RAF Pay Scales 2026/27: Full Rates Tables by Rank

RAF pay rose by 3.6% for 2026/27, backdated to 1 April 2026. This guide sets out the Other Ranks and Officer scales, the 14.5% X-factor and the aircrew supplements, and shows how they reach an RAF payslip.

The Royal Air Force pay structure is set under the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB) framework - a single pay system used across all three services with rank-specific scales. The 2025/26 settlement delivered a 4.5% increase from 1 April 2025 (AFPRB Fifty-Fourth Report 2025), and the government has since accepted a further 3.6% rise for 2026/27, backdated to 1 April 2026 (GOV.UK announcement, 9 June 2026). This guide explains how RAF pay is built for 2026/27, including Other Ranks scales, Officer scales, the 14.5% X-factor, aircrew supplements, and how the RAF payslip should be read. Jump straight to the full RAF pay scale tables 2026/27 below.

What each rank takes home

A Senior Aircraftman on £27,282 takes home about £1,930 a month. A Sergeant at the top of the Trade Supplement 1 OR-6 range, £50,598, takes home about £3,325, and a Flight Lieutenant at the top of OF-2, £64,852, about £4,014. Every figure below is computed from the AFPRB determination and the site's 2026/27 tax and National Insurance constants - none of it is typed by hand.

The Armed Forces Pay Review Body publishes one pay spine for all three Services, so an OR-6 in the Army, the RAF and the Royal Navy is paid the identical figure to the penny. The rank names differ; the rows do not. If you have compared this table against the Army or Royal Navy guide and found the same numbers, that is the determination, not a copying error.

AFPS 15 is non-contributory - there is no member contribution line, so unlike the NHS, teacher and police scales there is nothing coming off before income tax. That makes the published salary and the figure tax is charged on the same number, and it is the single biggest structural difference between forces pay and the other public-sector scales.

The published figures already include the 14.5% X-factor and Trade Supplement 1, which is how the AFPRB prints them, so they will not match a JPA basic-pay line on their own.

How RAF pay is structured

Every RAF Service person is paid on a defined pay scale linked to:

• Rank - the seniority position (AC, SAC, Cpl, Sgt, Flight Sergeant, Warrant Officer for OR; Plt Off, Fg Off, Flt Lt, Sqn Ldr, Wg Cdr, Gp Capt, Air Cdre and above for officers).
• Pay Increment - within most ranks there are 6 to 9 increment steps reflecting time in rank.
• Trade Supplement - Supplement 1 to 4 under Pay16, allocated through MOD's job evaluation process. The supplement sets which of Tables 1.1 to 1.4 of the AFPRB report applies, so a higher-skill trade is paid more at the same rank and increment. Pay Spines A and B were the pre-Pay16 arrangement and JPA no longer shows them.

Within these dimensions, a numerical pay level corresponds to an annual gross salary, paid monthly in 12 equal instalments by Defence Business Services payroll.

Full RAF pay scale tables 2026/27

Every figure below is transcribed from the AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026, Appendix 1, "1 April 2026" column, and applies from 1 April 2026. Other Ranks figures are Trade Supplement 1 (Table 1.1), the base spine; officer figures are Table 1.5. Pay is set by rank-based increment level, not by rank alone, so the tables are shown at increment-level granularity.

Other Ranks pay scale

Source: AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026, Appendix 1, Table 1.1 (Other Ranks Trade Supplement 1), "1 April 2026" column.

Trade Supplement matters. Other Ranks are allocated to one of four trade supplements through MOD's job evaluation process, and the supplement sets which of Tables 1.1 to 1.4 applies. The table above is Trade Supplement 1, the base spine. On Trade Supplement 4 (Table 1.4) the same increment levels pay materially more: OR2-10 is £41,164, OR4-06 is £48,497, OR6-06 is £56,611, OR7-12 / OR8-06 is £65,249 and OR9-06 is £68,982. The AFPRB report states that trade supplement eligibility criteria are published internally by MOD, so check your own supplement on JPA rather than assuming Trade Supplement 1.

Note: The RAF abolished the Leading Aircraftman (LAC) rank in 2007. Promotion goes directly from SAC to Cpl on completion of the Junior Management Leadership Course and a Trade Board interview.

