What a Police Sergeant (PS) payslip looks like
A typical UK police sergeant (ps) payslip is paid monthly and shows a basic pay line at the top. Police Sergeant is the first supervisory rank, leading shift teams of 5-10 constables on operational duties. 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 Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester Police, West Midlands Police. 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 police sergeant (ps) payslips at the same gross will be in the additions block: Sergeant pay runs £53,568 to £56,208 across pay points 2 to 4, in force from 1 September 2025; pay point 1 was removed in September 2020. The 13.88% pension contribution comes off before tax, so the top of the scale is taxed on £48,406 and no point reaches the 40% band: it is the contribution, not higher-rate tax, that makes promotion worth less in the hand than the headline gap suggests.
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.
Sergeant: £53,568 to £56,208 from 1 September 2025
Pay point 1 was removed in September 2020, so the sergeant scale now begins at point 2. The 13.88% pension contribution comes off before tax, so the top of the scale is taxed on £48,406 and no point on it reaches the 40% band at all: what makes the take-home gain from promotion smaller than the headline gap is the contribution itself, not higher-rate tax.
| Step | Published / year | Pension | Tax + NI | Net / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay point 2 (entry) | £53,568 | £7,435 (13.88%) | £9,795 | £3,028 |
| Pay point 3 | £54,660 | £7,587 (13.88%) | £10,004 | £3,089 |
| Pay point 4 (top) | £56,208 | £7,802 (13.88%) | £10,302 | £3,175 |
- From £53,568 to £56,208 is £2,640 of gross progression and £1,766 after deductions, which is £147 a month, or 67p in the pound.
- The top of the grade is £56,208, but the 13.88% pension contribution comes off before tax, so income tax is charged on £48,406. That is £1,864 short of £50,270, so no part of this grade is taxed at 40% on basic pay alone.
- Inspector (pay point 0) starts at £63,768, £7,560 above the top of this grade and about £344 a month more in the hand.
Home Office circular 011/2026, Annex F (Police Regulations 2003). Forces other than the Metropolitan and City of London, which have their own tables from inspector upwards, and before London weighting of £3,150 or a South East allowance. Net figures are estimates on 1257L with rUK bands and no student loan, Police Pension Scheme 2015 off before tax but not before NI. Full scale, allowances and Police Pension Scheme 2015 tiers.
Applies to this work
Flat rate expenses for uniforms, work clothing and tools and police sergeant (ps) pay
The police entry behaves unlike every other row in the table. Everywhere else the deduction depends on an expense being necessarily incurred, but HMRC states that the officers' allowance can be given irrespective of whether current duties require a uniform to be worn. A sergeant posted to a plain clothes unit, a training role or a desk keeps the £140 through the posting, and does not need to tell HMRC that the tunic is in a locker for the year.
- Standard rate where your trade has no agreed figure
- £60 a year
- What a £60 deduction is actually worth
- £12 a year at the 20% rate
Educational only. Whether this reaches your own pay turns on your contract and how you are engaged, and tribunal and claim time limits are short. Check the limit that applies to you before relying on a date.
Flat rate expenses for uniforms, work clothing and tools: the rates, the payslip lines, what goes wrong and the 27 primary sources. Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, section 367 (fixed sum deductions for repairing and maintaining work equipment), sitting inside the general rule at section 336, with the agreed amounts published at EIM32712, in force for the tax years 2008 to 2009 onwards, the span the published table of amounts gives itself.
Take-home by salary
Detailed monthly breakdowns for common police sergeant (ps) salary anchors:
Common deductions for a Police Sergeant (PS)
- 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. Police Sergeant (PS)s commonly hold subscriptions covered by section 344 ITEPA 2003 (List 3).
Police Sergeant (PS) payslip FAQ
How much does a Police Sergeant (PS) earn in 2026/27?
Sergeant is published at £53,568 to £56,208, effective 1 September 2025, in Home Office circular 011/2026, Annex F (Police Regulations 2003). Forces other than the Metropolitan and City of London, which have their own tables from inspector upwards, and before London weighting of £3,150 or a South East allowance.
What is the take-home pay for a Police Sergeant (PS)?
At the top of the grade, £56,208, income tax and National Insurance come to about £10,302 a year, and Police Pension Scheme 2015 takes a further £7,802, leaving roughly £3,175 a month. At the bottom of the grade, £53,568, it is roughly £3,028 a month. Estimated on tax code 1257L with England, Wales and Northern Ireland bands and no student loan.
What is unusual about a Police Sergeant (PS) payslip?
Sergeant pay runs £53,568 to £56,208 across pay points 2 to 4, in force from 1 September 2025; pay point 1 was removed in September 2020. The 13.88% pension contribution comes off before tax, so the top of the scale is taxed on £48,406 and no point reaches the 40% band: it is the contribution, not higher-rate tax, that makes promotion worth less in the hand than the headline gap suggests.
Which tax code should a Police Sergeant (PS) 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: Home Office circular 011/2026, Annex F (Police Regulations 2003), the determination in force from 1 September 2025. Tax, National Insurance and pension figures are estimates from this site's 2026/27 engine.