UK Police Officer Salary 2025 - 2026
What are the latest annual salaries for police officers across the UK in 2025? What was the pay award for 2026? This page provides the answers in one place, with how much officers earn as they progress through the ranks. This covers all forces across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the tables below also including the Metropolitan Police London weightings. See my latest police salary blog for how this has changed over time for England and Wales forces!
Police officers generally seek promotion to leave a larger legacy, develop their career and have greater impact through leadership. However, the additional income helps, while with great responsibility comes a greater reward package. This page may be useful for those wanting promotion to Sergeant, Inspector and Chief Inspector (aka Federated ranks) to get a feel for the difference in remuneration. It can be an additional motivator and shows that investment in your CPD to succeed will be worth every penny! Here I've collated all UK officer salaries in one place for the reader's convenience.
Investing in your future: When considering the return on your investment, Rank Success masterclasses, downloadable guides and coaching offers tremendous value for money. See a comparison below of raw average salary alone. Note that the following information doesn't take account of factors like the additional police pension, overtime or other benefits received at higher ranks. Graphs depict basic salary range and percentage increase in average through the Federated ranks.
You might also find this handy Excel money manager helpful to keeping on top of your finances in these difficult times.
Police officers generally seek promotion to leave a larger legacy, develop their career and have greater impact through leadership. However, the additional income helps, while with great responsibility comes a greater reward package. This page may be useful for those wanting promotion to Sergeant, Inspector and Chief Inspector (aka Federated ranks) to get a feel for the difference in remuneration. It can be an additional motivator and shows that investment in your CPD to succeed will be worth every penny! Here I've collated all UK officer salaries in one place for the reader's convenience.
Investing in your future: When considering the return on your investment, Rank Success masterclasses, downloadable guides and coaching offers tremendous value for money. See a comparison below of raw average salary alone. Note that the following information doesn't take account of factors like the additional police pension, overtime or other benefits received at higher ranks. Graphs depict basic salary range and percentage increase in average through the Federated ranks.
You might also find this handy Excel money manager helpful to keeping on top of your finances in these difficult times.
PC to SGT: £15,000 / year
SGT to INS: £10,000 / year
INS to C.INS: £5,000 / year
SGT to INS: £10,000 / year
INS to C.INS: £5,000 / year
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England & Wales Police Officer Salaries 2025-2026
Latest England & Wales officer salary info is effective from 1 September 2025, following the 4.2% increase to all police pay scales for 2026. This follows 4.75% for 2024-25, 7% for 2023-24 salaries, an average 5% increase for officers for 2022, 0% in 2021, and 2.5% in both 2020 and 2019. See my pay blogs for more info on these trends vs. inflation and more.
Officers within the Metropolitan Police and City of London receive an additional £8.4k for the 'London Weighting' and 'London Allowance'. That's in addition to the bespoke London (L) salaries shown for the Inspecting ranks in the table below. There's a £3000 bolt-on allowance for officers in Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, and Thames Valley Police. Officers within Bedfordshire, Hampshire, and Sussex attract a £2,000 allowance on top of the below salaries. Dog Handlers get an extra £2.9k allowance for the first dog, then £1.5k for any additional dogs. The 'On-Call Allowance' is now £35 per day. So a PC Dog Handler in London with seven years experience and one dog will be on a basic salary (aside from overtime for example) totalling nearly £60k per year.
Generally, officers progress to the next PP upon each year of service, for example it takes 6 years for Constables to reach the top of the band at £50k. The other ranks are shorter and quicker to progress through. As shown in the graph below, the UK average salary in 2025 is just over £35k, which officers currently exceed when reaching 3 years' service. In the table, 'PP(L)' means 'Pay Point (London)'.
Officers within the Metropolitan Police and City of London receive an additional £8.4k for the 'London Weighting' and 'London Allowance'. That's in addition to the bespoke London (L) salaries shown for the Inspecting ranks in the table below. There's a £3000 bolt-on allowance for officers in Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, and Thames Valley Police. Officers within Bedfordshire, Hampshire, and Sussex attract a £2,000 allowance on top of the below salaries. Dog Handlers get an extra £2.9k allowance for the first dog, then £1.5k for any additional dogs. The 'On-Call Allowance' is now £35 per day. So a PC Dog Handler in London with seven years experience and one dog will be on a basic salary (aside from overtime for example) totalling nearly £60k per year.
Generally, officers progress to the next PP upon each year of service, for example it takes 6 years for Constables to reach the top of the band at £50k. The other ranks are shorter and quicker to progress through. As shown in the graph below, the UK average salary in 2025 is just over £35k, which officers currently exceed when reaching 3 years' service. In the table, 'PP(L)' means 'Pay Point (London)'.
POLICE CONSTABLE |
SERGEANT |
INSPECTOR |
CHIEF INSPECTOR |
PP0 - Removed |
PP1 - Removed |
PP0 - £63,768 |
PP1 - £70,344 |
PP1 - £31,164 |
PP2 - £53,568 |
PP1 - £65,505 |
PP2 - £71,715 |
PP2 - £32,472 |
PP3 - £54,660 |
PP2 - £67,236 |
PP3 - £73,148 |
PP3 - £33,789 |
PP4 - £56,208 |
PP3 - £68,982 |
- |
PP4 - £35,106 |
- |
PP(L)0 - £66,462 |
PP(L)1 - £73,062 |
PP5 - £37,737 |
- |
PP(L)1 - £68,202 |
PP(L)2 - £74,427 |
PP6 - £43,038 |
- |
PP(L)2 - £69,954 |
PP(L)3 - £75,855 |
PP7 - £50,256 |
- |
PP(L)3 - £71,697 |
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Police Scotland Officer Salaries 2025
Police Scotland officers now start at £31k and match the national average salary within a year. The latest Police Scotland officer salaries were settled in February 2025, with a 4.75% increase backdated to April 2024. This followed a 7% increase to the 2023/24 scales and 5% for 2022/23. Negotiations for 2026 are being finalised and will be around the 4% mark.
