Your National Insurance record and the State Pension

Your National Insurance record is the running total of the years in which you paid National Insurance, received credits, or made voluntary contributions. That record decides two things about your State Pension: whether you get anything at all, and how much you get each week. You need 10 qualifying years to receive any new State Pension, and 35 qualifying years for the full amount, which is £241.30 a week in 2026/27¹.

Each qualifying year between those two points adds roughly £6.89 a week to your payment, so someone with 20 qualifying years receives about £137.80 a week². Gaps in your record, from years out of work, abroad, or caring for someone, can often be filled, either with credits you claim or with voluntary contributions you pay. This page explains how the record works, how to check it, and what your options are if it falls short.

Qualifying years: 10 to get anything, 35 for the full new State Pension

A qualifying year is a tax year in which you did one or more of three things: worked and paid National Insurance contributions, received National Insurance credits, or paid voluntary National Insurance contributions¹. The law defines it more precisely, as a tax year in which your earnings factor, the amount of earnings on which contributions were paid or credited, reaches the qualifying earnings factor for that year⁸. In everyday terms, you need to have earned enough in the year, or had the year covered by credits or voluntary payments, for it to count.

The two thresholds matter at opposite ends. Ten qualifying years is the floor: with fewer than 10, you get no new State Pension at all¹. Thirty-five is the ceiling for the full rate: the Pensions Act 2014 entitles a person to the full state pension if they have reached pensionable age and have 35 or more qualifying years⁸. Between 10 and 35, each year adds its share to the weekly amount.

The law also distinguishes between years built up before and after the new system started on 6 April 2016. A pre-commencement qualifying year is one beginning on or after 6 April 1978 and ending before 6 April 2016⁸. Years from both periods count towards your record, but they are valued in different ways, which is explained in the section on the old system below.

One group needs more than 35 years. If you were contracted out of the Additional State Pension before April 2016, you paid lower National Insurance for a period, and you might need more than 35 qualifying years to reach the full State Pension². Your forecast will show whether this applies to you.

If you move abroad to work before State Pension age, you might not gain qualifying years for those years, depending on circumstances such as whether you work for a UK or a foreign company⁹. The rules on claiming your State Pension from abroad cover this in more detail.

How much State Pension you get: up to £241.30 a week

The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27, or £12,547.60 a year³. With 10 qualifying years, the minimum, you get around £68.90 a week, and each qualifying year between 11 and 34 is worth around £6.89 a week, so 20 years gives about £137.80².

Not everyone on the new State Pension receives the full rate. At March 2026 there were 5.4 million people receiving it, an increase of 780,000 compared with February 2025, and the mean weekly payment was £216.42 including any Protected Payments¹⁰. The averages differ slightly by sex: £217.99 for men and £214.54 for women¹⁰. The gap between the mean and the full rate reflects the range of records people have, including deductions for contracting out.

People who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 are on the old system instead. The full basic State Pension is £184.90 a week¹¹, and it is based on the number of qualifying years you achieve during your working life¹². The requirements for a full basic State Pension depend on when you were born and are set out below.

The State Pension rises each year under the triple lock, and the new State Pension explained page covers how the two systems differ in full.

Contributions and credits: how a year becomes a qualifying year

There are three routes to a qualifying year, and many people use all three over a working life¹:

• Working and paying National Insurance. Employees and the self-employed pay contributions on their earnings, and a year with enough earnings counts.
• National Insurance credits. These are added to your record for periods when you were not paying contributions, for example while claiming certain benefits or caring for someone.
• Voluntary contributions. You can pay these to fill gaps in your record, usually for years when you were neither working enough nor credited⁵.

If your record has gaps, you might be able to add qualifying years by working and paying contributions until State Pension age, by getting credits, or by making voluntary contributions⁵. The application form for voluntary contributions, form CA5603, also helps you find out how many qualifying years you have and whether paying will increase the amount you get¹³. That check matters: paying to fill a gap only helps if the year actually increases your entitlement, and the rules on deadlines for backdating voluntary payments change over time, so check the current position before paying anything. The page on paying voluntary National Insurance to fill gaps covers the process and the costs.

You can see your record and a forecast of what you are on track to receive through the State Pension forecast service. The forecast shows your qualifying years, any gaps, and the date you reach State Pension age.

