State Pension 2026/27: How Much You Get and the Triple Lock Explained

The State Pension is the foundation most people build their retirement around, but for most people it’s only one layer of retirement income - topped up by a workplace pension, where auto-enrolment’s minimum 8% contribution forms the other major pillar. The amount, the rules for qualifying, and the ‘triple lock’ that increases it every year are widely misunderstood. Here’s where things stand for 2026/27.

How much you get in 2026/27

• Full new State Pension (for those reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016): £241.30 a week, or about £12,548 a year.
• Full basic State Pension (for those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016): £184.90 a week, or about £9,615 a year - often topped up by Additional State Pension entitlement built up under the old system.

You need 35 qualifying National Insurance years to get the full new State Pension, and at least 10 qualifying years to get anything at all - fewer years than 35 gives a proportionally reduced amount.

What the triple lock actually does

Each April, the State Pension rises by whichever is highest of three measures, assessed the previous autumn:

• Average earnings growth (May–July, from the ONS)
• CPI inflation (the September figure)
• 2.5%, a guaranteed floor

For the rise applied in April 2026, earnings growth of 4.8% was the highest of the three measures, so the State Pension rose by 4.8% - a larger increase than that year’s CPI inflation figure of 3.8%.

Why this is quietly becoming a tax issue

The full new State Pension (£12,548 a year) now sits just £22 below the frozen Personal Allowance of £12,570. Because the Personal Allowance is frozen until April 2031 while the triple lock keeps pushing the State Pension up, anyone whose only income is the full new State Pension is likely to start paying Income Tax on it within the next year or two if the triple lock continues to deliver above-inflation rises - not because their circumstances have changed, but because the pension itself has grown past the tax-free threshold. The government has said HMRC will introduce measures so affected pensioners with no other income don’t have to file a Self Assessment return purely because of this.

Anyone with other income alongside the State Pension - a workplace or private pension, part-time earnings, rental income - already has very little Personal Allowance left to cover that other income, since the State Pension itself absorbs almost all of it.

Checking and boosting your entitlement

• Check your State Pension forecast at gov.uk to see your projected amount and how many qualifying years you have.
• Check your National Insurance record for gaps - years where you didn’t pay enough NI, perhaps due to unemployment, low earnings, or living abroad.
• Voluntary NI contributions can fill some gaps and boost your eventual State Pension, sometimes at a very favourable cost-to-benefit ratio - but check current voluntary contribution deadlines and rates before paying, as rules and windows for filling older gaps have changed in recent years.
• Home Responsibilities Protection / National Insurance credits for time spent caring for children or a disabled person may already be covering some gaps - check these are correctly recorded, since HMRC has previously identified and corrected errors in how some historical credits were applied.

The bottom line

The State Pension has grown significantly under the triple lock - up more than 30% since 2022/23 - but it’s also drifting closer to the tax-free threshold each year, and the State Pension age itself is rising (see our separate article on that). Check your forecast and NI record periodically rather than assuming a round number you remember from a few years ago is still accurate.