National Insurance

How much National Insurance do I need to pay to get a state pension?

Individuals who reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2016 will be eligible for the ‘new’ state pension. You can find out more about the new state pension on GOV.UK. You will need 35 qualifying years’ worth of contributions to get the full amount (you should be able to get a pro-rata amount provided you have at least 10 qualifying years).

A ‘qualifying year’ sounds as though you might need to have 52 weeks of working for it to count. In fact, for Class 1 NICs (those payable by employees), any tax year where you receive a minimum amount of earnings or credits (which you receive for example, if you cannot work because you are bringing up children who are aged under 12) can be a qualifying year. The 2023/24 tax year could be ‘banked’ as a qualifying year provided you have earned the equivalent of 52 x £123 (this amount is the weekly Lower Earnings Limit) – total £6,396. Please note that any pay periods in which you have earned under the Lower Earnings Limit will not count towards the total.

You could also make up a qualifying year for 2023/24 by, say, earning £123 for 40 weeks and then receiving NIC credits for the other 12 weeks.

How can I make more National Insurance contributions to get a qualifying year?

If you go abroad but you have fewer contributions than you need for the year to count, you can think about making voluntary contributions – Class 3 NICs. They cost £17.45 a week for the 2023/24 tax year and help protect your state pension entitlement. There is more information about NICs in our tax basics section.

Someone who has not worked at all during 2023/24 may need to make 52 weeks’ worth of Class 3 National Insurance contributions to make it a ‘qualifying year’ at a cost of £907.40. Someone who has already worked for part of the year, may need to make fewer Class 3 contributions and therefore pay less.

Before committing yourself to expensive voluntary contributions, you should check your NIC record through HMRC’s Personal Tax Account facility to see how many qualifying years you have already accrued and your future potential to make up any gaps. This will help you decide whether it is necessary to make voluntary contributions.

For more information on the state pension, visit our pensioners section.

You can find out more about NIC when going abroad in HMRC’s guidance NI38. This also contains some helpful information about health care abroad.

If you do decide to make Class 3 NIC voluntary contributions, you should note that they do not count towards contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance – you may need to claim this when you finish studying, if you cannot get a job. Generally, only NIC paid on employment earnings in the previous two tax years (Class 1 NIC) count towards contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (Class 1 credits may help you satisfy a part of the test). However, a non-contribution-based version may be available (which is being replaced by universal credit), which is worked out based upon your overall financial situation.

One final thing to consider is that if you work abroad for a foreign employer, you may have to pay foreign social security contributions – these are not typically reclaimable. Depending on which country you pay social security contributions in, they may count in terms of deciding your entitlement to some social security benefits in the UK. This is called the aggregation principle and essentially allows you to consider periods of overseas social security contributions where necessary, in order to meet the minimum UK requirements to qualify.

The aggregation rules may apply if you pay social security in a country with a bilateral social security agreement with the UK, for example, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the USA. You should contact the International Pension Centre for more information on the position if you go to such a country.

You can also benefit from the aggregation principle if you pay social security in an EU/EEA country. Despite the UK’s exit from the EU/EEA, you may be able to benefit from full social security coordination (including the aggregation principle) under the Withdrawal Agreement.

In fact, you can continue to benefit from the aggregation principle for periods of insurance completed both before and after 31 December 2020, provided you have moved between the UK and EU/EEA before 31 December 2020 and been subject to the legislation of the other country (in other words, a UK citizen who has been subject to the legislation of an EU/EEA member state, or vice versa).

If you move between the UK and EU for the first time on or after 1 January 2021, you may benefit from the aggregation principle under the new UK-EU protocol on social security coordination.

You can find more information in the government briefing on Brexit and the UK state pension and in the guidance produced by the EU on the rights of UK and EU citizens as outlined in the Withdrawal Agreement. See also How does the UK state pension work for migrants?.

Where can I find more information?

You can read more about National Insurance in our tax basics section.

GOV.UK provides some information on National Insurance if you move abroad.