Your state pension

Your State Pension

When you reach State Pension age, the Government will provide you with your State Pension. The actual amount you receive is determined by various factors such as the National Insurance contributions that you made throughout your working life. If you have gaps in your contributions, it can be possible to fill in missing years.

Your State Pension age depends on when you were born. Please visit the gov.uk State Pension age calculator to check your State Pension age.

If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the maximum you can receive, also known as the full basic State Pension, is £156.20 per week (2023-24). Where you don't qualify for a full State Pension you can expect to receive part of the total amount (sometimes called a proportional amount). You can check how much you would qualify for here at www.gov.uk/check-state-pension .

Changes to the State Pension

The new flat rate State Pension replaced the basic State Pension and the Additional State Pension from 6 April 2016.

The new State Pension was introduced for individuals reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. The full amount of the new State Pension is currently £203.85 per week (2023-24). If you entered the National Insurance (NI) system on or after 6 April 2016 you will be required to have 35 qualifying years of contracted-in NI contributions or credits to get the full amount. If you don’t have the full 35 years, you will get a pro-rata amount provided you meet the new 10 year minimum qualifying period.

There are transitional provisions for those who have built up qualifying years or credits prior to 6 April 2016, to ensure that you will not receive a lower pension amount than you would have received under the previous system rules, so long as you meet the new 10 year minimum qualifying period.

The Government will also raise the State Pension age in the future. The current state pension age for men and women is 66. The state pension age is scheduled to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028 a future review will decide whether there will be a further rise to age 68 between 2037 and 2039.

And while it used to be possible for your State Pension to be passed on to your spouse after your death, this is no longer possible with the new flat rate State Pension.

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Tell me more about the new state pension +

If you have reached State Pension age on or after 6th April 2016, you will receive the new State Pension. You’ll usually need at least 10 qualifying years to receive the State Pension, and 35 years of National Insurance contributions overall to potentially receive the full amount, currently £203.85 per week.

A qualifying year is one that counts for State Pension entitlement. This is achieved where national insurance has been paid or credited against an individual's record. For further details see www.gov.uk/state-pension/eligibility.

The amount you ultimately receive will depend on a number of factors, including National Insurance contributions, and whether you have “contracted out” at any point in the past. You may also have to pay tax on your state pension.

Find out more about your eligibility.