What a Royal Navy Petty Officer (PO) payslip looks like
A typical UK royal navy petty officer (po) payslip is paid monthly and shows a basic pay line at the top. Petty Officer is the senior NCO Royal Navy rank, leading departmental teams and trade groups onboard ship or submarine. The line items below depend on grade, shift pattern and contractual additions, but the structure usually mirrors HMRC's recommended payslip layout: a payments block, a deductions block, a year-to-date column, and a net pay summary.
Common employers in this occupation include Royal Navy, Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Each employer runs payroll slightly differently, but the underlying PAYE computation against tax code 1257L and Class 1 National Insurance is identical across the UK (excluding Scotland for income tax). The biggest variability between two royal navy petty officer (po) payslips at the same gross will be in the additions block: Petty Officer is OR-6, £46,022 to £50,598. Sea pay and submarine pay are separate supplements in the same report and are not inside that figure.
Year-to-date columns are critical to verify on this role because the additions and salary sacrifice items change month to month. If your YTD gross divided by months elapsed in the tax year does not match your expected annual run-rate, that is the single best signal that something is mis-coded.
Petty Officer (OR-6): £46,022 to £50,598 from 1 April 2026
The top of OR6 is where a Petty Officer on Trade Supplement 1 first crosses the higher-rate income tax threshold.
- From £46,022 to £50,598 is £4,576 of gross progression and £3,249 after deductions, which is £271 a month, or 71p in the pound.
- The grade crosses £50,270 at OR6-06, £50,598. At the top step, £328 of £50,598 is taxed at 40% and the rest at 20%.
- Chief Petty Officer (OR7-01) starts at £51,615, £1,017 above the top of this grade and about £49 a month more in the hand.
AFPRB 55th Report 2026, Appendix 1. Trade Supplement 1 and inclusive of the 14.5% X-factor, which is how the AFPRB publishes them, so they will not match a JPA basic-pay line on their own. Net figures are estimates on 1257L with rUK bands and no student loan, no pension line because Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 is non-contributory. Full scale, allowances and Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 tiers.
Take-home by salary
Detailed monthly breakdowns for common royal navy petty officer (po) salary anchors:
Common deductions for a Royal Navy Petty Officer (PO)
- PAYE income tax.Calculated against tax code 1257L. Cumulative coding means refunds can appear if you start mid-year.
- National Insurance (Class 1).8% between £12,570 and £50,270 of annual earnings, then 2% above. Period-by-period method is standard.
- Pension.Auto-enrolment minimum 5% employee on qualifying earnings (£6,240 - £50,270), unless your employer runs a more generous scheme such as the NHS, Teachers Pension or Civil Service alpha.
- Salary sacrifice patterns.Common in this occupation: cycle-to-work, electric-car salary sacrifice, additional pension contributions, and where applicable workplace nursery vouchers (still tax-efficient via pre-existing schemes).
- Union or professional body.Tax-deductible for HMRC-listed bodies. Royal Navy Petty Officer (PO)s commonly hold subscriptions covered by section 344 ITEPA 2003 (List 3).
Royal Navy Petty Officer (PO) payslip FAQ
How much does a Royal Navy Petty Officer (PO) earn in 2026/27?
Petty Officer (OR-6) is published at £46,022 to £50,598, effective 1 April 2026, in AFPRB 55th Report 2026, Appendix 1. Trade Supplement 1 and inclusive of the 14.5% X-factor, which is how the AFPRB publishes them, so they will not match a JPA basic-pay line on their own.
What is the take-home pay for a Royal Navy Petty Officer (PO)?
At the top of the grade, £50,598, income tax and National Insurance come to about £10,694 a year, leaving roughly £3,325 a month. At the bottom of the grade, £46,022, it is roughly £3,055 a month. Estimated on tax code 1257L with England, Wales and Northern Ireland bands and no student loan.
What is unusual about a Royal Navy Petty Officer (PO) payslip?
Petty Officer is OR-6, £46,022 to £50,598. Sea pay and submarine pay are separate supplements in the same report and are not inside that figure.
Which tax code should a Royal Navy Petty Officer (PO) typically be on?
Most people in this role on standard PAYE will see 1257L. Check the prefix and suffix carefully: a K-prefix means deductions exceed your allowance (often after a bonus or P11D benefit), 0T means you have no allowance left at this employer, and BR means basic rate on the whole job (common in second jobs).
Related roles
Pay figures: AFPRB 55th Report 2026, Appendix 1, the determination in force from 1 April 2026. Tax, National Insurance and pension figures are estimates from this site's 2026/27 engine.