Minimum wage rates 2026/27: the answer table
These are the statutory hourly minimums in force from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, with the annual equivalent for a full-time 37.5-hour week (52 weeks) and the rate they replaced1.
| Band | Hourly rate 2026/27 | April 2026 increase | Full-time (37.5h) a year | A month | A week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Living Wage (21 and over) | £12.71 | +50p (4.1%) | £24,784.50 | £2,065.38 | £476.63 |
| 18 to 20-year-olds | £10.85 | +85p (8.5%) | £21,157.50 | £1,763.13 | £406.88 |
| 16 to 17-year-olds | £8.00 | +45p (6.0%) | £15,600.00 | £1,300.00 | £300.00 |
| Apprentice rate | £8.00 | +45p (6.0%) | £15,600.00 | £1,300.00 | £300.00 |
| Accommodation offset (per day) | £11.10 | +44p | £77.70 a week | — | — |
Annual figures = hourly rate × 37.5 hours × 52 weeks. The National Living Wage has applied from age 21 since April 2024. The apprentice rate covers apprentices under 19, and those 19 or over in the first year of their apprenticeship; after that they get the rate for their age1.
What changed in April 2026
The National Living Wage rose by 50p to £12.71 an hour — a 4.1% increase, up from £12.21 in the year to 31 March 2026 — while the 18 to 20 rate took the biggest step, up 85p to £10.85, continuing the government's stated aim of narrowing the gap between the youth rates and the adult rate1. The 16 to 17 and apprentice rates both rose 45p to £8.00 an hour.
For a full-time employee on the NLW that 50p is worth £975 a year in gross pay (£0.50 × 37.5 × 52). For the employer it costs more than £975: employer NI at 15% adds about £146 and the minimum 3% pension about £29, so the total cost of the rise is roughly £1,150 per full-time NLW employee per year3. A business with ten staff on the NLW has an extra £11,500 of annual payroll cost from April 2026 before any other pay review.
Rates change every 1 April and the new figures are usually announced at the Autumn Budget the previous November, on the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission. Diarise both dates: pay that complies on 31 March can be illegal on 1 April if nobody updates the payroll.
Annual, monthly and weekly pay at each rate
Minimum wage is an hourly rate, so what it means for a salary depends on contracted hours. The table converts each 2026/27 rate at the three most common full-time patterns; multiply the hourly rate by weekly hours and 52 for any other contract.
| Rate | 35 hours | 37.5 hours | 40 hours | Weekly at 37.5h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £12.71 (21+) | £23,132.20 | £24,784.50 | £26,436.80 | £476.63 |
| £10.85 (18–20) | £19,747.00 | £21,157.50 | £22,568.00 | £406.88 |
| £8.00 (under 18 / apprentice) | £14,560.00 | £15,600.00 | £16,640.00 | £300.00 |
Gross pay before income tax and employee NI. For take-home pay at £12.71 an hour see the £12.71 an hour guide linked above.
What a minimum wage employee costs the employer
The wage is not the whole cost. For an adult employee, employer National Insurance is charged at 15% on pay above £5,000 a year3 and auto-enrolment requires a minimum 3% employer pension contribution on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 for eligible staff5. Under-21s and apprentices under 25 are different: employers pay 0% NI on their earnings up to £50,270 (NI category letters M and H)4, and auto-enrolment only starts at age 22, so younger workers are cheaper to employ than the hourly rates alone suggest.
| Band | Gross salary | Employer NI | Employer pension (3%) | Total employer cost | Cost per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLW £12.71 (21+) | £24,784.50 | £2,967.68 | £556.34 | £28,308.52 | £14.52 |
| £10.85 (18–20) | £21,157.50 | £0 (under 21) | £0 unless opted in (£447.53 if so) | £21,157.50 – £21,605.03 | £10.85 – £11.08 |
| £8.00 (under 18 / apprentice under 25) | £15,600.00 | £0 | £0 unless opted in (£280.80 if so) | £15,600.00 – £15,880.80 | £8.00 – £8.14 |
NLW row: employer NI = (£24,784.50 − £5,000) × 15%; pension = (£24,784.50 − £6,240) × 3%. Cost per hour = total ÷ 1,950 hours. An apprentice aged 25 or over attracts the standard 15% employer NI. Excludes holiday cover, training and overheads.
Employment Allowance can remove up to £10,500 of employer NI a year for eligible employers, which at £2,968 per NLW employee covers roughly three and a half full-time adult staff. Use the minimum wage employer cost page or the full calculator to model your own headcount.
The accommodation offset and what counts as pay
If you provide living accommodation, you can count £11.10 a day (£77.70 a week) towards minimum wage pay for 2026/27 — no more, whatever the accommodation actually costs you2. Charging a worker more than the offset for accommodation, or making them pay for it out of wages, reduces their pay for minimum wage purposes and is a frequent cause of underpayment findings in hospitality and agriculture.
HMRC checks compliance by dividing total pay in each pay reference period by the hours worked in it6. Basic pay, most bonuses and tips paid through payroll count; employer pension contributions, benefits in kind, expenses and any salary sacrificed under a salary sacrifice scheme do not. Salary sacrifice cannot take a worker below the minimum wage, so employees at or near the NLW usually cannot join a sacrifice pension scheme without a cash top-up.
Working time includes time the worker is required to be at work and available — mandatory unpaid training, waiting for a shift to open, travelling between client sites and security checks all count. Uniform costs deducted from pay or charged to the worker also come off minimum wage pay. HMRC can charge penalties of up to 200% of the arrears (capped at £20,000 per worker) and names non-compliant employers publicly.
Common mistakes employers make with minimum wage
The same handful of errors appear in most enforcement cases:
- Not moving a worker up a band on their birthday — the new rate applies from the next pay reference period after they turn 18 or 211.
- Keeping an apprentice on £8.00 after their first year when they are 19 or over; they are then entitled to the rate for their age.
- Rolling a salaried worker's pay forward without rechecking it against the 1 April rates. A full-time salary that met the minimum in the year to 31 March 2026 is now £975 short of the £24,784.50 floor.
- Deducting uniform, tools or till shortages from pay so the effective hourly rate falls below the minimum.
- Applying the accommodation offset above £11.10 a day, or forgetting that any accommodation charge reduces pay for minimum wage purposes2.
- Running salary sacrifice for staff on the minimum wage without a cash top-up.
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