PCSE manages pension administration services for NHS England. We collect Practitioner contributions from the GP practice and send them, along with data to NHS Pensions. We work closely with NHS England and NHS Pensions.
Transformation Update
The new online services for submitting payment and GP's pension information are launching later this year, expected in September 2020.
Submitting and managing NHS Pensions for Type 1 and 2 Practitioners and Locums working in General Practice will be easier when using PCSE Online. We’ve designed a system that makes it easier to submit pension information and provides transparency which will enable users to track the progress of their information. This will also make it easier for members to check all their pension details are correct.
Practices will be able to manage information all in one place. They will be able to submit and update the following pension information:
We will be keeping you updated over the coming months about what you need to do to prepare for the launch, including how to register and how to give other users access.
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Submitting your pension forms
Every year, scheme members are required to complete and submit either a Type 1 Annual Certificate of Pensionable Profits or a Type 2 Medical Practitioner Self-Assessment of Tiered Contributions Form.
All forms are available for download on the NHS Pensions website here.
You can download an easy to use guide and timeline for the End of Year pension administration. These have been PCSE developed in association with the BMA and NHS England.
The guide includes information on submitting your pension forms via the PCSE online form, information about adjusting your next contractual payment once PCSE has processed your end of year certificates and guidance on submitting forms without a hand-written signature via a secure email address.
Please note: due to end of year pension form submissions, we are currently working through a high volume of queries. Response times are taking longer than usual. Please allow up to 40 days for a response to your submission or query. Before you submit your request please check if your query can be answered by our frequently asked questions.
Type 1 medical practitioner (GP Provider) certificate or the Type 2 medical practitioner (salaried GP) self-assessment form for year 2018/19
Following last year's amnesty NHSE and PCSE completed a reconciliation exercise to identify individuals with missing years in their pension record. If you believe any of your certificates are missing you can complete the amnesty form for Type 2 certificates only or get historical years forms for Type 1s from here. These should be submitted via the contact us form.
We will be processing 2018/19 certificates received by the 29 February deadline by 31 May 2020. As long as all the correct information has been provided this will be completed in time for the August statement release. We will contact you by email once your forms have been processed.
We will be prioritising completed certificates received before the 29 February deadline. Following this we will be working to update historical and 2018/19 certificates received after the deadline. It is unlikely that these forms will be processed in time for the August statement, they should be reflected when your December statement isreleased. We will contact you by email once your forms have been processed.
GPs retiring before June 2020
If you have submitted your 2018/19 forms by 29 February deadline it will be updated before you plan to take your retirement in June.
We will do a full data cleanse for every member who submits an AW8 form wishing to retire and take their benefits, before sending to the pensions agency. They will highlight, if there is any missing information.
Don't forget to get your Estimate of Pensionable Income form in by 1 March 2020
The estimate form ensures GPs are submitting what they predict to earn in the next financial year. PCSE will make sure that the right deductions are being taken from your practice which will prevent large adjustments being made at the end of the year.
Download the estimate form from the NHSBSA website.
Practices are advised to complete this as soon as possible because from 1st April PCSE have been advised by NHS Pensions to deduct the contributions at the 14.5% maximum tiered rate regardless of previous contribution rates if they do not have the estimate. This will impact on practices resulting in the higher deductions being made. Forms are available from the NHSBSA website and via PCSE online.
Click on the sections below for more information.
There are two types of forms for Type 1 Medical Practitioners, both known as Annual Certificate of Pensionable Profit.
One relates to a partnership or single-handed GP. The other relates to a Limited Company.
The purpose of the certificate is to calculate:
PCSE will use this information to reconcile payments received against the certificate and arrange to correct any under or over payments from the previous financial year. PCSE will process certificates submitted by the deadline by 30 April.
You can submit your Type 1 certificate via our online form.
This certificate must be completed by:
who are either partners in practice or working as a single-hander. This certificate relates to pensionable pay relating to the NHS Pension Scheme year ended 31 March 2019. The purpose of the certificate is to calculate a provider's pensionable NHS earnings, the level at which pension contributions need to be paid and the contributions due.
Please download the excel form directly from the NHSBSA website, complete it electronically, save it and upload it directly to the online form. As long as you can provide a nhs.net address as a contact email address there is no need to print it off, sign it and scan back in, which often makes the file size much larger.
