State Pension Age Calculator
Your Exact Date by Birthday
Enter your date of birth to get your UK State Pension age and the exact date you reach it under the rise to 67, an estimate of your State Pension, and the earliest you can draw a private pension as the minimum age moves from 55 to 57.
Read the full answer — method, rates and figures
Quick answer: UK State Pension age is 66 for people born between 6 October 1954 and 5 April 1960, and it is now rising to 67. If you were born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 you reach it at 66 plus 1 to 11 months, depending on your birth month (someone born on 15 August 1960 reaches it on 15 January 2027).
Anyone born between 6 March 1961 and 5 April 1977 reaches it at 67, and anyone born after 5 April 1978 at 68, with the move to 68 phased in between 2044 and 2046. Men and women have the same State Pension age.
The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026–27 (about £12,548 a year) with 35 qualifying years of National Insurance. Source: Pensions Act 1995, Schedule 4 (as amended by the Pensions Acts 2007, 2011 and 2014), checked 25 September 2026.
What is my State Pension age?
It is 66 if you were born between 6 October 1954 and 5 April 1960, and 67 if you were born between 6 March 1961 and 5 April 1977. If you were born in between, you add 1 to 11 months to 66. Anyone born after 5 April 1978 reaches it at 68.
State Pension age
66y 5m
You reach it on
15 January 2027
Time from today
—
Est. State Pension
£206.83/wk
Born 15 August 1960: your State Pension age is 66 years and 5 months, reached on 15 January 2027. Rule applied: Born 6 April 1960 – 5 March 1961 (the 66 → 67 phase-in).
With 30 qualifying years now and 0 more years to State Pension age, you could have 30 of the 35 needed: an estimated £206.83 a week (about £10,755 a year) at 2026–27 rates.
Private pension: the earliest you can normally draw a workplace or personal pension is 55, on 15 August 2015, unless your scheme gives you a protected pension age.
The State Pension estimate assumes no pre-2016 contracted-out deduction. Get your exact figure and National Insurance record from the State Pension forecast on GOV.UK.
Last reviewed 25 September 2026 by the Richify AI agent team.
Reviewed by Felix, Richify's AI CFO — an AI author, presented as one.
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State Pension age is set by date of birth in Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995, which the Pensions Acts 2007, 2011 and 2014 amended to raise it. Most people reach it at a whole age (66, 67 or 68) on their birthday. Two groups use a monthly phase-in: people born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 add 1 to 11 months to 66. Three other groups have a fixed calendar date instead of an age: women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 December 1953, anyone born between 6 December 1953 and 5 October 1954, and anyone born between 6 April 1977 and 5 April 1978.
The calculator applies those rules exactly, including the Act's rule that a birthday with no matching day in the target month (31 July 1960 plus 66 years and 4 months) falls on the last day of that month. For someone born on 29 February, the Act does not say which day counts in a non-leap year; the calculator shows 1 March and flags it.
The State Pension estimate assumes you add one qualifying year for each full year until State Pension age and have no pre-2016 contracted-out deduction: each year is worth 1/35 of £241.30 a week, with nothing below 10 years. It is shown at 2026–27 rates; the triple lock will raise the amount before you claim it. Ages from Pensions Act 1995, Schedule 4 (as amended by the Pensions Acts 2007, 2011 and 2014), checked on legislation.gov.uk on 25 September 2026.
