Compare State Pension scenarios
The same rules, set side by side: which scheme you are on, when you can claim, and what the April 2026 rise changed.
Key takeaways
- The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27. The full basic rate is £184.90 a week.
- Age 66, 67 and 68 depend on date of birth. The same timetable applies to men and women born on or after 6 October 1954.
- This calculator uses the years you type. The official forecast uses the National Insurance record.
- From 6 April 2026 the full new rate rose 4.8%, from £230.25 a week.
- 10 years is the line for any new State Pension. 35 years is the line for the full rate.
New State Pension and the basic State Pension
The new State Pension is for people who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. The full rate in 2026/27 is £241.30 a week, which is £12,547.60 a year. You need 10 qualifying years before anything is payable and 35 for the full rate.
The basic State Pension is the older scheme, for people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. Its full rate is £184.90 a week, built on 30 years, and many people also have an Additional State Pension on top. This site's calculator estimates the new scheme only.
How much is the State Pension?
State Pension age 66 and 68
Your age depends on your date of birth, and it is the same for men and women born on or after 6 October 1954. People born from 6 October 1954 to 5 April 1960 reach State Pension age at 66. People born from 6 March 1961 to 5 April 1977 reach it at 67. Under current law, people born from 6 April 1978 reach it at 68.
The years between those birth dates are transitions: 66 plus extra months, then a set of fixed dates from May 2044 to March 2046. You cannot claim before the date the timetable gives you. Parliament can still change the rise to 68.
This calculator and the official forecast
This calculator needs a date of birth and a count of qualifying years. It does not ask you to log in, and it does not read your National Insurance record. The amount is a straight share of the full new rate: your years divided by 35, once you have at least 10.
The official forecast on GOV.UK uses your record. It includes a starting amount, which can be lower if you were contracted out before April 2016. Use this site to see the rules. Use the forecast to confirm what you will be paid.
Calculator versus the official forecast
Before and after April 2026
From 6 April 2026 the full new State Pension rose by 4.8% under the triple lock, from £230.25 a week in 2025/26 to £241.30 a week in 2026/27. A full year of the new rate went from £11,973.00 to £12,547.60. One qualifying year is worth about £6.58 a week at the old rate and £6.89 a week now.
The calculator uses the 2026/27 rate. On its own, £12,547.60 a year still sits under the £12,570.00 Personal Allowance. Other income can still make the pension taxable.
10 qualifying years and 35
Fewer than 10 qualifying years means no new State Pension under this estimate. At 10 years you get ten thirty-fifths of the full rate. At 35 years you get the full £241.30 a week. Years above 35 do not increase this estimate, though a contracted-out starting amount can mean the official forecast still rises after 35 years.
Reviewed by
Chartered Financial Planner
FCA, CFP® and FCII. Director of Mason Beaufort Financial Planning Co Ltd, specialising in UK pensions since 2001.