Sergeant pay points, allowances, acting and temporary promotion arrangements. Independent reference.
Unofficial independent resource — always verify with official sources (College of Policing, your force, PFEW).
A UK police sergeant in England and Wales earns £53,568 on promotion nationally and progresses annually to a top-of-scale of £56,208, typically over four years. Met and City of London officers also get a guaranteed London Weighting of £3,150plus a discretionary London Allowance of up to £6,588; some South-East forces add a regional allowance of up to £3,000. Acting sergeants performing sergeant duties without substantive promotion are entitled to temporary salary at the on-promotion rate. Sergeants accrue overtime under the Police Regulations 2003 at time-and-a-half and double-time bands. Pay is set annually by the Home Secretary following the independent PRRB recommendation.
A police sergeant on promotion in England and Wales starts on £53,568 nationally in 2025/26 and reaches top of scale at £56,208. For a Met or City of London officer, the guaranteed London Weighting takes top of scale to £59,358, rising to up to £65,946 with the full discretionary London Allowance.
Promotion to sergeant follows successful completion of the National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF) — Step 2 legal knowledge exam, Step 3 work-based assessment, and a force-led promotion board. Once substantively promoted, an officer enters at the on-promotion point and progresses annually through four pay points to top of scale.
| Pay point | Base (national) | London | South East |
|---|---|---|---|
| On promotion | £53,568 | £56,718–£63,306 | £53,568–£56,568 |
| Pay point 1 | £54,660 | £57,810–£64,398 | £54,660–£57,660 |
| Top of scale | £56,208 | £59,358–£65,946 | £56,208–£59,208 |
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.
Acting up is a short-term arrangement — a constable carries out sergeant duties without being promoted. Pay is usually an acting-up allowance set by force policy, not the sergeant pay scale. Acting is normally time-limited (e.g. 6 weeks) and arranged locally.
Temporary promotion is a substantive temporary appointment to sergeant. The officer is placed on the sergeant scale for the duration. Temporary promotion is appropriate where the post is funded but the substantive promotion process is still ongoing.
Either way, the force's published acting and temporary promotion policy is authoritative — speak to your line manager and Federation rep if you are uncertain how a particular role is being treated for pay purposes.
From substantive sergeant, the next step is inspector promotion via NPPF Step 2 (inspector legal knowledge exam) and Step 3 work-based assessment, followed by a board. See our inspector exam guide and inspector pay page.
BlueLineHub is independent and unofficial. Always verify with the authoritative source below.
PFEW Sergeant Pay Scales
Authoritative live pay-scale table for sergeants.
Police Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/527)
Statutory framework for officer pay.
Home Office annual pay determination
Home Secretary's annual determination implementing the PRRB recommendation.
Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB)
Independent body that recommends annual pay awards.
BlueLineHub is independent and unofficial. Always verify against your latest force HR / pay slip before relying on these for financial decisions. Pay scales are the published Police Regulations determinations; allowances vary by force and role. Pay & Pensions Hub