State Pension age by date of birth
The full schedule in force today, from Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995. Men and women follow the same rows for anyone born from 6 December 1953 onwards.
| Date of birth | State Pension age |
|---|---|
| Before 6 October 1954 | 65 or earlier (already reached) |
| 6 October 1954 – 5 April 1960 | 66 |
| 6 April 1960 – 5 May 1960 | 66 years and 1 month |
| 6 May 1960 – 5 June 1960 | 66 years and 2 months |
| 6 June 1960 – 5 July 1960 | 66 years and 3 months |
| 6 July 1960 – 5 August 1960 | 66 years and 4 months |
| 6 August 1960 – 5 September 1960 | 66 years and 5 months |
| 6 September 1960 – 5 October 1960 | 66 years and 6 months |
| 6 October 1960 – 5 November 1960 | 66 years and 7 months |
| 6 November 1960 – 5 December 1960 | 66 years and 8 months |
| 6 December 1960 – 5 January 1961 | 66 years and 9 months |
| 6 January 1961 – 5 February 1961 | 66 years and 10 months |
| 6 February 1961 – 5 March 1961 | 66 years and 11 months |
| 6 March 1961 – 5 April 1977 | 67 |
| 6 April 1977 – 5 April 1978 | A fixed date, 6 May 2044 – 6 March 2046 |
| After 5 April 1978 | 68 |
Examples: born 1 March 1965, State Pension age 67 on 1 March 2032; born 1 June 1980, 68 on 1 June 2048.
Will the State Pension age rise to 68 sooner?
The Pensions Act 2014 requires the government to review State Pension age regularly, and a third review is under way, supported by an independent report led by Dr Suzy Morrissey. The 2017 review proposed moving the rise to 68 forward to 2037-39, and the 2023 review deferred that decision. Neither was legislated. Until Parliament changes Schedule 4, anyone born after 5 April 1978 reaches State Pension age at 68 and the rise is phased in over 2044-46. If you were born in the late 1970s or later, plan with 68 and treat an earlier date as a risk to watch, not a rule.
When can I take my private pension: 55 or 57?
The normal minimum pension age for workplace and personal pensions is 55 until 5 April 2028 and 57 from 6 April 2028 (Finance Act 2022). If you were born after 5 April 1973 you will be 57 before you can draw. If you were born between 7 April 1971 and 5 April 1973 you reach 55 before the change and 57 after it. HMRC's draft transitional rules, open for consultation until 28 September 2026, would let you keep drawing benefits you had already started, but not start new ones until 57. That makes the timing of a first withdrawal a real decision for this group. Anyone with a protected pension age in their scheme keeps it.
Tax-free cash from those pensions is capped separately by the lump sum allowance, which the lump sum allowance calculator works out. To see what your pots would pay in the years before the State Pension starts, use the UK pension calculator. Many people who stop work before State Pension age bridge the gap from their pots; the UK retirement planning guide sets out what that bridge costs at 60, 66 and 67.
Is it worth paying voluntary National Insurance?
For most people with a real gap, yes. A full year of voluntary Class 3 costs £956.80 (£18.40 a week in 2026-27) and adds 1/35 of the full new State Pension: £6.89 a week, about £359 a year for life, index-linked. The cost is recovered after about 2.7 years of receiving it before tax. Someone on track for 30 years who fills 3 gaps pays up to £2,870 for £1,076 a year more.
The catch is that a gap is only worth filling if it raises your pension. If you will reach 35 qualifying years by working until State Pension age, an extra year now buys nothing, which is why the calculator counts your future years first. People who were contracted out before 2016 may need more than 35 years, or may already be at the full rate, so the GOV.UK forecast has the final say. You can pay only for the past 6 tax years; the extended window back to 2006 closed on 5 April 2025. The two most recent years are charged at their original, lower rates, and older years at the current rate. Some self-employed people can pay Class 2 instead, at £3.65 a week.
How much State Pension will I get?
The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026–27, about £12,548 a year, for anyone reaching State Pension age since 6 April 2016 with 35 qualifying years. Each year below that takes off 1/35 (£6.89 a week), and fewer than 10 years pays nothing. So 30 years gives £206.83 a week and 20 years gives £137.89. Gaps can often be filled with voluntary National Insurance contributions. Your GOV.UK forecast shows your own record, including any contracted-out deduction from before 2016, and the 2026–27 rate rises each April under the triple lock. The National Insurance calculator shows what you pay towards each year.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your date of birth (and your sex only if you were born before 6 December 1953).
