Pension Command: Prison Officer Pension Planner (£39)

What you get

Income to 90

Your alpha pension and the State Pension laid out together as a retirement income picture to age 90, using your own pay, service and retirement age. Check your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK for the figure to enter.

Tax and allowance check

Tests your pension input against the £60,000 annual allowance for 2026/27, including carry forward from the previous three years. The lifetime allowance was abolished on 6 April 2024.

McCloud remedy estimate

An opt-in, assumption-driven comparison of legacy and alpha benefits for 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022. Your remediable service statement overrides it.

Scenario lab

Four scenarios side by side: retire earlier or later, work part-time, take a lump sum, move up a band. See the yearly pension, lump sum and contributions for each.

Printable briefing

Pension Command also unlocks the briefing: a printable PDF with an AI-written interpretation of your own numbers.

Ask AI about your numbers

Questions are answered using the figures on screen. One answer is free in the calculator; Pension Command removes that limit.

Your details

Live results

Scheme

Where you work

Pay

Grade and pay point (England and Wales, 2026/27)PSPRB 2026 rates from 1 April 2026. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different scales: enter your own figure.

Pay that counts

Zone

Annual pensionable earnings (full-time)

Picked from the pay scale. Basic pay and the 20% unsocial hours allowance are listed as pensionable; check your payslip, and type your own figure to override.

Age and retirement

Your age today

yrs

Alpha normal pension ageLater of State Pension age and 65. Check yours on GOV.UK.

Planned retirement age65

30 years from now. Earliest 57 for a retirement on that date. No lower pension age for prison officers in alpha.

Pension built so far

Years in alpha to date

yrs

Everyone has built alpha since 1 April 2022; many since 2015. Include 2015 to 2022 years if you were in alpha then.

Rebuilt from today's pay and your growth assumption. Your statement figure is more accurate.

Assumptions (not forecasts)

Pay growth per year3.0%

Pay awards plus progression. The 2026/27 award was at least 3.5%.

CPI: revaluation and pension increases2.5%

Alpha is revalued by CPI each 1 April while you are in service, and pensions in payment rise by it. April 2026 was 3.8%; it changes every year. Also the deflator for 'today's money'.

Contributions

Your member contribution rate

2026/27 band for your pay (4.60%, 5.45%, 7.35% or 8.05%), taken from all pensionable earnings.

Early retirement, legacy pension and McCloud remedy

Early-payment reduction from my quote (optional)

0 = use the dated 2019 GAD table, an estimate. New GAD factors apply from 1 November 2026, so enter the figure from your quote when you have one.

Pension earned before alpha (classic, premium or nuvos): enter the figure from your statement.

Legacy pension earned to date (£ a year)

Do not include 2015 to 2022 remedy years here.

McCloud remedy (1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022): at retirement you choose legacy or alpha for those years. This is an opt-in estimate.

Remedy-period years (0 if not in scope)

yrs

Must also be counted in 'years in alpha' above.

Other annual allowance inputs (£ a year)

Added-pension cost and AVCs paid in, for the annual allowance check.

Premium · one-time

Unlock Pension Command

Your pension after your chosen lump sum is about £2,536 a month after tax in today's money once the State Pension starts, and £1,700 in the 3 year(s) before it. Unlock the full timeline to 90.

Retirement-age scenarios
Early-payment reduction modelling
Contribution-band what-ifs
Saved scenarios and comparisons

£39.00one payment · no subscription

Secure payment by Stripe. 14-day money-back guarantee (refund policy). Checking whether you have already bought this…

Illustrative planning estimate based on published rules, not financial, legal, pension or tax advice. Your payroll record, contract and scheme administrator control your actual position.

Honest scopeWhat this does not do

It is not financial advice. It is a calculator built on published rules. For regulated advice talk to an independent financial adviser.
It does not know your real record. Your annual benefit statement and a quote from the administrator (Capita, since 1 December 2025) are the authority.
It does not decide which pay elements are pensionable. Basic pay is. For allowances, Payment Plus and supplements, check your payslip and HR.
Early-payment reductions use the 2019 GAD table, labelled as estimates, because new factors apply from 1 November 2026. You can enter the reduction from your own quote instead.
Northern Ireland officers are in the separate NICS scheme; do not use this for a Northern Ireland pension.
We are independent of HMPPS, the Ministry of Justice and the POA.

