Full constable pay scale, every pay point, including London and South East allowances. Independent reference.
Unofficial independent resource — always verify with official sources (College of Policing, your force, PFEW).
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A police constable in England and Wales earns £31,164 on appointment nationally and progresses annually to a top-of-scale of £50,256, typically over seven years of continuous satisfactory service. Officers serving the Metropolitan Police or City of London Police also get a guaranteed London Weighting (£3,150) — taking starting pay to £34,314 — plus a discretionary London Allowance of up to £6,588, so up to about £40,902 in total; some South-East forces add a regional allowance of up to £3,000. On top of base pay, constables can earn the unsocial-hours allowance (10% for 8pm–6am hours), specialist-role allowances (AFO, dog handler, detective) and overtime. Pay is set by the Home Secretary each year following the independent Police Remuneration Review Body recommendation.
A police constable in England and Wales starts on £31,164 nationally in 2025/26 and reaches top of scale at £50,256. For a Met or City of London officer, the guaranteed London Weighting takes top of scale to £53,406, rising to up to £59,994 with the full discretionary London Allowance. Pay is set annually by the Home Secretary following a recommendation from the independent Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB).
Whether you join via PCDA, DHEP or a Pre-Join Degree route, you enter at the appointment pay point and progress annually through the published points until top of scale, subject to satisfactory performance under the Police Regulations 2003. Scotland and Northern Ireland operate similar structures but with different ranges — those officers should refer to Police Scotland and PSNI sources directly.
| Pay point | Base (national) | London | South East |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay point 1 (starting) | £31,164 | £34,314–£40,902 | £31,164–£34,164 |
| Pay point 2 | £32,472 | £35,622–£42,210 | £32,472–£35,472 |
| Pay point 3 | £33,789 | £36,939–£43,527 | £33,789–£36,789 |
| Pay point 4 | £35,106 | £38,256–£44,844 | £35,106–£38,106 |
| Pay point 5 | £37,737 | £40,887–£47,475 | £37,737–£40,737 |
| Pay point 6 | £43,038 | £46,188–£52,776 | £43,038–£46,038 |
| Pay point 7 (top of scale) | £50,256 | £53,406–£59,994 | £50,256–£53,256 |
2025/26 scale, +4.2% (2025 PRRB award). The London column shows the range from the guaranteed floor (national base + the pensionable London Weighting of £3,150) up to the maximum once a discretionary London Allowance of up to £6,588 is paid. South East shows the base up to base + £3,000, where a force pays that discretionary allowance. Verify against your force HR before relying on figures for financial decisions.
The +3.5% 2026/27 pay award took effect on 1 September 2026, but the Home Office has not yet published the official per-point pay figures. The scale shown is the last official determination (2025/26); we will update it when the 2026/27 figures are published.
Underlying figures derived from the Police Remuneration Review Body award (4.2% from 2025-09-01). Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0.
Progression along the constable scale is annual and depends on satisfactory performance. There is no separate written exam for moving from pay point 1 to pay point 6 — the steps are time-and-performance based, recorded through the force's PDR (Performance Development Review) process. Movement between forces does not always preserve the same pay point; transferring officers should confirm with the receiving force.
Constables in active service contribute to the Police Pension Scheme 2015 (CARE) unless they are on transitional protected service from the legacy 1987 or 2006 schemes — and the McCloud remedy has further reshaped how historic service is treated. Pension is not financial advice; see our pensions hub and speak to the scheme administrator and a regulated financial adviser before any pension decision.
BlueLineHub is independent and unofficial. Pay figures are best-effort summaries of the publicly published Police Regulations and PFEW pay tables. Always verify against your latest force HR / pay slip before relying on these for financial decisions. Pay & Pensions Hub · All forces · Looking for promotion? Promotion Hub
BlueLineHub is independent and unofficial. Always verify with the authoritative source below.
PFEW Pay Scales 2025–2026
Authoritative live pay-scale tables maintained by the Police Federation.
Police Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/527)
Statutory framework governing officer pay determinations.
Home Office annual pay determination
Annual determination from the Home Secretary in response to the PRRB recommendation.
Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB)
Independent body that recommends annual pay awards.