The State Pension is a payment from the government that people are entitled to once they reach State Pension age. How much this payment is and when you get it depends on a few different things, including how much National Insurance you’ve paid when working.
Most people are entitled to a State Pension once they reach their State Pension age. Find out what you’re entitled to, when you can start claiming and how to top up your State Pension if you need to.
At the moment, the State Pension age is 66, but it is due to change in 2026 and could change again in the years that follow.
How the State Pension works
Once you reach State Pension age, you’ll need to claim it as it isn’t paid automatically. You should get a letter about four months before you get to State Pension age that will explain the process. If you don’t receive this letter, get in touch with the Pension Service.
You can start claiming your State Pension as soon as you reach your State Pension age even if you’re still working. You can claim your State Pension online, by phone or by post. Once you start claiming it will be paid to you every four weeks for the
rest of your life.
For the tax year 2025 to 2026, the maximum State Pension you can receive is £12,014.12 for the year.
Watch our short video which explains how the State Pension works and who can get it.
Video transcript
For most people, the State Pension provides the foundation for their retirement income. So, it’s worth understanding how it works and when you might get it.
In this short video, I’ll explain the basics.
The State Pension is a regular payment you can claim from the government as soon as you reach State Pension age.
The amount you get will depend on what’s called your National Insurance record. This is a record of how much National Insurance you’ve paid when you’ve been working, or been credited with, perhaps because you’ve been unable to work.
To get the full State Pension, you’ll need 35 years of National Insurance.
The amount of State Pension you get in the UK increases every year in line with rises in the cost of living or other measures.
So, this is what the full State Pension pays in the current tax year, as a weekly amount and an annual amount.
GRAPHIC
Tax year 2025/26
£230.25 weekly
£12,014.12 a year
If you’re part of a couple, you’ll each get the full amount, as long as you each have a full National Insurance record of 35 years. And you need at least ten years of National Insurance to get any State Pension at all.
As well as how much you might get, it’s important to consider when you can claim the State Pension. The age you can get it depends on when you’re born. The current State Pension age is 66, which means you can get the State Pension when you’re 66 years old.
But the State Pension age is due to rise in the future, which means, depending on your age, you may have to wait until you’re 67 - or older - before you’re entitled to claim your State Pension.
Your State Pension age
Your State Pension age is the earliest age at which you can start claiming your State Pension. For people in their 40s to mid-60s, the State Pension age is currently between ages 66 and 68 depending on when you were born.
Bear in mind this could change in the future as the State Pension age is now being regularly reviewed and linked to life expectancy.
The new State Pension
The new State Pension is paid to people who reach State Pension age after 5 April 2016 (this means men born on or after 6 April 1951 and women born on or after 6 April 1953).
To get any new State Pension, you need at least 10 qualifying years' worth of National Insurance or credits. To get the full new State Pension, you need 35 years of National Insurance or credits.
How much State Pension will you get?
The amount of State Pension you get depends on your National Insurance record. Most people under State Pension age typically pay National Insurance contributions on any earned income they receive.
But if you don’t pay National Insurance you may get National Insurance credits which will count towards your National Insurance record. For example, you may get National Insurance credits if you’re claiming state benefits because you’re ill or unemployed, or if you’re claiming Child Benefit for a child under 12 years of age.
You’ll get a proportion of the new State Pension if you have between 10 and 35 qualifying years. A qualifying year is when you’ve earned a certain amount by working or receiving certain state benefits.
If you reached your State Pension age before 6 April 2016 (that’s men born before 6 April 1951 and women born before 6 April 1953), different rules apply. Here, you’ll get the old basic State Pension. You can find out more about what you'll get if you reached your State Pension age before 6 April 2016.
State Pension rates
The State Pension amount usually rises every April. Currently, the State Pension is protected by what's called the 'triple lock', which means that it rises by the highest of prices (as measured by the Consumer Prices Index), earnings or 2.5%.
This table sets out weekly and yearly amounts for the full State Pension, for people who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016.
| Date effective | Per week | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2025 | £230.25 | £920.00 | £12,014.12 |
| April 2024 | £221.20 | £961.82 | £11,541.90 |
| April 2023 | £203.85 | £886.38 | £10,636.60 |
| April 2022 | £185.15 | £805.07 | £9,660.86 |
| April 2021 | £179.60 | £780.94 | £9,371.27 |
| April 2020 | £175.20 | £761.81 | £9,141.66 |
Do you pay tax on a State Pension?
Yes, your State Pension is part of your taxable income. If you receive more income than your Personal Allowance, you’ll pay tax on this money. This means that if you carry on working while getting your State Pension, it could affect how much tax you pay.
Tax won’t be deducted from your State Pension. If you receive a private or workplace pension, HMRC will know your total taxable income and tell the pension company who will then deduct the tax from from the private or workplace pension. If you complete a self-assessment tax return then you can pay your tax through that.
If you only have State Pension and no other income, then HMRC will write to you in the summer after the end of the tax year and you’ll have until the end of the following January to pay any tax bill.
What if I’m not on track for the full State Pension?
This will probably be because you have gaps in your National Insurance record. These gaps will be for periods when you haven’t made National Insurance contributions or received National Insurance credits. This could be because you were:
- employed but had low earnings
- unemployed and were not claiming benefits
- self-employed but did not pay contributions because of small profits
- living abroad.
You may be able to make up these gaps and increase your State Pension. This could be by paying voluntary National Insurance contributions or getting National Insurance credits.
You can find out more at by visiting our page on forecasting your State Pension.
