Police Pension Scheme 2015 Explained — Contributions, Benefits and Take-Home Pay

The Police Pension Scheme 2015 (PPS 2015) is the Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme that replaced the old final-salary arrangements for most officers from April 2015. Understanding it properly can make a significant difference to your financial planning — both while serving and when approaching retirement. This guide covers the structure, contribution tiers, benefit formula, McCloud remedy, and a worked take-home example for a Year 7 Constable.

Overview: PPS 2015 Is a CARE Scheme

Unlike the older final-salary Police Pension Scheme 1987 (PPS 87) and the New Police Pension Scheme 2006 (NPPS 2006), the PPS 2015 is based on Career Average Revalued Earnings. This means:

• Each year of service, you build up a pension based on 1/55.5th of your pensionable pay that year
• That slice of pension is revalued annually by CPI + 1.25% until you retire
• There is no "final salary" link — a lower-paid officer who ends on a high salary gets no boost to earlier years' accrual

Accrual rate comparison:

The PPS 2015 accrual rate of 1/55.5 is the most generous of the three on a per-year basis, but the Normal Pension Age (NPA) of 60 — compared with 55 in older schemes — is a significant offset for those who want to retire earlier.

Employee Contribution Tiers 2026/27

Employee contributions are banded by actual pensionable pay (not notional full-time pay for part-timers, unlike some other schemes).

Employer contribution: Approximately 31.0% of pensionable pay (exact figure subject to actuarial review; it was 31.0% from April 2024 and is expected to hold for 2026/27).

This means for every £1 you put in, your employer adds roughly £2.38. Opting out of the pension to take home more cash means forfeiting this enormous employer subsidy — a decision that deserves very careful analysis (more on this below).

How Benefits Accrue: Worked Calculation

Each year, your pension built up that year equals:

Annual Pension Earned (Year N) = Pensionable Pay (Year N) ÷ 55.5

That slice is then revalued by CPI + 1.25% each year until retirement or leaving.

Example — Constable with 10 years' service at varying pay:

(Figures illustrative; revaluation not applied for simplicity)

At 30 years' service on typical Constable pay, you could expect an annual pension in the range of £16,000–£20,000, paid from age 60 (or earlier with actuarial reduction).

Normal Pension Age and Early Access

The Normal Pension Age for PPS 2015 is 60. Officers can take their pension early, subject to actuarial reduction.

Actuarial reduction rates (approximate):

An officer wishing to retire at 55 (five years early) would face a roughly 23% permanent reduction to their pension, applied for life. There is no minimum service requirement to take the pension early — the reduction applies regardless.

Officers who joined under PPS 87 or NPPS 2006 and were moved to PPS 2015 may have a Protected Pension Age lower than 60 for benefits built up under the old scheme — this is distinct from the PPS 2015 NPA.

Death in Service and Ill-Health Benefits

Death in Service (Lump Sum)

PPS 2015 provides a death in service lump sum of 3.75 times pensionable pay if an officer dies while in service (regardless of how many years served). This is paid tax-free and does not require expression of wishes to be binding, though HMRC requires a nomination to direct payment to the right person.

A dependant's pension (typically 37.5% of the accrued pension if the officer had at least two years' qualifying service) is also payable.

Ill-Health Retirement

There are two tiers:

• Tier 1 (lower tier): Officer is permanently incapable of the ordinary duties of a police officer. Pension paid immediately without actuarial reduction; the pension is enhanced up to half the potential future service remaining.
• Tier 2 (upper tier): Officer is permanently incapable of any regular employment. Significantly enhanced pension, typically at two-thirds of a full career's accrual.

Tier 1 awards can be reviewed; Tier 2 awards are generally considered permanent once granted.

Integration With the State Pension

One important distinction: PPS 2015 officers are contracted in to the Additional State Pension (which no longer accrues, having been replaced by the new State Pension in 2016). This means officers in PPS 2015 receive the full new State Pension in addition to their police pension — unlike some older private sector arrangements that "contracted out."

The full new State Pension for 2026/27 is approximately £11,973 per year (rising to ~£12,548 with the 2026 triple lock). This stacks on top of the police pension from age 67.

The McCloud Remedy

The McCloud judgment found that transitional protections given to older officers when PPS 2015 was introduced constituted age discrimination. The remedy — implemented by the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 and a subsequent remedial order for police — gives affected officers a deferred choice at retirement.

Who is affected: Officers who were members of PPS 87 or NPPS 2006 on 31 March 2012 and were moved to PPS 2015 at some point between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 (the "remedy period").

What it means in practice:

• At the point of drawing your pension (or on leaving service), you choose whether the "remedy period" service (1 April 2015–31 March 2022) is calculated under your legacy scheme (PPS 87 or NPPS 2006) rules or PPS 2015 rules
• You choose whichever is higher — this is known as the "better of" choice
• Service before 1 April 2015 and after 31 March 2022 is unaffected

For many Constables in the mid-career bracket, PPS 87 final salary rules for remedy period service will produce a higher pension because pay typically peaks later in careers. Higher-rank officers who see significant late-career pay rises benefit most from the legacy scheme option for the remedy period.

Comparison: PPS 87 vs NPPS 2006 vs PPS 2015

Lump sums: PPS 87 officers received an automatic tax-free lump sum of 4× their pension. PPS 2015 does not provide an automatic lump sum, but officers can commute pension for a lump sum at retirement (currently at a commutation factor of approximately 19:1 — i.e., £19 lump sum per £1 of annual pension given up).

Worked Example: Constable Year 7, Monthly Take-Home Pay

Scenario: A Year 7 Constable in England, salary £43,032, single, no student loan, standard tax code 1257L.

(Income Tax calculated as: (£43,032 − £12,570) × 20% = £6,092; NI as 8% on £30,462 = £2,437; employer pension £43,032 × 31% = £13,340 — not visible in take-home but represents significant total package value)

Total employment package value:

• Gross salary: £43,032
• Employer pension contribution: £13,340
• Total package value: £56,372

The £13,340 employer pension contribution is equivalent to an immediate 31% return on the employee contribution — an extraordinary benefit that cannot be replicated outside defined-benefit public sector schemes.

Use our police take-home pay calculator to model your specific pay point, allowances, and overtime.

Should You Opt Out?

Opting out of PPS 2015 is an irreversible decision with major long-term consequences. The numbers consistently favour remaining in:

If a Year 7 Constable opts out:

• Take-home pay rises by approximately £466/month (saving the employee contribution)
• But the officer loses the employer's £13,340 annual contribution
• After 20 years' service, the lost employer contributions alone (before investment returns) would be £266,800

The only scenarios where opting out might make financial sense are: severe immediate financial hardship, or a medical condition that significantly shortens expected lifespan. For virtually all other officers, staying in the scheme is the dominant financial choice.

Key Takeaways

• PPS 2015 is a CARE scheme accruing 1/55.5th of pay per year, revalued at CPI + 1.25%
• Employee contributions run from 12.0% to 13.5%; employer contributes ~31%
• Normal Pension Age is 60; early access incurs permanent actuarial reduction (~5% per year early)
• Death in service pays 3.75× salary; two-tier ill-health provisions offer significant protection
• McCloud remedy gives officers who moved from legacy schemes a "better of" choice for 2015–2022 service
• Opting out sacrifices ~31% employer top-up — almost never financially rational

Model your own figures with our police take-home pay calculator and pension calculator.