly £12,550 a year.1House of Commons Library. Benefits Uprating 2026/27 Whether you actually get that full amount is a different question. What your state pension will be depends on how many qualifying years of National Insurance sit on your record: you need 35 for the maximum, at least 10 to get anything, and a proportional amount in between.2GOV.UK. The New State Pension – Eligibility The only way to know your personal figure is to check your forecast.
What Decides How Much You Get
Your weekly amount is built from qualifying years on your National Insurance record. A qualifying year is one where you were working and paying NI, receiving NI credits (for example while unemployed, caring for a child, or too ill to work), or paying voluntary contributions.2GOV.UK. The New State Pension – Eligibility
Fewer than 10 qualifying years and you get nothing from the new state pension. Exactly 35 and you get the full rate. Anything in between is proportional: 20 qualifying years gets you roughly 20/35ths of the full amount.2GOV.UK. The New State Pension – Eligibility
Gaps are common. Time abroad, low-earning years, or periods when you simply weren’t paying in can all leave shortfalls that pull your figure below the headline rate.
The 2026/27 Rates
From April 2026, the full new state pension rises to £241.30 per week, up from £230.25. If you reached pension age before 6 April 2016 you’re on the older system, where the basic state pension goes to £184.90 per week, up from £176.45. Both reflect a 4.8% uprating.1House of Commons Library. Benefits Uprating 2026/27
Most people don’t land exactly on the full rate. With fewer than 35 qualifying years, you’re below it. If you built up entitlements under the old additional state pension (SERPS or State Second Pension) before April 2016 and those exceeded the new full rate, you get a “protected payment” added on top.3GOV.UK. The New State Pension – What You’ll Get
When You Can Claim
The state pension age is currently 66 for both men and women, and it’s on the move. Between 2026 and 2028 it climbs gradually to 67 for people born after 5 April 1960. If you were born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961, your personal pension age falls somewhere between 66 and 67, calculated month by month from your exact date of birth. Everyone born from 6 March 1961 onward reaches pension age at 67. A further rise to 68 is scheduled between 2044 and 2046 for those born after 5 April 1977.4GOV.UK. State Pension Age Timetables
How to Check Your Personal Forecast
The fastest route is the GOV.UK online forecast. It shows your projected weekly amount, the qualifying years already on your record, and any gaps you could fill to increase what you’ll get. You’ll verify your identity through GOV.UK One Login, which needs photo ID such as a passport or UK driving licence plus some security questions about your financial accounts.5GOV.UK. Using Your GOV.UK One Login – Proving Your Identity
Your National Insurance number links you to your contribution record. It appears on a P60, on payslips, or in your personal tax account online.6GOV.UK. Find Your National Insurance Number
Prefer paper? Complete form BR19 and post it to the Newcastle Pension Centre. The form asks for your name, address, date of birth, and National Insurance number.7GOV.UK. State Pension Forecast – BR19 The result is the same forecast, just slower.
Check well before your pension age. If you’re short on years, that leaves you time to act. Waiting until the last minute leaves no room to fix a shortfall.
Filling Gaps to Increase Your Amount
You can fill some missing years by paying voluntary Class 3 National Insurance contributions. They cost £17.75 per week for the 2025/26 tax year.8GOV.UK. Voluntary National Insurance – Rates
Get your forecast before writing a cheque. Buying back years only helps if those years actually raise your pension. Not every gap is worth filling, and someone already on track for the full rate gains nothing from extra contributions.
Deferring for a Higher Weekly Payment
You don’t have to start your pension the moment you reach pension age. For every year you delay, your weekly payments rise by just under 5.8%, provided you defer for at least nine weeks.9GOV.UK. The New State Pension – How to Increase Your Retirement Income At 2026/27 rates, a full year of deferral adds roughly £14 a week for life. The new state pension has no lump-sum option for deferred payments.
Deferral tends to make sense if you’re still working, have other income, and expect to collect for a long time. The break-even point is typically around 17 years of payments, so someone in good health who defers a year at 66 comes out ahead by their early 80s.
How Future Increases Work
Annual rises follow the “triple lock.” Each April, payments go up by the highest of average earnings growth, September’s Consumer Price Index inflation, or 2.5%.10House of Commons Library. State Pension Triple Lock
One caveat matters for long-term planning. The triple lock is a policy commitment, not a legal requirement. The law only obliges the government to uprate the state pension in line with earnings growth. The inflation and 2.5% floors are protections the government of the day chooses to keep, and a future government could drop them.10House of Commons Library. State Pension Triple Lock
Inheriting From a Spouse or Civil Partner
If your spouse or civil partner dies, you may inherit part of their Additional State Pension (the old SERPS or State Second Pension). You can inherit up to 50% of their State Second Pension entitlement.11GOV.UK. Inheriting Additional State Pension
The SERPS rules are more complex. If your spouse died before 6 October 2002, you can inherit up to 100% of their SERPS pension. For deaths on or after that date, the maximum tapers with their date of birth, from 100% down to 50% for those born after October 1945 (men) or July 1950 (women).11GOV.UK. Inheriting Additional State Pension
One condition matters: you cannot inherit your spouse’s Additional State Pension if you remarry or form a new civil partnership before reaching state pension age.11GOV.UK. Inheriting Additional State Pension Any inherited amount is paid on top of your own pension.
Claiming and Getting Paid
As you approach pension age, the Department for Work and Pensions sends an invitation letter with a unique code for the online claim. If you haven’t had one and you’re within three months of your pension age, you can request a code directly.12GOV.UK. The New State Pension – How to Claim
The claim asks for your bank or building society details, information about any marriage, civil partnership, or divorce, and details of time spent living or working abroad.12GOV.UK. The New State Pension – How to Claim Payments then arrive every four weeks, straight into your bank account.13GOV.UK. The New State Pension – When You’re Paid
Your first payment lands no later than five weeks after the date you choose to start your pension. A confirmation letter follows, setting out the exact weekly amount and payment schedule.13GOV.UK. The New State Pension – When You’re Paid The state pension counts as taxable income in the UK, though no tax is deducted at source; if you have other income, HMRC usually adjusts the tax code on that other income to collect what’s owed.