This 4.75% increase is of course in addition to the usual 3%-5% or so increase officers experience each year, as they progress through the Pay Points (PP) within each rank, until reaching the top of the band. Read more about Police Scotland salaries, including Chief Officer pay.
Officers in Scotland are immediately better off than other forces, and exceed the UK average salary within just 2 years of service. Conversely, it takes longer to reach the top of the officer pay scale at the Constable rank. Sergeants are now comfortably beyond the higher 42% tax bracket, and Chief Inspectors peak at nearly £75k after four years. The Chief Constable is now on £261k. For all ranks in between, see my latest Scotland police pay blog linked above.
This 4.75% increase is of course in addition to the usual 3%-5% or so increase officers experience each year, as they progress through the Pay Points (PP) within each rank, until reaching the top of the band. Read more about Police Scotland salaries, including Chief Officer pay.
Officers in Scotland are immediately better off than other forces, and exceed the UK average salary within just 2 years of service. Conversely, it takes longer to reach the top of the officer pay scale at the Constable rank. Sergeants are now comfortably beyond the higher 42% tax bracket, and Chief Inspectors peak at nearly £75k after four years. The Chief Constable is now on £261k. For all ranks in between, see my latest Scotland police pay blog linked above.
POLICE CONSTABLE |
SERGEANT |
INSPECTOR |
CHIEF INSPECTOR |
PP0 - £31,466 |
PP1 - Removed |
PP1 - £62,461 |
PP1 - £70,415 |
PP1 - £34,237 |
PP2 - £52,247 |
PP2 - £64,198 |
PP2 - £71,852 |
PP2 - £37,008 |
PP3 - £53,341 |
PP3 - £65,939 |
PP3 - £73,791 |
PP3 - £39,219 |
PP4 - £54,891 |
PP4 - £67,679 |
PP4 - £74,952 |
PP4 - £40,427 |
PP5 - £56,481 |
PP5 - £69,274 |
- |
PP5 - £41,705 |
- |
- |
- |
PP6 - £42,870 |
- |
- |
- |
PP7 - £43,904 |
- |
- |
- |
PP8 - £45,292 |
- |
- |
- |
PP9 - £47,978 |
- |
- |
- |
PP10 - £48,932 |
- |
- |
- |
PP11 - £50,528 |
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Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) Officer Salaries 2025
PSNI salaries follow closely the salary of their England and Wales counterparts and mirrors increases there over recent years. The 4.75% increase for 2024/25 has been applied here too (after some delay).
Generally, officers progress to the next Pay Point (PP) upon each year of service. But for the first two probationary years, PSNI state that officers stay at PP1 (source). Note that the basic salary information excludes the supplementary allowances given to all officers on top of basic. For example, the Competency Related Threshold Payments (CRTP) of £1.2k is paid to officers the year after reaching top PP, while the PSNI 'Transitional Allowance' of £4.1k is paid throughout. That means you can in practical terms add £4.1k to all the below figures, then another £1.2k for those at the top pay point (PP).
For longer-term context, both 2019 and 2020 pay reviews resulted in a 2.5% pay increase across all Federated officer PPs, with the latter also increasing the initial salary of Sergeants for newly promoted officers. There was no increase in 2021, 5% in 2022 and 7% for the 2023-24 pay year. Below shows the situation now with the 4.75% applied for 2024/25. The core salary structure is similar to England & Wales forces, with the biggest jump coming for those making their first move into a formal police leadership position. In the longer term, policing as a career clearly compares favourably to average wages in Northern Ireland; especially for promotion.
Generally, officers progress to the next Pay Point (PP) upon each year of service. But for the first two probationary years, PSNI state that officers stay at PP1 (source). Note that the basic salary information excludes the supplementary allowances given to all officers on top of basic. For example, the Competency Related Threshold Payments (CRTP) of £1.2k is paid to officers the year after reaching top PP, while the PSNI 'Transitional Allowance' of £4.1k is paid throughout. That means you can in practical terms add £4.1k to all the below figures, then another £1.2k for those at the top pay point (PP).
For longer-term context, both 2019 and 2020 pay reviews resulted in a 2.5% pay increase across all Federated officer PPs, with the latter also increasing the initial salary of Sergeants for newly promoted officers. There was no increase in 2021, 5% in 2022 and 7% for the 2023-24 pay year. Below shows the situation now with the 4.75% applied for 2024/25. The core salary structure is similar to England & Wales forces, with the biggest jump coming for those making their first move into a formal police leadership position. In the longer term, policing as a career clearly compares favourably to average wages in Northern Ireland; especially for promotion.
POLICE CONSTABLE |
SERGEANT |
INSPECTOR |
CHIEF INSPECTOR |
PP1 - £29,907 |
PP1 - Removed |
PP0 - £61,197 |
PP1 - £67,509 |
PP2 - £31,164 |
PP2 - £51,408 |
PP1 - £62,865 |
PP2 - £68,823 |
PP3 - £32,427 |
PP3 - £52,458 |
PP2 - £64,527 |
PP3 - £70,200 |
PP4 - £33,690 |
PP4 - £53,943 |
PP3 - £66,201 |
- |
PP5 - £36,216 |
- |
- |
- |
PP6 - £41,304 |
- |
- |
- |
PP7 - £48,231 |
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