NHS Pension Forms A and B for sessional GPs: a 2026 step by step guide

If you do any sessional GP work that you want pensioned in the NHS Pension Scheme, the two forms that move the money from a session you delivered into the 2015 CARE pot are Form A (GP Locum A) and Form B (GP Locum B). Get them right and the contributions land cleanly. Get them wrong and the work simply does not pension.

A lot of bad copy circulates on these two forms (some of it on this site, before this rewrite). Here is the mechanic, verified against the current NHS Pensions Regulations and PCSE guidance.

Quick anchors

• Form A is completed by you, the locum, and signed by the practice (or by the body that engaged you for non-practice work, e.g. a CCG or NHS England for appraisal work).
• Form B is your monthly summary of every Form A you logged in the month, generated and submitted through PCSE Online. It is what NHS Pensions matches contributions against.
• There is a single deadline that matters: 10 weeks from the end of the month in which the work was performed. Late forms are rejected and the period cannot be pensioned.
• The reference on the forms is your SD number / NHS Pensions reference, not your patient-facing NHS number.

Form A: who does what

The flow:

1. You complete Form A for each pensionable session or block of sessions with that practice. The form records the date, hours, fee, your details, and your SD reference.
2. The practice (or other engaging body) signs as authorised signatory to confirm you delivered the session and that the fee is agreed.
3. You keep a signed copy and submit through PCSE Online when you submit your Form B for the month.

Practices do not generate Form A. They sign yours. If a practice manager tells you they are filling it out, they are not. They are countersigning.

For appraisal sessions (where NHS England engages you, not a practice), NHS England is the authorised signatory. The form is otherwise identical.

Form B: your monthly summary

Form B is the locum's responsibility and is a single per-month return that lists every Form A for the month plus the contribution figures. It is also the document that triggers the contribution payment to PCSE.

What goes on Form B:

• Each Form A reference for the month
• Total pensionable pay
• Member contribution at your tier rate
• Employer contribution at 23.7% (England and Wales) or 22.5% (Scotland and Northern Ireland)
• Your bank reference and payment details

Form B is submitted to PCSE Online. PCSE then forwards the contributions to NHS Pensions and credits the accrual to your record.

Pensionable pay: the 90% rule

For freelance locum GPs, pensionable pay is 90% of your gross fee. The 10% deduction is in lieu of expenses and has been the rule since the 2014 amendments to the GP pension regulations. It is not negotiable and you cannot opt out of it.

So if you charge a practice £500 for a session, your pensionable pay for that session is £450. The 10% is not lost; it just is not pensioned.

This 90% rule applies to standard locum work. Salaried GP roles, partner profits, and OOH work follow different rules.

Contribution rates for 2026/27

The 2026/27 scheme year runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. The bands for 2026/27 are:

The rate is applied to your annual pensionable pay across all NHS practitioner work. As a locum that means total pensionable pay across every Form B for the year.

The employer rate is 23.7% in England and Wales (22.5% in Scotland and Northern Ireland). You collect both halves and pay them through PCSE.

Worked example. £500 session as a freelance locum, currently in the 9.8% tier:

• Pensionable pay: £500 x 90% = £450
• Member contribution: £450 x 9.8% = £44.10
• Employer contribution: £450 x 23.7% = £106.65
• Total to PCSE: £150.75

You collect both contributions and pay them in the Form B return for that month. The employer contribution is built into your fee calculation; this is why locum rates carry that overhead.

The 10-week rule

The single hard deadline that matters is governed by NHS Pensions Regulations: a period of pensionable locum work that ended more than 10 weeks ago cannot be pensioned.

The clock starts at the end of the month in which the session was performed. So:

• Session worked: 12 March 2026
• Session period ends: 31 March 2026
• 10-week deadline: 9 June 2026

If your Form A and Form B for that session are not submitted by 9 June 2026, the contributions cannot be processed and the period cannot be pensioned. Late submissions are rejected outright.

This is the most common reason locum GPs lose accrual. It is also the easiest to avoid: get into a monthly rhythm.

A clean cadence:

• Each session, raise the invoice and the Form A together.
• At end of month, run Form B for everything in that month.
• Submit Form B and the corresponding Form As through PCSE Online in the first week of the next month.

That gets you home with seven weeks to spare. If a practice is slow to sign, chase early; you cannot pension a session without their signatory.

Reference numbers and identifiers

This is where another common copy error creeps in. The reference on Form A and Form B is not your patient-facing NHS number.

The references that actually go on the forms:

• SD number / NHS Pensions reference: this is your unique identifier in the NHS Pension Scheme. You can find it on your pension annual statement or by logging into PCSE Online. New members can request it from NHS Pensions directly.
• GMC number: yours, the doctor delivering the session.
• Practice ODS code: the engaging practice's code. Practices know theirs.

If your SD number is missing or wrong on Form B, the contributions do not match against your record and the accrual is delayed or lost. Get it right at first submission.

OOH work and SOLO forms

Out of hours work is different. OOH providers operate as the engaging body and the contribution flow runs through them, not through PCSE Form B.

• The OOH provider generates a GP SOLO form for each member doing pensionable work in the period.
• The provider collects the member contribution from your fee and forwards both halves directly to NHS Pensions.
• You do not need to add OOH sessions to your Form B; they are pensioned on the SOLO route.

You cannot opt out of pensioning OOH work if you are an active member of the scheme. It is an NHS practitioner activity and is automatically pensionable.

Common mistakes that cost accrual

Five things that catch locum GPs most often:

1. Submitting late. The 10-week rule is unforgiving. There is no late-submission grace period.
2. Wrong tier rate. Members can self-tier on Form B based on expected annual pensionable pay. If you under-tier and reconcile higher at year end, the difference is owed.
3. Wrong reference number. SD number not NHS number; your GMC number not a colleague's.
4. Missing practice signatory. Form A without a practice or NHS England signature is not valid.
5. Forgetting OOH SOLO. OOH should not appear on Form B; if it does, the OOH provider's SOLO submission can clash and create a duplicate that has to be unwound.

Sources

• PCSE: GP pensions, Form A and Form B
• PCSE: Pensions for sessional GPs
• BMA: NHS pension scheme as a sessional GP
• NHSBSA: NHS Pension Scheme employer contribution rates 2026/27
• NHSBSA: GP and Practitioner pensions
• NHS Employers: NHS Pension Scheme member contributions
• SPPA: NHS Scotland member contributions