Pay in England

LAST UPDATED: 4 September 2026

How does the DDRB's recent recommendation on pay affect me?

On 25 March 2026, the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB) published its 54th report recommending an uplift of 3.75% to employed dentists’ salaries and the pay element of NHS contracts.  For hospital dentists on the same contract as hospital doctors, a 3.5% uplift was recommended.

It is important to note, however, that the overall uplift to NHS contract values for the 2026-27 financial year will be 3.31% backdated to 1 April 2026.

We set out the detail of the uplift including why there are two distinct figures below.

Contractors

Those holding NHS contracts receive an annual uplift to their contract value, which is backdated to the start of the relevant financial year.

This annual uplift incorporates two distinct elements of an uplift to pay and an uplift in respect of the costs of delivering care, for example, staffing, lab and materials costs. This second category is known as “expenses” in the Government’s language.

The Government has chosen to uplift the expenses element of the total remuneration package by 2.23%. When the pay element and the expenses element of the total remuneration package are combined and weighted, the result is the overall uplift to NHS contract values of 3.31%.

Associates

The pay uplift does not apply directly to associates' incomes. While there is no requirement for practices to increase associate pay, associates might reasonably look to the uplift for an indication of an expected uplift in their own income, and it would therefore be prudent for practices to increase pay in line with the pay uplift applied to contract values.

However, we recognise that practice income has been under enormous pressure for a number of years and therefore any decision on pay increases for associates will inevitably reflect local business circumstances, and will be a matter for direct negotiation between the parties. Current recruitment difficulties may also be a factor in pay negotiations between associates and practice owners. We encourage associates and practice owners to discuss their contractual terms in light of the uplift, when it is implemented.

Employed NHS dentists

Those dentists in employed NHS roles will have received a pay uplift applied to their salary and backdated to 1 April 2026.

Dentists employed in NHS roles within the Community Dental Services received a 3.75% consolidated uplift.

Dentists in academia, SAS dentists, and hospital consultants in England, received a 3.5% consolidated pay uplift.

Resident dentists received this DDRB uplift in addition to the Government’s offer on pay and jobs, accepted in June 2026, which, in combination with the DDRB recommendation, offers an average of a 6.6% pay uplift, fully delivered by April 2027.

Armed forces dentists

For armed forces dentists, rates of base pay will increase by 3.5% for all ranks within the Medical Officers and Dental Officers cadre, backdated to 1 April 2026.