Rates by age and apprentices
Minimum wage at 18: the 18 to 20 rate and your take-home pay
The age is set to 18: enter your weekly hours to see the minimum per week, month and year at the rates of the year you choose.
Minimum wage per week, month and year
Legal minimum per hour
£10.85
| Rate that applies | National Minimum Wage (18 to 20) |
| Per week | £406.88 |
| Per month | £1,763.13 |
| Per year (52 weeks) | £21,157.50 |
From the first pay reference period that starts on or after the 18th birthday, a worker is owed the 18 to 20 rate: £10.85 an hour from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, up 8.5% on the £10.00 of April 2025, the largest rise of any band that year. A full-time week of 37.5 hours comes to £406.88 gross, or £21,157.50 over 52 weeks. After Income Tax and National Insurance, with a standard tax code in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, about £1,562.75 a month is left. On 28 October 2026 the government announced £11.27 from 1 April 2027, a rise of 3.9% still to be set in regulations. The band has existed throughout: it paid £6.15 in April 2019. The government's stated aim is to extend the National Living Wage to everyone from 18, but no law or date has been set, and for April 2027 the Low Pay Commission paused the narrowing of the gap.
Take-home pay at the minimum wage
Take-home per month
£1,562.75
| Gross per year | £21,157.50 |
| Income Tax | £1,717.50 |
| National Insurance | £687 |
| Take-home per week | £360.63 |
Tax year 2026 to 2027, tax code 1257L, no pension, student loan or other income.
Rates and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
The 18 to 20 band since 2019
The 18 to 20 rate has always sat below the top rate. What has changed is the distance: the share of the top rate paid to an 18 year old drifted down until 2023, then climbed fast from April 2024.
| From April | 18 to 20 rate | National Living Wage | 18 to 20 as a share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | £6.15 | £8.21 | 74.9% |
| 2020 | £6.45 | £8.72 | 74.0% |
| 2021 | £6.56 | £8.91 | 73.6% |
| 2022 | £6.83 | £9.50 | 71.9% |
| 2023 | £7.49 | £10.42 | 71.9% |
| 2024 | £8.60 | £11.44 | 75.2% |
| 2025 | £10.00 | £12.21 | 81.9% |
| 2026 | £10.85 | £12.71 | 85.4% |
| 2027 (announced) | £11.27 | £13.21 | 85.3% |
In April 2019 an 18 year old was owed 74.9% of the top rate; by April 2026 the figure was 85.4%. The 8.5% rise of April 2026, set by SI 2026/357, followed larger rises in April 2024 and April 2025, which together closed much of the gap. The rates announced for April 2027 rise by the same 3.9% in every band, so the share stays almost where it is.
From gross pay to take-home at 18
The minimum wage is a gross figure. What reaches the bank account depends on Income Tax and employee National Insurance, both worked out with the 2026 to 2027 thresholds: no tax on the first £12,570 of the year, and National Insurance at 8% above the same amount.
| Hours a week | Gross a year | Income Tax | National Insurance | Left each month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | £9,027.20 | £0 | £0 | £752.27 |
| 20 | £11,284 | £0 | £0 | £940.33 |
| 30 | £16,926 | £871.20 | £348.48 | £1,308.86 |
| 37.5 | £21,157.50 | £1,717.50 | £687 | £1,562.75 |
| 40 | £22,568 | £1,999.60 | £799.84 | £1,647.38 |
An 18 year old on 16 hours a week earns less than the personal allowance over a year, so nothing is deducted. Above about 22 hours a week, both Income Tax and National Insurance start to apply. Pension contributions, if the worker is enrolled in a scheme, come off on top. The after tax page compares every age band and the Scottish bands.
Your rise on 1 April 2027
More per week from 1 April 2027
£15.75
| Today | £10.85 an hour |
| From 1 April 2027 | £11.27 an hour |
| Rise | 3.9% |
| More per year | £819 |
Same age and apprenticeship on both dates. A birthday before April moves you into the next band sooner.
One adult rate from 18: where it stands
The remit given to the Low Pay Commission on 16 March 2026 kept two aims: holding the National Living Wage at two thirds of median hourly earnings, and lowering the age at which it applies to 18. The second aim has no deadline. In its recommendations for April 2027, dated 23 October 2026, the commission held off narrowing the gap further, weighing a weak jobs market, with vacancies at their lowest outside the pandemic since 2014, against the cost of living. The page on the age 18 plan follows the next steps.
Who is on the 18 to 20 rate, and who is not
Every worker aged 18, 19 or 20 who is not on the apprentice rate. Apprentices are the main exception: under 19, they are owed £8.00 for the whole apprenticeship, as HMRC's eligibility guidance sets out. Calling someone an apprentice is not enough, though. A worker without a real apprenticeship agreement or contract of apprenticeship is owed the rate for their age.
The rate also matters to employers in a way that does not touch the worker's pay: no employer National Insurance is due on the earnings of a worker under 21 up to £50,270 a year. At 21 the National Living Wage of £12.71 takes over, a step covered on the page for 20 year olds.