£21,158 a year gross at 37.5 hours a week · £1,563 a month take-home in England, Wales & NI · £1,566 in Scotland.
ESTIMATE
Estimates for tax year 2026/27, 37.5-hour week × 52 paid weeks unless stated. Tax code 1257L, NI category A, no other income. For exact payslips use the UK take-home pay calculator.
Short answer: £21,158 a year before tax and £18,753 after, assuming 37.5 hours a week for 52 paid weeks in the 2026/27 tax year. That is £1,563 a month or £360.63 a week in England, Wales and NI. Work 40 hours and the figures rise to £22,568 gross and £19,769 take-home.
Hourly to annual salary: £10.85 an hour by pay period
To turn an hourly rate into a UK annual salary, multiply by your weekly hours and by 52. £10.85 × 37.5 × 52 = £21,158; £10.85 × 40 × 52 = £22,568. Daily figures assume a 7.5-hour or 8-hour day, five days a week (260 days). Holiday is paid, so it is already inside the 52 weeks.
Period
37.5h gross
Net E/W/NI
Net Scotland
40h gross
Net 40h
Year
£21,158
£18,753
£18,793
£22,568
£19,769
Month
£1,763
£1,563
£1,566
£1,881
£1,647
Week
£406.88
£360.63
£361.40
£434.00
£380.16
Day
£81.38
£72.13
£72.28
£86.80
£76.03
How £10.85 an hour is taxed in 2026/27
Everyone gets a £12,570 personal allowance. On £21,158 that leaves £8,588 taxable at the 20% basic rate, giving £1,718 of income tax. Employees then pay Class 1 National Insurance of 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above — £687 here. In Scotland the six-band system (19% to 48%) gives £1,678 of income tax, so Scottish take-home is £40 higher at £18,793. The marginal rate on your next pound is 28% in England, Wales and NI.
Income tax and NI only start once annual pay passes £12,570 — at £10.85 that happens at about 22.3 hours a week. Below that you keep every penny. A Plan 2 student loan starts at 52.1 hours a week (£29,385 a year), so full-timers on this rate never repay unless they do overtime. The 40% higher rate (from £50,270) is out of reach at any realistic number of hours.
Is £10.85 an hour legal? £10.85 is exactly the National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds from 1 April 2026 (up from £10.00), so it is the lowest lawful rate for that age group. Workers aged 21 or over must be paid at least £12.71 for every hour worked, including time on training and some travel between jobs.
Student loan Plan 2 and 5% pension examples
At 37.5 hours your £21,158 salary is below the £29,385 Plan 2 threshold, so a Plan 2 loan costs nothing. A 5% pension contribution (£1,058) taken under a net pay arrangement reduces take-home by only £846, because it comes out before income tax. Auto-enrolment minimums are worked out on qualifying earnings above £6,240, so your scheme may deduct slightly less.
37.5 h/week
E, W & NI / yr
/ month
Change
Scotland / month
Salary only
£18,753
£1,563
—
£1,566
+ Plan 2 student loan
£18,753
£1,563
−£0
£1,566
+ 5% pension (net pay)
£17,907
£1,492
−£846
£1,496
+ Plan 2 and 5% pension
£17,907
£1,492
−£846
£1,496
£10.85 an hour part-time: 20, 30 and 40 hours
Part-time hours change more than the gross figure: because the first £12,570 is tax- and NI-free, shorter weeks keep a bigger share of pay. At 20 hours £10.85 keeps 100% of gross pay, compared with 89% at 37.5 hours.
Contract
Gross / yr
Tax + NI
Net / yr
Net / month
Scotland / month
20 h/week
£11,284
£0
£11,284
£940
£940
30 h/week
£16,926
£1,220
£15,706
£1,309
£1,312
37.5 h/week
£21,158
£2,405
£18,753
£1,563
£1,566
40 h/week
£22,568
£2,799
£19,769
£1,647
£1,651
Take-home at £10.85 an hour by weekly hours
Take-home (shown)Tax & deductions
England, Wales & NI, 2026/27, no pension or student loan. Bar length = gross pay; green = take-home.
Is £10.85 an hour a good wage? NLW and median compared
Compared with the National Living Wage (£12.71), £10.85 an hour is £3,627 a year less before tax at 37.5 hours and £2,611 less after tax. Reaching the ONS full-time median of £20.81 would add £19,422 gross, about £13,984 after tax. For context, median weekly pay for full-time employees was £811.20 in April 2026. A £1 an hour pay rise from here is worth £1,404 a year after tax.
