£22,425 a year gross at 37.5 hours a week · £1,639 a month take-home in England, Wales & NI · £1,642 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.
Paid £11.50 per hour? Over a full year of 37.5-hour weeks that is an annual salary of £22,425 (£23,920 at 40 hours). Once income tax and Class 1 National Insurance come off, £1,639 a month (£19,666 a year) lands in your account in England, Wales and NI; in Scotland it is £1,642 a month.
Hourly to annual salary: £11.50 an hour by pay period
To turn an hourly rate into a UK annual salary, multiply by your weekly hours and by 52. £11.50 × 37.5 × 52 = £22,425; £11.50 × 40 × 52 = £23,920. 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
£22,425
£19,666
£19,705
£23,920
£20,742
Month
£1,869
£1,639
£1,642
£1,993
£1,729
Week
£431.25
£378.18
£378.95
£460.00
£398.88
Day
£86.25
£75.64
£75.79
£92.00
£79.78
How £11.50 an hour is taxed in 2026/27
Everyone gets a £12,570 personal allowance. On £22,425 that leaves £9,855 taxable at the 20% basic rate, giving £1,971 of income tax. Employees then pay Class 1 National Insurance of 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above — £788 here. In Scotland the six-band system (19% to 48%) gives £1,931 of income tax, so Scottish take-home is £40 higher at £19,705. 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 £11.50 that happens at about 21.0 hours a week. Below that you keep every penny. A Plan 2 student loan starts at 49.1 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 £11.50 an hour legal? £11.50 is above the £10.85 rate for 18 to 20-year-olds, but below the £12.71 National Living Wage that every worker aged 21+ must get from 1 April 2026. 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 £22,425 salary is below the £29,385 Plan 2 threshold, so a Plan 2 loan costs nothing. A 5% pension contribution (£1,121) taken under a net pay arrangement reduces take-home by only £897, 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
£19,666
£1,639
—
£1,642
+ Plan 2 student loan
£19,666
£1,639
−£0
£1,642
+ 5% pension (net pay)
£18,769
£1,564
−£897
£1,567
+ Plan 2 and 5% pension
£18,769
£1,564
−£897
£1,567
£11.50 an hour part-time: 20, 30 and 40 hours
Here is how the same hourly rate plays out across common contracts. At 20 hours £11.50 keeps 100% of gross pay, compared with 88% at 37.5 hours.
Contract
Gross / yr
Tax + NI
Net / yr
Net / month
Scotland / month
20 h/week
£11,960
£0
£11,960
£997
£997
30 h/week
£17,940
£1,504
£16,436
£1,370
£1,373
37.5 h/week
£22,425
£2,759
£19,666
£1,639
£1,642
40 h/week
£23,920
£3,178
£20,742
£1,729
£1,732
Take-home at £11.50 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 £11.50 an hour a good wage? NLW and median compared
Compared with the National Living Wage (£12.71), £11.50 an hour is £2,360 a year less before tax at 37.5 hours and £1,699 less after tax. Reaching the ONS full-time median of £20.81 would add £18,154 gross, about £13,071 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 £22,000 after tax.
What £11.50 an hour buys
After tax, one hour at £11.50 is worth £10.08 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
21 min
18 min
A £10 fish & chips supper
59 min
52 min
A £100 weekly food shop
9.9 h
8.7 h
£1,000 rent for a month
99.2 h
87.0 h
One month at £11.50 an hour (£1,639 take-home) buys…
468takeaway lattes
327pints of beer
182cinema tickets
163fish & 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 £11.50 an hour
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 £11.50 adds about £8.28 after tax and NI.
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 £897 a year in take-home.
FAQ
£11.50 an hour is how much a year?
At 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks, £11.50 an hour is £22,425 a year before tax. At 40 hours a week it is £23,920, at 30 hours £17,940 and at 20 hours £11,960.
What is £11.50 per hour as an annual salary after tax?
In 2026/27 a full-time £11.50 an hour job (37.5 h/week) leaves £19,666 a year after £1,971 income tax and £788 National Insurance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or £19,705 in Scotland. That is £10.08 an hour after tax.
How much is £11.50 an hour per month after tax?
About £1,639 a month on 37.5 hours a week (£1,729 on 40 hours) in England, Wales and NI. With a Plan 2 student loan it is £1,639; in Scotland £1,642.
Is £11.50 an hour above minimum wage?
£11.50 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 £11.50 an hour part-time?
At 20 hours a week £11.50 is £11,960 a year (£997 a month after tax); at 30 hours it is £17,940 (£1,370 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.