1. What is included in this commitment?

There are 4 aspects of the commitment: 

1. Prioritising increasing graduate pay. It is important that graduate salaries are competitive within the wider labour market to attract graduates into the NHS. The NHS Staff Council will be asked to prioritise graduate pay in the upcoming discussions on pay structure reform. This will apply to nursing graduates and all graduates under the Agenda for Change contract. 

2. Reviewing the work of every band 5 nurse. Every band 5 nursing role will be reviewed by employers over a set timeframe to ensure that job descriptions and pay bands reflect the work that nurses are being asked to do. Additional recurrent national funding is being made available to support the implementation of this commitment and any resulting salary uplift. This will be separate and additional to the funding that will be made available for annual headline pay rises and for pay structure reform. 

3. Establish a single national nursing preceptorship standard. The Chief Nursing Officer for England will lead work as part of the upcoming professional strategy for nursing to improve the quality and consistency of preceptorships for all newly qualified nurses. This work will be delivered in partnership with trade unions, employers and other key stakeholders. 

4. A review of the evidence. The evidence that is gathered as part of the review of band 5 nursing roles will be reviewed to determine whether any further action is required. 

2. What is pay structure reform?

The government has committed to funding reforms to the Agenda for Change pay structure that applies to most staff directly employed by the NHS. These changes will aim to address long standing issues that have been raised by NHS employers and trade unions. The NHS Staff Council will be provided with a mandate to negotiate these changes.  

3. When will this commitment to nursing be implemented?

Work is starting now on the programme of activity to enable commencement from 1 April 2026. The different aspects of this commitment will run to different timescales. 

4. I am a band 5 nurse. What do I need to do now to get my job description reviewed?

You do not need to take any action at this stage. Your employer will be in touch with you once specific timescales and deadlines for this process have been agreed nationally ahead of the 1 April 2026.

5. What if my employer doesn’t get in touch?

Employers will be required to adhere to agreed national timescales. There will be further details about these ahead of 1 April 2026.

6. Is additional funding being made available?

The government is making available additional national funding to support the implementation of the commitment to review band 5 nursing roles and any resulting annual uplifts.  

This is separate to the funding being made available for the Agenda for Change pay structure reforms, where increasing graduate pay will be prioritised. 

This funding will also be separate and additional to the funding for annual pay rises. 

7. How much will you be increasing graduate pay by?

Changes to the Agenda for Change contract, including to the pay structure, are negotiated by the NHS Staff Council, a collective bargaining body made up of NHS trade unions and employers. 

The government will provide a funded mandate for pay structure negotiations to take place, and the Secretary of State will ask the NHS Staff Council to prioritise graduate pay as part of these reforms. It will be for the NHS Staff Council to negotiate the specific changes to graduate pay. 

These changes will apply to all graduate roles, not just nurses. 

8. Does this mean other staff groups or bands are not a priority?

No. The Job Evaluation Scheme applies to all staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions. The focus on Band 5 nursing roles reflects the scale of those roles and the need to sequence the work – it does not mean other groups are not important.

9. Does every Band 5 nurse move to Band 6?

Any change to pay band will depend on the duties of the role and the proper application of the Job Evaluation Scheme.

10. Who makes the decision?

Employers remain responsible for job evaluation decisions. These are made in partnership with staff-side representatives, in line with established national and local arrangements.