From 1 April 2022 all active members, regardless of their age, became members of the 2015 Scheme. This is sometimes called the ‘reformed scheme’.
Before 1 April 2022, some members had protection when moving to the 2015 Scheme. This was either full or tapered protection.
You qualified for full protection if you were an active member on the 1 April 2012 and you were:
- less than 10 years away from your Normal Pension Age (NPA)
- over your NPA.
You qualified for tapered protection if you were an active member on the 1 April 2012 and were more than 10 years but less than 13 years and 5 months away from your NPA.
If you were deferred on 1 April 2012, you must not have had a break in NHS pensionable membership of 5 years or more.
If you did not qualify for protection, you moved to the 2015 Scheme on 1 April 2015.
Read more information about protection on our website.
Previous UK public service pension scheme membership
If you were protected in a previous public service pension scheme, you can apply for protection if you’ve not had a break in public service membership of more than 5 years before joining the NHS.
To apply, download the Previous Public Service Membership application form (PPSM1).
Full protection
If you had full protection, you did not have to move to the 2015 Scheme until 1 April 2022. This also happened if you re-joined after a break of 5 years or more.
Tapered protection
If you had tapered protection you did not move to the 2015 Scheme on 1 April 2015. You joined at a date based on your age in years and months on the 1 April 2012.
View the tapered protection calculator to check what date you joined the 2015 Scheme on our website.