Minimum Wage 2026: UK Rates Are £12.71 for Over-21s

Last Updated: 18 October 2026

The minimum wage 2026 rates are already in force across the UK, and whether you employ staff, run payroll for a small business or simply want to check your own pay packet, the figures that matter are the ones that have applied since 1 April 2026. This guide sets them out in full, in plain English.

Millions of workers received a pay rise when the new rates took effect in April, and employers have had a legal duty to apply them from that date. Yet confusion remains common: younger workers are often unsure which age band applies to them, apprentices are frequently paid the wrong rate, and unpaid extra time can pull real hourly pay below the legal floor. Getting the minimum wage 2026 position right matters for both sides of the payslip.

What is the minimum wage 2026? The minimum wage 2026 in the UK is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for those aged 18 to 20, and £8.00 for 16 to 17-year-olds and eligible apprentices. These rates have applied since 1 April 2026.

Minimum Wage 2026: What It Is and When the New Rates Started

The minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate an employer can legally pay most workers in the UK, set by the government each year and enforced by HM Revenue and Customs.

The system has two names for the same legal floor. The rate for workers aged 21 and over is called the National Living Wage, while the lower rates for younger workers and apprentices are called the National Minimum Wage. Whatever the label on your payslip, your employer must pay at least the rate for your age, for every hour that counts as working time, in every pay period.

The current rates took effect on 1 April 2026, following the usual annual spring uprating. That date matters when checking old payslips: hours worked before 1 April 2026 were covered by the previous, lower rates, while every hour worked on or after that date must be paid at the new figures, even if the pay date fell later in April. Employers who were slow to update payroll in the spring still owe the difference.

Rates are set by the government after advice from the Low Pay Commission, an independent body that gathers evidence from employers, trade unions and workers before recommending each year’s figures, balancing a fair floor for low-paid workers against the effect on jobs and businesses. That process helps explain why minimum wage 2026 looks the way it does, and why debate about next year’s rates is already under way, as the final section explains.

The 2026 Rates in Full: £12.71, £10.85 and £8.00 an Hour

There are four rates to know, and the right one depends on your age and, for one group, on whether you are an apprentice. The table below shows the minimum wage 2026 rates exactly as they stand for the rest of this year, and the sections that follow explain who falls into each band.

Age or status	Hourly rate from 1 April 2026	Name of the rate
21 and over	£12.71	National Living Wage
18 to 20	£10.85	National Minimum Wage
16 to 17	£8.00	National Minimum Wage
Apprentice	£8.00	Apprentice rate

The headline figure is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over. Below that, the age gaps remain significant: an 18-year-old on £10.85 earns £1.86 an hour less than a 21-year-old doing similar work, while the youngest workers and apprentices are on £8.00. Those gaps are why the government’s stated direction of travel, discussed later, is watched so closely by employers with young workforces.

These are gross rates, before income tax and National Insurance, and they apply across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland alike — there is no separate regional rate and no higher London figure in law, although some employers voluntarily pay a higher real Living Wage set independently. If your contract promises more than the legal minimum, your contract applies. The official figures are on the National Minimum Wage rates page on GOV.UK, the page to trust over social media or an old job advert.

Who Gets Which Rate? Age Bands, Apprentices and Employers’ Duties

Your rate is based on your age on the day the work is done. If a birthday moves you into a higher band, your pay must rise from that birthday onwards, not from the next month or tax year. A worker who turns 21 in October should see £12.71 an hour for hours worked from their birthday, and a worker who turns 18 moves from £8.00 to £10.85 in the same way.

The apprentice rate of £8.00 applies to apprentices under 19, or aged 19 or over but still in the first year of their apprenticeship. Once an apprentice aged 19 or over completes that first year, they must be paid the full rate for their age band. This is a common source of underpayment: an apprentice who started at 18 and is now 20, well into a second year, should be on £10.85, not £8.00.

Most workers are covered, including part-time, agency, temporary and casual staff, and people paid by the piece or task, whose average hourly pay must still reach the floor. Groups outside the rules include the genuinely self-employed, volunteers and company directors without an employment contract. If you are unsure which side of that line you fall on, the National Minimum Wage page on GOV.UK explains who counts as a worker.

For employers, the duty is clear: pay at least the rate for each worker’s age, keep records that prove it, and correct any shortfall promptly. There is no exemption for small businesses or difficult trading months, and paying one colleague above the floor does not offset underpaying another — each worker, each pay period, is judged on their own. For a small team, building the minimum wage 2026 rates into rotas, contracts and payroll software is a basic compliance task, and it connects directly to the wider cost pressures covered in our guide to the Autumn Budget 2026.

What Minimum Wage 2026 Means for a Full-Time Pay Packet

Hourly rates can feel abstract, so it helps to translate them into the annual figures people actually budget around. Take a worked example, clearly labelled as such: a worker aged 21 or over, paid £12.71 an hour, working 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks of the year, would earn about £24,784 a year before tax. The calculation is simply £12.71 multiplied by 37.5 hours, multiplied by 52 weeks, and it gives a useful benchmark for comparing a salaried job offer against an hourly-paid one.

The same arithmetic at the younger bands shows the scale of the age gap. At £10.85 an hour, the same 37.5-hour week produces roughly £21,158 a year before tax, while at £8.00 an hour it produces about £15,600. These are illustrations, not promises: your real figure depends on your contracted hours, overtime, unpaid breaks and how many weeks you actually work. Salaried workers should do the reverse calculation too — divide your salary by your real hours, including regular unpaid extra time, and check the result does not fall below your rate.