How to claim your State Pension
A couple of months before you reach your State Pension age you should receive a letter from the Pension Service telling you how to claim your State Pension. You have to claim your State Pension as it won’t be automatically paid to you. You can claim it even if you’re still working.
Once you start claiming you usually receive payments directly into your bank account every four weeks. The payments continue for the rest of your life and under the current rules the amount rises by at least the rate of inflation each year.
Claiming the State Pension if you retire abroad
If you retire abroad, you can still claim your pension as long as you’ve paid enough UK National Insurance contributions. As with claiming when living in the UK, you must be within four months of your State Pension age. To claim your pension, contact the International Pension Centre.
Delaying your State Pension
You don’t have to start claiming your State Pension when you reach State Pension age. You may decide to delay taking it (known as deferring) until a later date. If you defer, you’ll get a bigger pension when you eventually start claiming it.
Here are some reasons why you may want to delay taking it:
- You may still be working or have other income and so don’t need the money yet.
- If you’re still working and you start claiming your State Pension this extra money may push you into a higher tax bracket. For example, if you’re a basic-rate taxpayer and this extra money pushes you into the higher-rate tax bracket you’ll have to pay higher rate tax on some or all of your State Pension money (higher rate tax is 40% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 42% in Scotland for 2025/26).
- You may want to wait a bit so that you receive a bigger State Pension later on.
To get a higher State Pension you have to delay claiming it for at least nine weeks. Your State Pension increases by 1% for every nine weeks you defer. This works out as an increase of just under 5.8% for every year you delay claiming it.
Example:
Say you’re entitled to £230.25 a week (the full new State Pension in 2025/26).
By deferring for 52 weeks, you’ll get an extra £13.34 a week (just under 5.8% of £230.25).
What if I won’t get enough to live on?
If you’re not on course for a full State Pension or are worried about how you will manage in retirement, help is available.
Our pension calculator can help you work out how much income you’re likely to have in retirement from all sources including your State Pension, any work pensions you have and any other income.
If you’re on a low income in retirement you may also be entitled to other benefits such as Pension Credit or Housing Benefit. Charities such as Turn2Us (or by calling on 0808 802 2000) and AgeUK (or by calling on 0800 055 6112) have benefits calculators you can use to find out which benefits you may be entitled to.
What happens to my State Pension when I die?
People who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 may be able to inherit some of a spouse or civil partner’s State Pension when they die. Get in touch with the Pension Service to see what you can claim.
For those who reached State Pension age after 6 April 2016, the rules are slightly different, but you may get something. Check what you’re entitled to based on your spouse or civil partner’s National Insurance contributions.
If your civil partner or spouse deferred their State Pension, you can usually claim an extra State Pension or lump sum payment. If the deferral was for fewer than 12 months, you can only get the State Pension and not the lump sum payment. And to be eligible, you must be of State Pension age and cannot have remarried or formed a new civil partnership.
For more information, read our article on what happens to your pension when you die.
Your questions answered
How do I check how much State Pension I am entitled to?
You can check how much State Pension you are on track to receive when you reach State Pension age, by getting a State Pension forecast. The easiest way to do this is online, which you can do on the Gov.uk website or on NI Direct if you live in Northern Ireland.
When can I claim my State Pension?
You can claim your State Pension when you reach State Pension age. You can find out your State Pension age on the Gov.uk website or on NI Direct if you live in Northern Ireland.
The State Pension age is currently 66, but is due to gradually rise to 67 between April 2026 and April 2028. This will affect people born on or after April 6th 1960. The State Pension age is regularly reviewed and further rises are planned.
How do I claim my State Pension?
You should receive a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) no later than two months before you reach State Pension age. This tells you how to claim your State Pension. The quickest way to do this is online at Gov.uk If you prefer, you can ring the Pension Service on 0800 731 7898 and ask them to send the claim form to you.
If you haven’t received a letter from the DWP, but you are within three months of your State Pension age, you can claim your State Pension anyway.
If you live in Northern Ireland, the system for claiming your State Pension is slightly different. You can find out more on the NI Direct website.
The State Pension is usually paid every four weeks in arrears, so your first payment will be for the previous four weeks.
Can I take my State Pension before I retire?
Yes, as long as you have reached State Pension age, you can claim your State Pension. You do not have to retire in order to do this. The flip side of this is that you don’t have to take your State Pension when you reach State Pension age. Instead, you can delay – or defer – claiming it. You will get an extra 1% on top of your weekly State Pension amount for every nine weeks that you put off claiming, which works out at an extra 5.8% for every year you delay.
What is the triple lock?
The triple lock refers to a safeguard that was introduced in 2010. It’s designed to make sure that the State Pension doesn’t lose value in real terms, and that it increases at least in line with inflation. The safeguard is called a triple lock because it ensures that the State Pension rises by the highest of three separate measures:
- Average earnings
- Prices, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
- 2.5%.
The way it’s designed means that if, for example, inflation and earnings are very low, the State Pension will rise by 2.5%, but if inflation is higher than earnings or 2.5%, then it will increase by the CPI measure of inflation. The government uses September’s CPI inflation figure to help set the State Pension rate the following April.
What is the maximum State Pension?
You may be able to make voluntary National Insurance contributions for years where you haven’t already paid National Insurance, for example, or where you’ve paid it but maybe haven’t paid for a full year. Your State Pension forecast will tell you whether you’re on track to get the full State Pension amount, but it won’t tell you the years where you have gaps in your National Insurance record.
In order to find that out, you need to check your National Insurance record. You can do this online on the Gov.uk website if you have a Government Gateway account or you can telephone the National Insurance enquiry line on 0300 200 3500.