If you don’t have an nhs.net email address, please upload the Excel form without the signature, and upload a separate page with the signature(s) on. The form will allow you to upload up to eight documents in one submission.
The purpose of the certificate is to calculate a provider’s pensionable NHS earnings, the rate of contribution due and the balance of the contributions payable or repayable for the year in respect of that provider’s income derived as a shareholder in a company holding a GMS, PMS, sPMS or APMS contract.
Please download the excel form directly from the NHSBSA website, complete it electronically, save it and upload it directly to the online form. As long as you can provide a nhs.net address as a contact email address there is no need to print it off, sign it and scan back in, which often makes the file size much larger.
If you don’t have an nhs.net email address, please upload the excel form without the signature, and upload a separate page with the signature(s) on. The form will allow you to upload up to eight documents in one submission. See the section below for more information.
Once you are happy the details contained in the certificate are correct, you should sign the relevant declaration(s) and submit the signed certificate to PCSE.
PCSE can now accept forms without a handwritten signature as long as the contact email address when submitted is an nhs.net email address. If you do not have an nhs.net email address you will need to ensure that the form has a handwritten signature.
If documents are submitted without a hand-written signature, and no nhs.net email address is provided when the documents are sent to PCSE via the online enquiries form, the document(s) will be returned to the sender for re-submission.
You can submit your Type 1 certificate via our online form. Choose GP Pensions as the type of enquiry and complete the form. The certificate attachment can be in either Excel spreadsheet or PDF format.
The deadline for Type 1 Annual Certificate of Pensionable Income submissions is 29th February 2020, as we are in a leap year.
You will receive a case reference number as soon as you have submitted you form.
You can also send by post to Primary Care Support England, PO Box 350, Darlington, DL1 9QN.
Look at our Pensions Admin Timeline to see what happens when.
Certificates received before 29th February deadline
All annual pension certificates and related adjustments will be processed and adjustments will be carried out in the usual practice monthly pay run. The information should be visible on the August Total Reward Statement, assuming there are no gaps in the pension record.
Certificates received after 29th February deadline
Any certificates received after 29th February will be processed as they are received, and adjustments will be made in due course.
Any forms received past the deadline may not be reflected in the August Total Reward Statement, but will show on any future statements, assuming there are no gaps in the pension record.
Any adjustments for individual doctors/non-clinical partners will be clearly shown on the practice Open Exeter statement.
All annual pension certificates and related adjustments will be processed by 30th April for all certificates received before the 28th February deadline. Adjustments will be carried out in the usual practice monthly pay run.
NHS England has asked for practices who wish to make a pension payments before the end of the 19/20 tax year (rather than the adjustment being carried out by PCSE against the next contractual payment), to be reminded that they can make an ad-hoc payment via online banking.
Please note that if the PCSE adjustment is currently being processed and an additional payment is received, further adjustments will be needed and the return of funds could be delayed.
To make a BACS payment, you will need:
1.The NHS England bank account number and sort code
2.Your BACS reference
Please contact the PCSE Customer Support Centre to access the bank details. We cannot provide this publicly or via email for security purposes.
Your BACS reference is made up of:
For example, if your GP Pension scheme number (or SD number) is 12345678, the payment is for locum pension contributions and it is being made in May 2020, your BACS reference would be 12345678LOCMAY2020.This ensures that your payment is matched accurately to your pension.
To make a BACS payment, you will need:
1.The NHS England bank account number and sort code
2.Your BACS reference
Please contact the PCSE Customer Support Centre to access the bank details. We cannot provide this publicly or via email for security purposes.
Your BACS reference is made up of:
For example, if your GP Pension scheme number (or SD number) is 12345678, the payment is for locum pension contributions and it is being made in May 2020, your BACS reference would be 12345678LOCMAY2020.This ensures that your payment is matched accurately to your pension.
PCSE does not have the facility to enable practices to spread payments owed over multiple months. Any arrears of contributions must be paid in full, immediately.
Any arrangements for GPs to spread any payments owed to practices would be made directly between the GP and practice.
Please download the forms directly from the NHSBSA website, complete it electronically, save it and upload it directly to the online form. As long as you can provide a nhs.net address as a contact email address there is no need to print it off, sign it and scan back in, which often makes the file size much larger.
