Question 1

How much state pension will I get?

Accepted Answer

Your state pension depends on your National Insurance qualifying years. For 2025/26, the full new state pension is £11,502 per year (£221.20 per week) and requires 35 qualifying years. If you have between 10 and 35 years, your pension is proportional — each qualifying year is worth approximately £329 per year. If you have fewer than 10 qualifying years, you will not receive any new state pension.

Question 2

How many NI years do I need for the full state pension?

Accepted Answer

You need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits to receive the full new state pension of £11,502 per year (2025/26). You need a minimum of 10 qualifying years to receive any new state pension at all. You can check your NI record and qualifying years on the gov.uk website.

Question 3

Can I top up my state pension?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If you have gaps in your National Insurance record, you can fill them by paying voluntary Class 3 contributions. For 2025/26, this costs £907.40 per missing year. Each year you buy adds approximately £329 per year to your state pension for life — a payback period of under three years. There are time limits on how far back you can buy, so check with HMRC or use the gov.uk state pension forecast to see which years you can fill.

Question 4

What if I was contracted out?

Accepted Answer

If your employer's pension scheme was contracted out of the additional state pension (SERPS or S2P) before April 2016, a deduction is applied to your new state pension. This reflects the additional pension you were building up in your workplace scheme instead. The deduction varies by individual — typically £20 to £50 or more per week — and can only be calculated by HMRC using your personal records. Use the gov.uk state pension forecast tool for your exact figure.

How much state pension will you actually get?