Police officers in England, Scotland and Wales are paid on force-negotiated scales, but the take-home maths is the same as any employee: salary minus Income Tax, National Insurance, your Police Pension contribution and any student loan. The big difference is the pension — the Police Pension (2015 Scheme) is a career-average (CARE) scheme with member contributions that step up with pensionable pay.
Member contributions are a percentage of pensionable pay (your base salary plus most allowances, including London weighting). Typical tiers run from about 11.1% at the lowest band up to 14.27% for the highest earners. Because these are deducted before tax, they also reduce your taxable income — so a higher contribution lowers both your take-home and your Income Tax bill.
Metropolitan Police and several other forces pay London weighting, which is pensionable and taxable. Enter the right amount for your force using the dropdown so it's included in both tax and pension calculations.
If you have a Plan 1, 2, 4, 5 or Postgraduate loan, select it and we'll estimate the 9% (or 6% for postgrad) deduction above the relevant threshold. Most new officers from 2023 onwards are on Plan 5.