1 State Pension Overview
The State Pension is a regular payment made by the government to people who have reached State Pension age. It’s an important part of most people’s retirement income.
Make sure you claim your full amount as you won’t get your full State Pension automatically.
If you’re:
- a man born before 6 April 1951
- a woman born before 6 April 1953
You will receive the Basic State Pension of up to £169.50 per week
If you were born on or after the dates above see the guide to claiming the New State Pension instead.
The full level of the New State Pension is £221.20 a week in the 2024/25 tax year, which produces an annual income of £11,502.40.
Your State Pension may increase by 4.5%, or £500 in Spring 2025.
If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2018:
The basic State Pension is a regular payment from the government that you can get if you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2018. To get it you must have paid or been credited with National Insurance contributions. The most you can currently get is £169.50 per week. You might also be eligible for Pension Tax Relief. The basic State Pension increases every year by whichever is the highest of the following:
- earnings – the average percentage growth in wages (in Great Britain)
- prices – the percentage growth in prices in the UK as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
- 2.5%
2 State Pension – What You’ll Get
The full level of the new State Pension is £221.20 a week in the 2024/25 tax year, which produces an annual income of £11,502.40.
The full basic State Pension is £169.50 per week. There are ways you can increase your State Pension up to or above the full amount.
You may have to pay tax on your State Pension.
How Your State Pension Is Paid
The day your pension is paid depends on your National Insurance number.
Last 2 digits of your National Insurance Number:
00 to 19 paid on Monday
20 to 39 paid on Tuesday
40 to 59 paid on Wednesday
60 to 79 paid on Thursday
80 to 99 paid on Friday
Your first payment is made at the end of the first full week after you reach State Pension age. It won’t include the time between reaching State Pension age and your normal payment day if that’s less than one week.
The basic State Pension is usually paid every 4 weeks into an account of your choice. You’re paid ‘in arrears’, which means you’re paid for the last 4 weeks, not for the coming 4 weeks.
There are different rules if you live abroad.
3 Eligibility
| You must claim the new State Pension if you reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016.
The earliest you can get the basic State Pension is when you reach State Pension age.
To get the full basic State Pension you need a total of 30 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits. This means you were either:
- working and paying National Insurance
- getting National Insurance Credits, for example for unemployment, sickness or as a parent or carer
- paying voluntary National Insurance contributions
If you have fewer than 30 qualifying years, your basic State Pension will be less than £141.85 per week but you might be able to top up by paying voluntary National Insurance contributions.
Get a State Pension statement to find out how many qualifying years you already have.
Married Or In A Civil Partnership
If you’re not eligible for a basic State Pension or you’re not getting the full amount, you might qualify for a ‘top up’ to £101.55 per week through your spouse’s or civil partner’s National Insurance contributions.
You can get the top up if both of you have reached State Pension age and either:
- your spouse or civil partner reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 and qualifies for some basic State Pension, even if they haven’t claimed it
- your spouse or civil partner reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 and has at least one qualifying year of National Insurance contributions or credits from before 6 April 2016, even if they don’t qualify for any new State Pension or they haven’t claimed it
If your spouse or civil partner was born before 6 April 1950, the ‘top up’ doesn’t apply unless you’re a woman married to a man, or a woman married to a woman who legally changed their gender after your marriage began.
If you qualify for the ‘top up’ you should get it automatically.
If you’re not getting the ‘top up’ but think you qualify, contact the Pension Service.
You’ll get any Additional State Pension or Graduated Retirement Benefit based on your own contributions in addition to the ‘top up’.
You can no longer get the Adult Dependency Increase for someone who is looking after children or financially dependent on you. If you got it on or before 5 April 2010 you’ll keep it until 5 April 2020 provided you’re eligible until then.
You Don’t Qualify For A State Pension
If you’re not covered by any of these groups but want a State Pension you might be able to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions.
Men born before 1945 and women born before 1950
You need more qualifying years to get a full State Pension and a certain minimum number of years to get any State Pension at all.
Men born before 6 April 1945: Need a minimum of 44 qualifying years for a full State Pension and 11 qualifying years for any State Pension.
Women born before 6 April 1950: Need a minimum of 39 qualifying years for a full State Pension and 10 qualifying years for any State Pension.
How To Claim
You won’t get your State Pension automatically – you have to claim it. You should have received a letter 4 months before you reached State Pension age, telling you what to do.
If you haven’t received a letter you can phone the claim line. They’ll discuss with you what you need to do.
There are 4 ways to claim:
- online State Pension claims
- over the phone
- download the State Pension claim form and send it to your local pension centre
- claim from abroad including the Channel Islands
How to claim is different if you claim from Northern Ireland.
You want to keep working
You can claim your State Pension even if you carry on working.
4 Increase The Amount Of State Pension You’ll Get
There are ways you can increase your basic State Pension if you:
- aren’t eligible for the full amount (£169.50 per week)
- want to receive more than the full amount
Voluntary National Insurance contributions
You need 30 years of National Insurance contributions to be eligible for the full basic State Pension.
If you have gaps in your insurance record, you may be able to make voluntary contributions to increase your pension.
Delay (defer) your State Pension
Deferring your State Pension could increase your payments when you decide to claim. The basic State Pension increases by 1% for every 5 weeks you defer.
The extra amount is paid with your regular State Pension and can be claimed on top of the full basic State Pension amount.
Other ways you could increase your pension
If you’re married or in a civil partnership you may be eligible to increase your basic State Pension to £85.00 per week. Check if you qualify.
You might also qualify for the Additional State Pension or, if you’re on a low income, Pension Credit.
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