If you don’t have an nhs.net email address, please upload the form without the signature, and upload a separate page with the signature(s) on.
The form will allow you to upload up to 8 documents in one submission. The maximum file size per document is 3.2 Mb.
Choose the appropriate section below for more information.
You are a Type 2 Medical Practitioner if:
You are not a Type 2 Medical Practitioner if:
As a Type 2 Medical Practitioner, you will need to complete a self-assessment of tiered contributions for each financial year, so that NHS England can ensure that all NHS pension contributions have been correctly paid, by yourself and your employers, and allocated correctly to your NHS Pension Scheme record.
The Type 2 medical practitioner self-assessment of tiered contributions form must be completed annually. For example, we are currently in the 2019/20 financial year, which ends on 31st March 2020. You must submit your 2018/19 Type 2 Medical Practitioner self-assessment form by 29 February 2020.
It is a condition of that a GP must proactively liaise with relevant NHS organisations to ensure they have paid the correct tiered contributions ‘across the board’. Failure to comply with the NHS Pension Scheme Regulations may result in pensionable pay provisionally set to zero for the relevant period.
It is a legal requirement for GPs to complete and submit the self-assessment form each year.
The 2018/19 Type 2 Medical Practitioner self-assessment is available on the NHSBSA website. Download Pension Forms
PCSE will use the information provided on the self-assessment to determine whether the practitioner has paid the correct tiered contributions across all of their GP pensionable posts.
There are currently forms and guidance and completion notes for the following years:
Please complete and submit to PCSE no later than the 29th February 2020, as we are in a leap year. You can submit your Type 2 form via our online form. You will receive a case reference number as soon as you have submitted you form.
You can also send by post to Primary Care Support England, PO Box 350, Darlington, DL1 9QN.
Look at our Pensions Admin Timeline to see what happens when.
Look at our Pensions Admin Timeline to see what happens when.
PCSE will use this information to reconcile payments received and arrange to correct any under or over payments from the previous financial year. This includes working with the Estimate of Pensionable Earnings submitted by your practice at the start of each financial year, and throughout if there have been changes within the practice, such as joiners and leavers or changes to status.
Some practices prefer to make payments directly if they have identified an underpayment.
All annual pension certificates and related adjustments will be processed by 30th April for all certificates received before the 29th February deadline. Adjustments will be carried out in the usual practice monthly pay run.
NHS England has asked for practices who wish to make a pension payments before the end of the 19/20 tax year (rather than the adjustment being carried out by PCSE against the next contractual payment), to be reminded that they can make an ad-hoc payment via online banking.
Please note that if the PCSE adjustment is currently being processed and an additional payment is received, further adjustments will be needed and the return of funds could be delayed.
To make a BACS payment, you will need:
1.The NHS England bank account number and sort code
2.Your BACS reference
Please contact the PCSE Customer Support Centre to access the bank details. We cannot provide this publicly or via email for security purposes.
Your BACS reference is made up of:
For example, if your GP Pension scheme number (or SD number) is 12345678, the payment is for locum pension contributions and it is being made in May 2020, your BACS reference would be 12345678LOCMAY2020.This ensures that your payment is matched accurately to your pension.
PCSE does not have the facility to enable practices to spread payments owed over multiple months. Any arrears of contributions must be paid in full, immediately.
Any arrangements for GPs to spread any payments owed to practices would be made directly between the GP and practice.
If you have been on maternity leave for any time during the period for which the Type 2 form relates and PCSE have not received a breakdown of earnings for this period, then your practice must submit a breakdown to us to enable us to continue to process your form and update your pension contributions accurately.
PCSE needs to be supplied with the Gross pensionable earnings on the breakdown with the corresponding employees contributions. The employer contributions will remain the same for the period of maternity leave. The maternity breakdown form is available here.
For further information please click here to access the NHS Pensions guidance on Maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave and adoption leave.
This section provides guidance for GP Locums, regarding pension contributions.
A GP Locum is not employed by a practice, but is self-employed. They can elect if they wish to pension individual periods of work but must do so within a 10 week window. A freelance GP locum, in NHS Pension Scheme terms, is a GP who deputises for an absent practice based GP on a temporary basis or who works in a practice on a temporary basis such as when there is an increased workload. A freelance GP locum may also pension GP appraisal work if they wish.
