Army Pay Scales 2026/27: Other Ranks, Officers, X-Factor

British Army pay is set under the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body (AFPRB) framework - a single pay system used across all three services, with rank-specific scales administered by Defence Business Services. The 2025/26 pay year delivered a 4.5% award across the remit group from 1 April 2025. The 2026/27 award has now been announced: a 3.6% rise for all ranks, backdated to 1 April 2026 (AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026; gov.uk announcement, 9 June 2026). This guide explains how Army pay is built using the published 2025/26 scales as the baseline, including Other Ranks scales, Officer scales, the 14.5% X-factor, specialist supplements, and how the Army payslip should be read.

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How Army pay is structured

Every Army Service person is paid on a defined pay scale linked to three dimensions:

Rank - the seniority position (Private, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Warrant Officer Class 2 and Class 1 for Other Ranks; Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel and above for officers).
Pay Increment - within most ranks there are several increment levels reflecting time in rank, climbing one step on the anniversary date each year.
Pay Spine - under the New Pay Model, soldiers sit on a Trade Supplement band (Supplement 1 to Supplement 4). Higher-skill trades attract a higher supplement column for the same rank and increment level.

Within these dimensions, a numerical pay level corresponds to an annual gross salary, paid monthly in 12 equal instalments by Defence Business Services payroll. Pay is reviewed annually on 1 April.

Other Ranks pay scale 2025/26

The figures below are the latest published AFPRB rates effective 1 April 2025, showing the span from the lowest increment on Supplement 1 to the highest increment on Supplement 4. Source: AFPRB Fifty-Fourth Report 2025, via published 2025/26 salary tables.

Rank	OR equivalent	Pay range 2025/26 (basic)
Private (new recruit / Class 4-1)	OR-1 / OR-2	£26,334 to £39,734
Lance Corporal	OR-3	£34,083 to £39,734
Corporal	OR-4	£38,932 to £46,812
Sergeant	OR-6	£44,423 to £54,643
Staff Sergeant / Colour Sergeant	OR-7	£49,821 to £62,981
Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2)	OR-8	£54,077 to £62,981
Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1)	OR-9	£62,456 to £66,585

Note: ranges are for basic pay before the X-factor. The exact figure for any individual depends on their increment level and Trade Supplement band (1 to 4). A Private starts at £26,334 (OR-1 / OR-2-1) and rises through the OR-2 increments; specialist trades progress onto the higher Supplement columns. All figures: AFPRB 2025/26 published salary tables.

Officer pay scale 2025/26

These are the latest published AFPRB officer rates effective 1 April 2025. Source: AFPRB Fifty-Fourth Report 2025, via published 2025/26 salary tables.

Rank	OF equivalent	Pay range 2025/26
Second Lieutenant / Lieutenant	OF-1	£34,676 to £45,705
Captain	OF-2	£52,815 to £62,598
Major	OF-3	£66,240 to £87,230
Lieutenant Colonel	OF-4	£92,520 to £106,955
Colonel	OF-5	£111,854 to £122,849

For reference, the next rank up - Brigadier (OF-6) - runs £133,083 to £138,423 in 2025/26. Above Brigadier (Major General, Lieutenant General, General) the scales are senior officer specific and confidential to the MOD - they are set on the Senior Salaries Review Body framework rather than published rank-by-rank.

X-factor - the 14.5% across the board

Every Army Service person is paid an additional X-factor of 14.5% on top of basic pay. The X-factor compensates for the unique working conditions of military service:

24/7 availability for operational duty.
Frequent unaccompanied deployment.
Limited freedom of speech and association compared to civilian employees.
Geographic mobility requirements.
Hazards of military service.

The full 14.5% X-factor is paid to most regular personnel; a reduced rate applies to certain Reserves and to those approaching the immediate pension point. X-factor applies to basic pay only (not to specialist supplements, allowances, or LSA). It appears on the payslip as a single line "X-Factor" and is fully pensionable for AFPS purposes.

Specialist and trade supplements

Certain trades, qualifications and postings attract additional pay supplements on top of basic pay:

Parachute Pay - paid to qualified personnel in parachute roles required to maintain jump currency.
Special Forces - additional pay for serving members of UK Special Forces, reflecting selection and continuation requirements.
Technical / Engineering trades - higher Trade Supplement banding (Supplement 3 or 4) for skilled trades such as Royal Engineers, REME technicians and communications specialists.
Diving and EOD - specialist pay for divers and Explosive Ordnance Disposal operators.
Military Working Animal handlers, linguists and other defined specialisms - paid by examined competence or qualification.

These supplements are pensionable and shown separately on the payslip. Source: AFPRB Fifty-Fourth Report 2025, Appendix 2 (Targeted payments and pay supplements).

Operational Allowance and Longer Separation Allowance

When deployed on operations:

Operational Allowance - a tax-free daily payment for personnel deployed to designated operational theatres.
Longer Separation Allowance (LSA) - paid for service away from home for extended periods. Tiered across Levels reflecting cumulative days separated.