For households, even a small hourly rise changes monthly budgeting, particularly while everyday costs remain high and families are still tracking support such as the payments covered in our explainer on the cost of living payment 2026. For employers, the figures work in reverse: every £1 on an hourly rate adds roughly £1,950 a year to the cost of one full-time post on a 37.5-hour week, before employer National Insurance and pension contributions. That is why finance teams model the April uprating months in advance, and why minimum wage 2026 featured in so many spring budget meetings in hospitality, retail, care and leisure, where large shares of staff sit on or just above the floor.

How to Check You Are Being Paid Correctly

You do not need an accountant to check your position — you need your payslip, your contract and about fifteen minutes. Work through these steps in order, whether you are checking the minimum wage 2026 rates against your own pay or helping a family member check theirs.

1. Find your correct rate. Use the table above: £12.71 if you are 21 or over, £10.85 if you are 18 to 20, £8.00 if you are 16 or 17, and £8.00 if you are an apprentice under 19 or in the first year of your apprenticeship.
2. Add up your real working time. Count every hour that counts as working time in the pay period, including training, waiting time and opening or closing duties, not just the hours printed on your rota.
3. Check your gross pay on your payslip. Take the gross pay figure for that period before tax, and note any deductions that the rules say must not pull you below the floor.
4. Divide pay by hours. Divide the gross pay by the total hours worked. If the answer is below your rate, you have been underpaid for that period, however the shortfall arose.
5. Cross-check with the official calculator. Run the same figures through the government’s minimum wage calculator on GOV.UK, which walks you through the calculation and tells you whether your employer owes you money.
6. Raise it, and keep records. Show your employer the calculation and ask for the shortfall to be repaid. Keep your payslips, rotas and messages, because they are your evidence if you need to take the matter further.

Your payslip is the starting point, and you have a legal right to receive one. Look beyond the net figure: gross pay, hours recorded and any deductions each tell part of the story. If your payslip shows fewer hours than you actually worked, that is itself a warning sign, because pay divided by understated hours can look compliant on paper while being anything but in reality. Remember, too, that the test applies pay period by pay period — a strong month cannot cancel out a short one.

Working Time, Deductions and the Accommodation Offset

Many underpayment cases are not about the headline hourly rate at all. They are about what counts as working time. Time spent on training your employer requires, travelling between assignments during the working day, waiting at your workplace to be given work, and opening up or cashing up before and after a shift can all count. If those hours are unpaid, they dilute your average hourly rate — and for someone paid exactly the minimum wage 2026 rate of £12.71, even a few unpaid hours a week will pull the real figure below the legal floor.

Deductions cause similar problems. An employer generally cannot deduct or charge you for things connected with your job — uniforms, tools, meals or till shortages — if doing so takes your pay below your rate for that period. Salary sacrifice and pension arrangements have their own detailed rules, so a payslip that looks generous can still conceal a breach. Tax and National Insurance are different: the floor is tested against pay before those statutory deductions.

One specific arrangement deserves a brief mention: the accommodation offset. If your employer provides accommodation, a set offset amount can count towards minimum wage pay, which means an employer charging rent above that offset can fall into underpayment even where the cash wage looks correct. The offset is a fixed figure set by the government and updated over time, so check the current amount on GOV.UK rather than relying on a figure quoted in an old contract or handbook.

If your check suggests underpayment, you need not confront your employer alone. Raise it with your employer first, seek help from Acas, or report it to HMRC, which enforces the rules on workers’ behalf. HMRC can investigate, order arrears to be repaid and impose penalties, and complaints can be made even after you have left the job. Keeping payslips and records of your hours makes every route quicker and stronger.

What Happens Next: April 2027, the Low Pay Commission and a Single Adult Rate

These rates run until the end of March 2027. What replaces them will follow the familiar pattern: the Low Pay Commission advises the government, ministers decide, and the new figures are expected to be confirmed at the Autumn Budget, ahead of taking effect the following April. No April 2027 rate has been confirmed, and any precise figure circulating online should be treated as speculation until an official announcement.

Beyond next year, the bigger question is the shape of the system itself. The government has stated its intention to move towards a single adult rate, so workers aged 18 and over would eventually be covered by one rate rather than separate age bands, and has asked the Low Pay Commission to advise on closing the gap over time. That is a stated policy intention, not a change that has happened: the separate £10.85 rate for 18 to 20-year-olds remains the law throughout 2026, and any move would be phased and announced in advance.

For employers, that direction of travel is a planning issue now. Businesses employing many 18 to 20-year-olds should model what a narrower gap — or eventually a single rate — would do to their wage bill and to pay differentials for supervisors just above the floor. For workers, the message is simpler: know your current rate, check it regularly, and watch for the Autumn Budget announcement, which will shape the debate about minimum wage 2026 and what follows it well before April 2027 arrives.

Disclaimer: this article is general information about the UK minimum wage rates in force from 1 April 2026, based on the rates published on GOV.UK. It is not legal, payroll or employment advice for your specific circumstances. If you run payroll or believe you have been underpaid, check GOV.UK, speak to Acas, or take advice from a qualified employment or payroll professional.

Conclusion: Know Your Rate and Check Your Payslip

The minimum wage 2026 rates are £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for those aged 18 to 20, and £8.00 for 16 to 17-year-olds and eligible apprentices, in force since 1 April 2026. Your employer must pay at least the rate for your age, HMRC enforces the rules, and a fifteen-minute check with your payslip and the official calculator will tell you whether your pay is where the law says it should be.

Do three things this week: find the rate that applies to your age, divide your last payslip’s gross pay by the real hours you worked, and raise any shortfall with your employer — or report it to HMRC if it is not put right. The minimum wage 2026 floor only protects the people who check they are actually receiving it.