National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage 2026 (UK)

The rates are set each year by the government on the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission and change on 1 April. The 2026 rates were announced in the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025, when the government accepted the Commission's recommendations in full, and were brought into force by The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/357).

The largest rise in 2026 is for 18 to 20-year-olds (+8.5%, or 85p an hour). The National Living Wage itself rose by 50p.

Multiplying the hourly rate by contracted hours gives the minimum gross pay. A full-time worker aged 21 or over on 37.5 hours a week earns at least £476.63 a week, about £2,065.38 a month or £24,784.50 a year before tax and National Insurance.

To see what you keep after income tax and National Insurance, use the UK take-home pay calculator.

Almost every worker in the UK is entitled to the minimum wage for their age, whatever the size of the employer. This includes part-time and casual workers, agency workers, homeworkers paid per item, trainees and workers on probation, disabled workers, agricultural workers, seafarers and offshore workers, and foreign workers. A contract that pays less than the minimum wage is not legally binding.

• You get the National Living Wage from age 21.
• You get the National Minimum Wage once you are over school leaving age (usually 16) and under 21.
• The apprentice rate applies to apprentices under 19, and to apprentices aged 19 or over in the first year of their apprenticeship. After the first year, an apprentice aged 19 or over is entitled to the rate for their age.

The self-employed, company directors, volunteers, members of the armed forces, family members living in the employer's home, and higher or further education students on a work placement of up to one year are among those not entitled.

Accommodation is the only benefit in kind that can count towards the minimum wage. From April 2026 the offset is £11.10 a day (£77.70 a week), up from £10.66 (£74.62 a week). If the employer provides free accommodation, the offset is added to pay when checking the minimum wage. If the employer charges more than the offset, the excess reduces the pay that counts towards the minimum wage. A charge at or below the offset has no effect.

The rates for April 2027 have not yet been announced. The Low Pay Commission makes its recommendations in the autumn and the government normally confirms the new rates in the Budget. This page will be updated once they are published on gov.uk.