Carer's Credit fills gaps if you look after someone for 20 hours a week

Carer's Credit is a National Insurance credit that fills gaps in your record, so years spent caring still count towards the 10 and 35 thresholds⁴. It exists because caring often means reduced earnings or none at all, and without a credit those years would simply be missing from your record.

To qualify, all of the following must apply⁴:

• you are aged 16 or over
• you are not yet getting State Pension
• you do not qualify for Carer's Allowance
• you spend at least 20 hours a week caring for someone
• the person you look after gets a benefit because of their illness or disability

If the person you care for does not get one of those benefits, you might still be able to claim by completing a Care Certificate, which confirms the care you provide⁴. The 20-hour threshold is deliberately lower than the 35 hours a week needed for Carer's Allowance, so people caring for fewer hours, or alongside a small amount of work, can still protect their record⁴.

There is a deadline. Carers can apply up to the end of the tax year following the tax year in which the caring took place, and the application is a form, supported by any Care Certificates¹⁴. Applying late risks the gap staying open permanently, so it is worth claiming even if you are unsure whether you qualify.

The page on carers and State Pension credits goes further into what carers can claim, and MoneyHelper, the free government-backed money guidance service, lists the benefits and credits available to carers⁴.

Your State Pension is based on your own record, not your partner's

The new State Pension is usually based on your own National Insurance record¹. If you reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016, you will not be able to increase your State Pension using your spouse's or civil partner's record⁹. This is one of the biggest changes the new system made: under the old rules, some people could top up a small pension through a husband's, wife's or civil partner's contributions.

The old rules were themselves changing before 2016. From 6 April 2010, a married man's or civil partner's basic State Pension could be based partly or wholly on the National Insurance record of their wife or civil partner⁹. That route closed for anyone reaching State Pension age after the new system began.

In practice, this means each person in a couple needs their own qualifying years. A person who spent years out of paid work, whether caring or otherwise, and who reaches State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016, cannot rely on a partner's record to make up the shortfall. Credits such as Carer's Credit, and voluntary contributions, become the main ways to fill that kind of gap. The page on inheriting a partner's State Pension explains what can still pass to a surviving partner.

If you built up years under the old system: your starting amount and contracting out

People who worked before April 2016 but reach State Pension age after it have years under both systems. The law gives these people a starting amount, calculated when the new system began. The method has three steps: calculate the pension the person would have got under the old system, calculate one based on the new system, and take whichever rate is higher, called the foundation amount, then revalue it to the date the person reached pensionable age¹⁵.

The starting amount is reduced to reflect contracting out under the old system. If a person has 35 or more pre-commencement qualifying years, the rate is the full rate of the state pension on 6 April 2016, less any amount to reflect contracting out; with fewer than 35 such years, it is the appropriate proportion of the full rate, again less any contracting-out deduction¹⁵. Contracting out meant paying lower National Insurance in exchange for giving up the Additional State Pension, often through a workplace pension, and many people who were contracted out need more than 35 qualifying years in total to reach the full amount². Where a contracted-out pension includes a Guaranteed Minimum Pension, the rules on contracting out and the Guaranteed Minimum Pension explain how it is protected and increased¹⁶.

The old system's qualifying year requirements were different, and they still matter to people who remain on the basic State Pension:

The basic State Pension is based on the number of qualifying years achieved during your working life¹², and the page on the basic State Pension, SERPS and the Additional State Pension covers that system in detail.

Claiming your State Pension and when it is paid

You can claim the new State Pension when you reach State Pension age¹. Your State Pension age is worked out from your gender and date of birth¹⁸, and it is rising: someone born between 6 April 1977 and 5 April 1978 reaches it at a set date between age 67 and 68 depending on their exact date of birth². The page on what my State Pension age is has the full timetable.

You do not have to claim immediately, but the pension is normally paid from the date you claim, so delaying the claim itself, as opposed to deliberately deferring, can mean money you cannot recover. Related applications can start earlier: you can begin a Pension Credit application up to four months before you reach State Pension age¹⁹.