Officer pay scale

Increment levels OF3-09 to OF3-13 are only for RAF Engineer Officers, by selection.

Source: AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026, Appendix 1, Table 1.5 (Officers), "1 April 2026" column.

Above Air Commodore (Air Vice Marshal, Air Marshal, Air Chief Marshal) the scales are senior officer specific; from the 2026 pay round the AFPRB's remit also covers Senior Officers (OF7 and above), per the AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026.

X-factor - the 14.5% across the board

Every RAF 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.

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. Note that the AFPRB tables above are headed "Salaries (including X-Factor)", so the annual figures already contain it: to get back to basic pay, divide the table figure by 1.145 rather than multiplying it by 14.5%. MOD publishes the rate by commitment type: 14.5% "for Regulars, Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) on Full Commitment and Mobilised Volunteer Reserves", 11.5% for Full Time Regular Restricted Separation, 5% for Part Time Volunteer Reserves, FTRS on Limited Commitment, Reserve personnel on Additional Duties Commitment and the Military Provost Guard Service, and 0% for FTRS on Home Commitment. On rank: "The full rates of X-Factor are paid to all Other Ranks and Officer ranks up to OF4 (Commander / Lieutenant Colonel / Wing Commander) and it tapers above this." Source: MOD Discover My Benefits - X-Factor.

Aircrew pay - the Aircrew Pay Spines

Regular RAF aircrew are not paid rank-based basic pay plus a separate flying supplement. They are paid on a dedicated Aircrew Pay Spine, which replaces the rank-based increment levels in the tables above. Progression is by spine level on the increment anniversary date rather than by rank, so two officers of the same rank can sit on very different spine points.

• Aircrew Pay Spine 1 (APS1) covers officer and non-commissioned officer pilots: 30 levels running from £35,925 to £97,398 from 1 April 2026.
• Aircrew Pay Spine 2 (APS2) covers non-pilot Other Ranks aircrew, including Weapon Systems Operators and rear crew: 28 levels running from £27,282 to £83,687 from 1 April 2026.

X-factor at 14.5% applies to the aircrew spine point in the same way it applies to rank-based basic pay.

Aircrew Pay Spine 1 (APS1) - officer and non-commissioned officer pilots

Aircrew Pay Spine 2 (APS2) - non-pilot Other Ranks

Source: AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026, Appendix 1, Tables 1.14 and 1.15, "1 April 2026" column. Professional Aviators are on a separate scale again (Table 1.13 of the same report).

Specialist Pay supplements

Certain trade groups and specialisms attract additional pay supplements:

• RAF Police - investigative role supplement.
• Para Trained - qualifying jump pay.
• Field Engineering Specialists - certain bomb disposal and EOD roles.
• Linguist - defined languages, paid by examined competence level.
• RAF Regiment - operational deployment readiness pay.

These supplements are shown separately on the payslip and they are not pensionable. AFPS 15 defines pensionable earnings as "Basic pay, but excluding allowances, expenses, bonuses, financial incentives, Loan Service Pay, and any form of Recruitment and Retention Pay" (MOD, AFPS 15: Your Pension Scheme Explained, glossary), and every item in the list above is a Recruitment and Retention Payment. Trade Supplement is different: it is a column of basic pay rather than an addition to it, so it is inside pensionable earnings.

Operational Allowance and Longer Separation Allowance

When deployed on operations:

• Operational Allowance - a daily payment for personnel in a specified operational location, exempt from income tax under section 297A of ITEPA 2003. MOD publishes the rate as £29.02 per day (MOD Discover My Benefits - Operational Allowance, page last updated 24 January 2024).
• Longer Separation Allowance (LSA) - paid on cumulative qualifying separation across a career, in sixteen Levels, not fourteen. Level 1 covers everything up to 280 days at £9.58 a day; Level 16 (3,161 days and over) pays £43.77 (AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026, Appendix 3).

LSA is taxable; Operational Allowance is exempt by statute. See Service Personnel Tax Reliefs 2026 for the full breakdown.