Operational Allowance is tax-free under the dispensation for designated operational theatres; LSA is not tax-free under most circumstances. Exact rates are set in the AFPRB report each year (Appendix 3 - Recruitment and Retention Payments and compensatory allowances). See Service Personnel Tax Reliefs 2026 for the full breakdown.

Pension - AFPS 15

All new Army joiners since 1 April 2015 are automatically members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 (AFPS 15):

Type: Defined Benefit (CARE - Career Average Revalued Earnings).
Employee contribution: zero (non-contributory - exceptional among public-sector schemes).
Accrual rate: 1/47 of pensionable pay per year.
Revaluation: CPI plus a percentage while serving; CPI in deferment.
Early Departure Payment (EDP): a tax-free lump sum and a monthly income stream available from the 20-year service point, provided the member is aged at least 40.
Normal Pension Age: 60 for the AFPS 15 portion.

AFPS 15 is one of the most valuable schemes in UK public service, with the employer contribution effectively well above a typical private-sector pension. The McCloud remedy applies to legacy AFPS 75 and AFPS 05 service for personnel who joined before April 2015.

See Armed Forces Pension AFPS 2026 for full pension detail.

How the Army payslip reads

A typical Corporal payslip (mid-band, OR-4 on Supplement 2) might show:

Line	Monthly value
Basic pay (Cpl OR-4-4, S2)	£3,545.25
X-factor 14.5%	£514.06
Total gross monthly pay	£4,059.31

(£42,543 basic + £6,168.74 X-factor = £48,711.74 annual gross, divided by 12.)

Below this come:

AFPS 15 contribution: £0 (non-contributory).
Income tax at marginal rate.
Class 1 National Insurance.
Accommodation and food charges (if living in single living accommodation or service family accommodation).

Year-to-date columns show cumulative gross pay, tax, and National Insurance for the tax year.

To check whether those tax, NI and AFPS 15 lines look right on your own JPA slip, see How do I check my payslip is correct?.

Tax code notes

Most Army personnel hold the standard 1257L tax code unless circumstances change:

Welsh tax code if Welsh resident (C prefix).
Scottish tax code if Scottish resident (S prefix). Service personnel can elect to retain the tax code of where they last lived as a civilian, administered separately by HMRC under MOD guidance.
Emergency tax codes during initial enlistment, recovered via P800 reconciliation after the tax year ends.

If your code looks wrong - for example a BR or 0T code applied to all your pay - it is worth checking, because it can cost hundreds of pounds before HMRC catches up. See our tax code checker.

Pay progression example: Private to Sergeant

A typical pay progression for a soldier on a general (Supplement 1 to 2) trade, using 2025/26 published rates as the baseline:

Stage	Rank	Approx annual basic
Year 1 (recruit / Phase 1)	Private	£26,334
Year 2 (trained soldier)	Private	£28,730
Year 4 (senior Private)	Private	£32,648
Year 6 (Lance Corporal)	Lance Corporal	£34,083
Year 8 (Corporal)	Corporal	£39,565
Year 11 (senior Corporal)	Corporal	£42,303
Year 14 (Sergeant)	Sergeant	£44,423

Add the 14.5% X-factor on top of each figure for total pensionable pay. Promotion-driven rises are step changes onto the new rank scale; year-on-year rises within a rank are increment steps timed to the anniversary date. Pay protection rules mean promotion never reduces pay.

Action checklist for Army personnel

For Army Service personnel managing their pay:

Confirm your rank, increment level and Trade Supplement band (1 to 4) on the JPA system.
Verify your X-factor is applied correctly each pay period.
Check that any specialist supplement (parachute, diving, EOD, technical) is being paid and is correctly dated.
Track Operational Allowance days for tax-free entitlement.
Review your AFPS 15 statement annually; note your EDP point if approaching 20 years' service.
Set up a Personal Tax Account at gov.uk to confirm your tax code is accurate.
Check that the 3.6% 2026/27 award, backdated to 1 April 2026, has flowed through to your pay and any arrears have been paid.

More military pay guides

Start at the UK Armed Forces pay, pensions and payslips hub for the full cluster, or go straight to:

RAF pay scales 2026/27 - the same AFPRB framework applied to RAF ranks, plus aircrew flying pay.
Armed Forces Pension AFPS 15 - the non-contributory pension and the Early Departure Payment at 20 years.
McCloud remedy deep dive - what pre-2015 joiners need to know about the remedy choice.

Disclaimer

PayslipIQ provides automated educational guidance based on the figures you supply. It is not regulated tax or financial advice. Armed Forces pay is set by the AFPRB and administered by Defence Business Services, with rank-specific and trade-specific variations - for substantial pay queries or pension questions, consult the Forces Pension Society, your Unit HR, or a regulated tax adviser experienced with Service personnel. Figures in this guide are the published 2025/26 rates; the 2026/27 award is a 3.6% uplift on these, backdated to 1 April 2026, with the full rank-by-rank tables in the AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026.