Who Pension Command is for

Pension Command is for serving prison officers and managers who want more than a single estimate. The free prison officer pension calculator gives you your yearly pension, your contributions, how retirement age changes the figure and a lump sum comparison. It stays free. Pension Command adds the questions that usually come next: what will my income look like once the State Pension starts, will my pension go near the annual allowance, and what does the McCloud choice mean for me?

It is built for people at different stages. If you are ten or fifteen years in and wondering whether to retire at 60 with a reduction or work to normal pension age, the scenario lab lets you compare. If you are about to be promoted or are buying added pension, the allowance check shows whether it matters. If you have service in the 2015 to 2022 remedy period, the McCloud tab gives you a first look before your statement arrives.

How it works

The tool opens on the Income to 90 tab. Enter your pensionable pay (the pay picker uses the Prison Service Pay Review Body 2026 scales), your years in the scheme, the age you plan to retire and your State Pension forecast. Everything recalculates as you type, in your browser. Nothing leaves your device unless you use the Ask AI tab.

Before you buy you can use the free calculator and see the premium tabs blurred with your own real numbers as a preview. We do not use made-up examples to sell it: what you see is what your inputs produce.

The rules it applies

Alpha earns 2.32% of pensionable earnings each scheme year, revalued by CPI each 1 April (3.8% in April 2026 as the working figure). The 2026/27 member rates are 4.6% to £36,199, 5.45% from £36,200 to £56,000, 7.35% from £56,001 to £150,000 and 8.05% above, applied to all earnings. Normal pension age is the later of State Pension age and 65, with no lower age for prison officers. The minimum age to take a reduced pension is 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028.

You can swap pension for a tax-free lump sum at £12 for each £1 a year given up, within HMRC limits (a 25% test and a £268,275 lump sum allowance). The pension input amount for the allowance check is 16 times the year's accrual, so £40,000 of pay produces £14,848 against a £60,000 allowance. All of these figures are as at 3 October 2026 and are listed with their sources below.

What it will not tell you

A good estimate shows you where the large decisions sit; it does not make them for you. The tool cannot see your personal circumstances, your health, your partner's pensions or your debts. It also cannot know how rules may change. The POA has campaigned that a pension age of 68 is too late for the job, and no decision to change it had been found as at 3 October 2026. If the age changes, the tool will be updated.

Read the guides alongside it: alpha pension explained, the McCloud remedy, pension age and pension tax and the annual allowance.

Price, refund and what stays free

One payment, no subscription. 14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. See the terms and the refund policy. Pension Command costs £39 once. It is also part of the Serving Officer Bundle (£59 for Pay Planner Pro, Pension Command, the Pension & Lump-Sum Report and Promotion Prep, against £86.97 bought separately). If you only want a printable summary, the Pension & Lump-Sum Report is £14.99.

The free tools stay free: the pension calculator, the pension lump sum calculator and the ill-health and injury benefit calculator. You can buy without creating an account.

Pension Command: frequently asked questions

What does Pension Command cost?

£39, once. One payment, no subscription. 14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.

What do I get that the free calculator does not give me?

State Pension income to 90, the annual allowance check with carry forward, a McCloud remedy estimate, a four-scenario lab, the printable briefing and unlimited Ask AI answers. The free tabs (result, year by year, retirement ages, A/B scenarios, lump sum, contributions) stay free.

Is it financial advice?

No. It is a calculator and information tool built on published rules and your inputs. It does not take your wider circumstances into account. Consider a regulated adviser for decisions.

How accurate is it?

It applies the published rules to what you enter, but it is an estimate. Early-payment reductions use the 2019 GAD table (new factors apply from 1 November 2026) and are labelled as estimates; you can enter the reduction from your own quote. Your administrator's statement is the authority.

Does the McCloud tab tell me which choice to make?

No. It is an opt-in, assumption-driven estimate. The remediable service statement from the scheme overrides it, and the choice is made at retirement for most members.

Does it work for Scotland and Northern Ireland?

England and Wales (HMPPS) and Scotland (SPS) are in the Civil Service Pension Scheme and are covered. Northern Ireland has the separate NICS scheme and is not covered.

Who administers my pension?

Capita has administered the Civil Service Pension Scheme since 1 December 2025, taking over from MyCSP. Use your administrator for statements and quotes.

Is the briefing included?

Yes. Pension Command also unlocks the printable briefing. If you only want the briefing, the Pension & Lump-Sum Report is £14.99.

Sources

Read the guides first

The free, sourced guides behind this tool. Nothing here is paywalled.

Try the free version first

The free tool stays free. Upgrade only if you want the extra depth.

Use the free pension calculator All paid tools