Pension - AFPS 15

All new RAF 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: the Average Weekly Earnings index while serving. MOD's booklet: "This growth, known as indexation, is based on the Average Weekly Earnings index." Not CPI.
• Normal Pension Age: 60. "The NPA for AFPS 15 is 60." A deferred pension is paid from your State Pension Age instead.
• Early Departure Payment (EDP): lump sum and income stream at the 20/40 point, which needs age 40 and 20 years of Regular service. Both limbs, not just the 20 years.

Source for those four: MOD, AFPS 15: Your Pension Scheme Explained.

AFPS 15 is one of the most valuable schemes in UK public service. From 1 April 2024 "MOD's Armed Forces SCAPE employer contribution rate increased to 73.5% of pensionable pay" (AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026, Appendix 4, footnote 107). 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 RAF payslip reads

Take a Corporal at OR4-05 on Trade Supplement 1, where the table above gives £43,227 a year. That published figure already includes X-factor, so the payslip splits it rather than adding to it: £43,227 ÷ 1.145 = £37,752.84 of basic pay, leaving £5,474.16 of X-factor.

A higher Trade Supplement does not add a line to this payslip - it moves the whole calculation onto a different table. The same OR4-05 increment on Trade Supplement 4 pays more in the basic line, not in a separate differential.

Below this come:

• AFPS 15 contribution: £0 (non-contributory).
• Income tax at marginal rate.
• Class 1 National Insurance.
• Statutory deductions for any contractual obligations.

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?.

Mess accommodation and Subsistence

Service personnel may live in:

• Single Living Accommodation (SLA) - provided in Mess; small monthly charge.
• Service Family Accommodation (SFA) - provided married or in long-term partnership; rent at 4% of taxable accommodation charge.
• Privately rented or owned - Local Overseas Allowance (LOA) where serving abroad.

The accommodation charge appears on the payslip as a fixed deduction. Subsistence allowance (where applicable on courses or travel) is paid via DBS expenses claim, not standard payroll.

Tax Code and Personal Allowance

Most RAF 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). Note: Service personnel can elect to retain the tax code of where they last lived as a civilian, which is administered separately by HMRC under MoD guidance.
• Emergency tax codes during initial enlistment, recovered via P800 reconciliation.

Pay during training versus operational pay

During Phase 1 and Phase 2 training, RAF personnel are paid on the AC Initial Pay rate (£27,282 from 1 April 2026, Trade Supplement 1). On completion of Trade Group qualification they move to SAC pay on whichever Trade Supplement their trade is evaluated into. Promotion-driven pay rises are step changes, not increments.

A typical pay progression for an RAF airwoman:

Each row is an actual Trade Supplement 1 increment level from Table 1.1 of the AFPRB Fifty-Fifth Report 2026; the year labels are illustrative of a typical career path, not a guaranteed timetable.

Pay is reviewed annually on 1 April, with increments timed to anniversary date.

Pay protection and pay variation

Pay protection rules within the AFPRB framework:

• Promotion never reduces pay - protected if the new rank scale would otherwise pay less.
• Demotion (rare, disciplinary) reduces to the appropriate scale.
• Transfer between Trade Groups may move you onto a different Trade Supplement, which changes the whole table your pay is read from.
• Reservist call-up pay reflects a calculated daily rate from the regular scale.

Action checklist for RAF personnel

For RAF Service personnel managing their pay:

1. Confirm your Trade Supplement (1 to 4) on the JPA system.
2. Verify your X-factor is applied correctly each pay period.
3. Check aircrew supplement timing - typically paid from first solo day for trainees.
4. Track Operational Allowance days for tax-free entitlement.
5. Review your AFPS 15 statement annually. If you have Annual Allowance exposure, note that money-purchase AVC contributions are themselves a Pension Input Amount and add to it rather than relieving it.
6. Set up Personal Tax Account at GOV.UK to confirm tax code accuracy.

More military pay guides

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

• Army pay scales 2026/27 - Private to WO1 and officer scales on the same AFPRB framework.
• X-factor deep dive - exactly how the 14.5% is calculated, taxed and pensioned.
• Service personnel tax reliefs - Operational Allowance, LSA and the other reliefs deployed aircrew rely on.

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 AA / pension questions, consult Forces Pension Society, your Unit HR or a regulated tax adviser experienced with Service personnel.