- Read your State Pension age and the exact date you reach it, plus how long that is from today.
- Enter the qualifying National Insurance years you already have (your GOV.UK forecast shows them) to estimate your State Pension by then.
- Add any gap years from the last six tax years to see what filling them with voluntary National Insurance would cost and add.
- Check the earliest date you could draw a workplace or personal pension under the rise from 55 to 57.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is my State Pension age if I was born in 1960?
It depends on the month. Born 1 January to 5 April 1960: 66.
Born 6 April 1960 to 5 March 1961: 66 years plus between 1 and 11 months, one extra month for each monthly band. For example, born 6 April to 5 May 1960 is 66 years and 1 month, and born 6 August to 5 September 1960 is 66 years and 5 months, so someone born on 15 August 1960 reaches it on 15 January 2027.
If your birthday falls on a day that does not exist in the month you reach State Pension age (such as 31 July 1960 plus 66 years and 4 months), the Act gives the last day of that month instead: 30 November 2026.
When does the State Pension age go up to 67 and 68?
The rise from 66 to 67 began on 6 May 2026 and is complete in March 2028: anyone born between 6 March 1961 and 5 April 1977 reaches State Pension age at 67. The rise to 68 is set in law for 2044 to 2046: people born between 6 April 1977 and 5 April 1978 get a fixed date between 6 May 2044 and 6 March 2046, and anyone born after 5 April 1978 reaches it at 68.
A third statutory review of the State Pension age is under way. Earlier reviews proposed bringing 68 forward to 2037-39, but none of those proposals has become law, so the 2044-46 timetable still stands.
Is State Pension age the same for men and women?
Yes. Women's State Pension age rose from 60 to match men's 65 between 2010 and November 2018, and since then both have followed the same timetable to 66 (reached in October 2020) and now 67.
Sex only changes the answer for people born before 6 December 1953, all of whom have already reached State Pension age.
Can I get my State Pension early?
No. The State Pension cannot be claimed before State Pension age, whatever your health or National Insurance record, and it is not paid automatically: you have to claim it. You can put off claiming it instead, and it rises by 1% for every 9 weeks you defer (about 5.8% a year under the new State Pension).
Workplace and personal pensions follow a different rule, the normal minimum pension age, which is 55 now and 57 from 6 April 2028.
When can I take my private or workplace pension?
From 55 until 5 April 2028, then from 57 (Finance Act 2022). Anyone born after 5 April 1973 therefore waits until 57.
People born between 7 April 1971 and 5 April 1973 reach 55 before the change but 57 after it: HMRC's draft rules, out for consultation until 28 September 2026, would let those who have already started drawing benefits keep receiving them, but not start new withdrawals until 57. Some scheme members have a protected pension age that keeps 55.
How many years of National Insurance do I need for the State Pension?
35 qualifying years for the full new State Pension of £241.30 a week, and at least 10 to get anything at all. Between those, you normally get 1/35 of the full rate for each year.
Years can come from paid National Insurance or from credits (for example while claiming Child Benefit for a child under 12, or Carer's Allowance). If you were contracted out before 2016 your starting amount may be different, which is why the forecast on GOV.UK is the figure to rely on.
Is it worth paying voluntary National Insurance to fill gaps?
Often, but only if the year would actually raise your pension. A full year of voluntary Class 3 costs £956.80 at the 2026-27 rate of £18.40 a week, and each extra qualifying year adds 1/35 of the full new State Pension, £6.89 a week or about £359 a year.
That pays back in about 2.7 years of receiving it, before tax. It is wasted if you will reach 35 qualifying years by State Pension age anyway, or if your GOV.UK forecast says extra years will not increase your pension (common for people contracted out before 2016).
You can only fill the past 6 tax years, so check your NI record before the 5 April deadline for the oldest one.
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Further Reading
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