Once claimed, the State Pension is usually paid every four weeks²⁰. For the basic State Pension, the day of the week is fixed by the last two digits of your National Insurance number⁷:

Payments go directly into your account, and the how benefits and pensions are paid arrangements are the same as for other state benefits²⁰. If illness such as dementia makes managing money difficult, another person can be given authority to deal with your pension and other finances on your behalf, but the pension itself remains yours, based on your record²¹.

Deferring your State Pension: just under 5.8% more for each year you wait

You do not have to take your State Pension at State Pension age. If you delay claiming, the new State Pension increases by just under 5.8% for every 52 weeks you defer⁵. The increase is permanent: it is added to your weekly payment for life, not paid as a lump sum.

There is a minimum period. Your State Pension increases for every week you delay, but you need to defer for at least 9 weeks to get any increase at all⁵. Shorter gaps earn nothing extra.

The rules are different, and more generous, on the old system. The basic State Pension increases by 1 per cent for every 5 weeks deferred, which works out at just under 10.4 per cent for every 52 weeks¹¹. People on the old system also had the option of a lump sum in place of the higher weekly payment, which the new system does not offer.

Deferring is not right for everyone, and there are limits on it. You cannot build up extra State Pension by deferring if you get certain benefits, and deferring can also affect how much you can get in benefits⁵. Someone expecting means-tested benefits, or with a short life expectancy, may gain little or nothing from waiting. The page on deferring your State Pension works through the trade-offs, and a deferred pension can in some circumstances be inherited by a surviving partner²³.

Working, tax and benefits after State Pension age

Anyone can continue working past State Pension age, and there is no requirement to stop or to claim the pension²⁴. You can claim the State Pension while still working, as long as you have reached State Pension age²⁵. The two things are separate: working does not reduce your pension, and claiming does not force you to retire.

What changes is your National Insurance. You stop paying National Insurance once you reach State Pension age, with one exception: if you are self-employed and pay Class 4 contributions, those follow their own rules⁶. Your record also stops growing: working past State Pension age does not add qualifying years, because the record that sets your pension is complete by then⁵.

The State Pension is taxable income, but it is paid without tax deducted. HMRC works out your taxable State Pension using the amounts you were entitled to over the tax year, rather than the payments you actually received²⁶. For people who started receiving their State Pension on or after 6 April 2010, a full year is based on one week at the weekly rate before the April uprating plus 51 weeks at the rate after it²⁶. Whether you pay tax depends on your total income against your personal allowance, and the page on how pension income is taxed explains the mechanics. If you pay too much or too little tax by the end of the tax year on 5 April, HMRC sends a tax calculation letter, known as a P800, or a Simple Assessment letter²⁷.

Reaching State Pension age also opens some benefits and closes others. The Pension Credit qualifying age is linked to State Pension age and is currently 66, rising to 67 between April 2026 and March 2028²⁸. Pension Credit is a means-tested top-up that can be paid on top of a small State Pension, and it is worth checking even if you have some other income¹⁹. Winter Fuel Payment, and in Scotland the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, both require you to have reached State Pension age by the end of the qualifying week, which is the third full week of September⁹.

Where the protection and the help stop

The State Pension is a state benefit, so it carries none of the investment risk of a private pension: the amount is set by your record and the rates in law, not by markets. But the protections around it are specific, and it helps to know where they end.

Your entitlement stops at your record. Fewer than 10 qualifying years means no new State Pension at all, and no amount of later claiming changes that, though filling gaps with credits or voluntary contributions can¹. The deadlines are the weak point: Carer's Credit can only be backdated to the end of the tax year following the year of caring¹⁴, and the windows for paying voluntary contributions for past years change over time, so an old gap can become permanently unfillable¹³.

Deferring has its own limits: no increase for deferring less than 9 weeks, no build-up of extra pension while getting certain benefits, and a possible effect on means-tested benefits⁵. And the new system removed the partner's record as a safety net for anyone reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016⁹.

Free help is available. You can check your record and forecast at any time¹³, and MoneyHelper offers free guidance on benefits and credits, including for carers⁴. Pension Wise provides free guidance for people approaching retirement who want to understand how the State Pension fits with workplace and personal pensions². If you think a decision about your State Pension or credits was wrong, you can ask for it to be reconsidered and then take it to the Independent Case Examiner, and tax disputes go through HMRC's complaints and appeal process²⁷.