Your pay, line by line, on one printable page

Why a report and not just a number

A calculator answers a question once. A report is something you can keep and use. Prison officers are paid through a stack of rules that most people never see laid out: published base pay, a 20% unsocial hours allowance, optional additional committed hours, a pay zone, sometimes a market supplement, a pension rate that depends on a band edge, tax and National Insurance, and in many cases a student loan. When a payslip looks wrong it is almost always because one of those layers is not what you expected, and the fastest way to find out is to put your own expected figures next to the lines on the slip. That is what the report does.

You enter the same details as the free salary calculator: band, pay point, zone, contract hours, prison or supplement, pension and student loan choices, and tax region. The report then lays your pay out as a document. If you have already used the free calculator on this device your details are filled in and the report is ready as soon as you unlock it.

What is in the report

• Headline. Take-home a month, gross a year and your contracted hourly pay gross and net, on one summary row.
• Pay build-up. Basic 37 hour pay, the unsocial hours allowance (20%, 25% for Band 2, or the required hours addition for Bands 7 to 11), pay for additional committed hours and any market supplement, each by the year, month and week.
• Deductions. Alpha pension at the contribution rate for your pensionable pay, income tax on a 1257L code (England, Wales and Northern Ireland or Scottish bands), National Insurance and any student loan, each by the year, month and week.
• Where your gross pay goes. A breakdown chart of take-home, tax, National Insurance, pension and loan.
• What-ifs. One pay point higher, a 41 hour contract, a 37 hour contract and a pay-rise scenario of your choice, each with the take-home difference.
• Payslip checks. The monthly gross, pension, tax and National Insurance you should expect to see, and the order to investigate if they do not match.
• AI-written briefing. A short summary of the report with what stands out, what to check and next steps, written only from the report's own figures.
• Assumptions. Every assumption in one paragraph, so the report is honest about what it does and does not know.

How the figures are calculated

Pay comes from the Pay Review Body's 25th Report (CP 1550), Appendix E, for 1 April 2026. Tax uses the 2026/27 personal allowance of £12,570 with 20%, 40% and 45% bands, or the Scottish 19%, 20%, 21%, 42%, 45% and 48% bands. Employee National Insurance is 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above. The Civil Service alpha member rates are 4.6% to £36,199, 5.45% to £56,000, 7.35% to £150,000 and 8.05% above, applied to all pensionable pay and deducted before income tax. Student loan thresholds are £26,900 (Plan 1), £29,385 (Plan 2), £33,795 (Plan 4), £25,000 (Plan 5) and £21,000 for postgraduate loans.

The method is identical to our take-home pay by band guide, which the report reproduces: a Band 3 officer at pay point 1 on 37 hours (£34,928 gross) takes home £27,382 a year, £2,282 a month, with £1,607 into pension, £4,150 in income tax and £1,789 in National Insurance. The report shows those components for your own case rather than for a worked example.

Using the report to check a payslip

If your net pay is lower than the report suggests, work through the checklist in order. First check the gross: the report's monthly gross is the annual figure divided by twelve, so a four-weekly payslip will differ. Second, check the pensionable pay line and your alpha rate. The rate applies to all pensionable pay and steps up at £36,200, so a pay point 2 to pay point 3 progression at Band 3 adds £628 gross but only about £179 net. Third, check your tax code: 1257L gives the full personal allowance. Fourth, look for other deductions such as a student loan, trade union subscription or salary sacrifice.

If your net pay is higher than the report suggests, the usual reasons are that your additional hours are not pensionable (the report lets you choose that reading), you are in a different pay zone, or a market supplement is included. If none of that explains a gap over about £20 a month, ask payroll for a written breakdown. Your payroll record controls your actual pay, and if you are in a dispute, speak to your POA representative. The report cannot decide that for you, but it gives you the numbers to start the conversation.

Your personal pay report and the other products

The Personal Pay Report is £7.99, one payment, and is the right choice if you want a clear, printable account of this year's pay. If you want to plan how pay changes over the next twelve months, with overtime, a promotion or a pay award, Pay Planner Pro at £12.99 is the one to use. For pension projections see Pension Command or the Pension and Lump-Sum Report. The Serving Officer Bundle includes the planner with the pension and promotion products.

All paid tools are one-off payments with no subscription, a 14-day money-back guarantee and no account needed to buy. If you create an account after buying, your access follows you across devices and you can save your reports.