Nurses pay rise 2025: 3% rise recommended for NHS staff

The government confirmed a 3.6% NHS pay rise, but unions led by the RCN warn it’s unfair and may trigger strikes.

Although much confusion still surrounds NHS nursing pay rises for 2025, we can confirm that the government has rubber stamped a 3.6% increase for NHS nurses and other Agenda for Change staff.

You can see what this means for your salary in our updated nursing pay calculator. However, this is definitely not the last we will hear about the pay rise.

More than in any previous years, the threat of a strike over the pay award is significant, and nursing unions are unanimously angry about the decision.

Here is where things stand – and how we got here:

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) calls pay award “grotesque”

The threat of a strike is being fuelled by discontent led by the RCN. Their anger largely stems from the fact that pay rises for doctors are higher (roughly between 4 and 5.4% depending on seniority).

This, the RCN suggests, is another example of the government putting “nursing at the back of the queue when it comes to pay”. Its members will now be asked to vote on the increase.

It’s understood that if enough are unhappy with this amount, strikes may be organised.

The 3.6% pay rise will be back-dated and introduced as planned, imminently. Meanwhile, the RCN member vote on the pay deal is imminent too.

Another above-inflation increase

The government is arguing that 3.6% still represents an above-inflation pay rise, which would make it the second in succession under the new Labour government. It also argues that this is in response to a decade of “neglect” under the conservatives. But as ever, this is not a straightforward issue.

The consequences of inflation and a long period of real-terms wage decline are felt more acutely in certain parts of the country, where housing and everyday costs are significantly higher.

And for many of these Nurses in particular, the extent to which this increase is above inflation will make little difference to how they feel about their monthly finances.

It’s worth then remembering that the UK’s population is still ageing, and the NHS continues to be strained.

All of this plays into how a 3.6% increase actually feels for Nurses at the frontline.

What happens next?

The 3.6% pay rise will be back-dated and introduced as planned, imminently. Meanwhile, the RCN member vote on the pay deal is imminent too. And the outcome of that will shape whether large-scale strikes happen, and what the impact could be on NHS services.

There currently appears little chance that the pay decision will be altered. But with so much uncertainty surrounding the future of NHS pay and its workforce, anything seems possible.

About the author

Matt Farrah is co-founder of Nurses.co.uk and writes about pay, careers and workforce trends across the UK nursing sector.

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