Overview
- All Band 5 nurses in England will have employer-led reviews to ensure pay and job descriptions match their duties.
- Graduate pay across nursing and other NHS graduate professions will be prioritised for increase, with the NHS Staff Council setting the uplift.
- A single national nursing preceptorship will provide structured 1-to-1 support for newly qualified nurses under the Chief Nursing Officer’s leadership.
- The government pledged additional, ringfenced funding for the Band 5 review and any resulting salary uplifts, separate from the 2026/27 pay award.
- The package follows engagement with the RCN and other unions after concerns over long-stalled progression, including reports of 56,000 nurses stuck at Band 5 for more than seven years.