37.5 hours a week, England, Wales & NI, 2026/27. For the full band-by-band breakdown see £21,000 after tax.
What £10.85 an hour buys
After tax, one hour at £10.85 is worth £9.62 in your pocket. Here is how long you would work for everyday costs — in take-home terms and in gross terms.
Item (example price)
Work time after tax
Work time gross
A £3.50 latte
22 min
19 min
A £10 fish & chips supper
62 min
55 min
A £100 weekly food shop
10.4 h
9.2 h
£1,000 rent for a month
104.0 h
92.2 h
One month at £10.85 an hour (£1,563 take-home) buys…
446takeaway lattes
312pints of beer
173cinema tickets
156fish & chips suppers
Monthly take-home on 37.5 hours, England, Wales & NI, divided by each price and rounded down. Example prices (rounded 2026 estimates, not official statistics): latte £3.50 · pint £5 · cinema ticket £9 · fish & chips £10.
Tips to keep more of £10.85 an hour
Check your tax code. Most employees should be on 1257L. An emergency code (1257L W1/M1 or 0T/BR) on a second job or new starter form can over-tax you for months — HMRC’s app shows your code and refunds overpayments.
Make the pension match count. Auto-enrolment means at least 8% of qualifying earnings goes into your pension (at least 3% from the employer). Opting out gives up the employer’s money; at this rate a 5% contribution costs you only £846 a year in take-home.
Use the full calculator for your payslip. Bonuses, Plan 1/4/5 or postgraduate loans, different pension percentages and Scotland are all handled in the take-home pay calculator.
Check your age band. Your minimum rate rises on your 18th and 21st birthdays — from the next pay period. Payslips must show hours if pay varies with time worked, so you can check the rate yourself.
Overtime vs extra hours. There is no legal overtime premium in the UK, so check your contract. Each extra hour at £10.85 adds about £7.81 after tax and NI.
FAQ
£10.85 an hour is how much a year?
At 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks, £10.85 an hour is £21,158 a year before tax. At 40 hours a week it is £22,568, at 30 hours £16,926 and at 20 hours £11,284.
What is £10.85 per hour as an annual salary after tax?
In 2026/27 a full-time £10.85 an hour job (37.5 h/week) leaves £18,753 a year after £1,718 income tax and £687 National Insurance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or £18,793 in Scotland. That is £9.62 an hour after tax.
How much is £10.85 an hour per month after tax?
About £1,563 a month on 37.5 hours a week (£1,647 on 40 hours) in England, Wales and NI. With a Plan 2 student loan it is £1,563; in Scotland £1,566.
Is £10.85 an hour above minimum wage?
£10.85 is below the £12.71 National Living Wage for workers aged 21+ from April 2026. It meets the £10.85 minimum for 18 to 20-year-olds.
How much is £10.85 an hour part-time?
At 20 hours a week £10.85 is £11,284 a year (£940 a month after tax); at 30 hours it is £16,926 (£1,309 a month), in England, Wales and NI for 2026/27.
How do I convert hourly pay to an annual salary in the UK?
Multiply the hourly rate by hours per week, then by 52. For a 37.5-hour week that is the rate × 1,950; for 40 hours, × 2,080. Paid holiday is included because the 52 weeks assume holiday is paid at your normal rate.
Estimates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 – 5 April 2027): tax code 1257L, NI category A, under State Pension age, 52 paid weeks, no other income. Payslips are calculated each pay period and may differ by a few pounds.
Income tax, NI and student loan thresholds: GOV.UK “Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027”; Scottish bands: gov.scot Scottish Income Tax 2026 to 2027.
Minimum wage: GOV.UK “National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates” (from 1 April 2026: 21+ £12.71, 18–20 £10.85, under 18 and apprentice £8.00).
Median pay: ONS “Employee earnings in the UK: 2026” (ASHE, provisional, published 22 October 2026) — full-time median hourly pay excluding overtime £20.81, median weekly £811.20.
Prices in “what it buys” are rounded illustrative examples, not official statistics. Data as of 2026-11-03.
Got a different rate, bonus or pension?
Put your exact pay, student loan plan and pension into the UK take-home pay calculator for 2026/27.