Non-NHS work is not pensionable, i.e. cremation forms.
Information above has been taken from the BMA Locum GP Handbook, which contains guidance on a variety of subjects, including Pensions.
Take a look at the Locum A & B pension contributions FAQs.
Freelance GP locums must complete Forms A and B if they wish to pension their surgery or appraisal work. Please note:
Appraisal work performed by a freelance GP locum is pensionable.
GP Locum Form A
To claim NHS Pension Scheme membership for freelance GP locum surgery based NHS work, complete part 1 of the GP Locum A form and send with your invoice to the GP surgery. The GP surgery will validate part 2 of the GP Locum A form.
Download the GP Locum Form A - 2019/20
GP Locum Form B
Form B is a record of payments received in the previous month for GP Locum work. You must attach a properly completed GP Locum Form A for every payment declared in part 1 of the Form B. Forms must be submitted to PCSE no later than the seventh day of the month, following the month the Form B relates to.
From 1 May 2020, all payments made to NHS England for pensions contributions are to be submitted by BACS rather than by cheque.
Paying by BACS means that you get acknowledgement straight away that your payment has been received.
To make a BACS payment, you will need:
1.The NHS England bank account number and sort code
2.Your BACS reference
We are unable to publish NHS England bank details for security reasons - please call our Customer Support Centre on 0333 014 2884 for this information.
Your BACS reference is made up of:
For example, if your GP Pension scheme number (or SD number) is 12345678, the payment is for locum pension contributions and it is being made in May 2020, your BACS reference would be 12345678LOCMAY2020.This ensures that your payment is matched accurately to your pension.
If you have any questions, you can contact us using our online form here.
Submit your Locum A&B forms
A quick and easy way to submit your locum forms is via our online form. Please submit your form as soon as possible after you have made your contribution payment.
You will receive an email confirming your submission, which will include a case reference number you can use to follow-up if required.
Alternatively, practitioners can write the payment reference details (i.e. 12345678LOCMAY2020) on the form and post to Primary Care Support England, PO Box 350, Darlington, DL1 9QN.
NHS England is currently seeking further clarification from the Pensions Agency with regards to the acceptance of emailed forms. We will provide an update if there is any change to the guidance provided above. In the meantime, we advise that you keep a copy of forms submitted via email.
This section contains information on submitting pension contributions for GP SOLO work.
In order to claim for GP Solo work, the GP SOLO form must be completed when a GP, other than a freelance GP locum, performs pensionable fee based (self-employed) ad-hoc work, for example, Out of Hours, CCG, GPwSI, etc for an NHS Pension Scheme Employing Authority.
The employer contribution rate includes the administration levy of 0.08%. The total to be paid over in year 2019/20 is therefore 14.38%.
In England, the ‘employer’ (i.e. the OOHP or CCG) must send this form and the correct contributions to the host Employing Authority, which is NHS England / Primary Care Support England (PCSE). If your organisation has chosen to send annual GP SOLO forms please refer to the Annual GP SOLO Contribution Submissions section below.
Do not use the GP SOLO form if the service level agreement is with a surgery and the payment is made directly to the surgery (i.e. pooled) rather than to an individual GP. The 14.38% employer contribution and administration levy must be included in the payment.
Take a look at the process for completing a GP Solo form.
You can download the Form GP SOLO here.
There is also guidance available for NHSPS Employing Authorities, including OOH Providers and CCGs, who engage the services of GPs on a self-employed/fee based/contract for services arrangement.
It is the responsibility of the employer (NHS local/regional team/CCG/OOH provider), to deduct the employee contributions from their monthly payment, and then pay over both the employee and employer contributions to PCSE each month.
GP Solo pension contributions should NOT be submitted by individual GP’s.
Please note: any SOLO payments received by individual GPs will be rejected and returned. This may lead to delays in updating GP’s pension records. Contributions will only be processed once they have been paid by the OOH providers and CCGs.
For any questions in relation to Solo contribution submissions, please contact PCSE via the online form.
This section is for practice managers dealing with pension matters in their practice.
From December 2019, it is the leaving GP's responsibility to update their status on the GP Performers List for England using PCSE Online.
The GP needs to log in to PCSE Online and update their practice in the Employment Details section. If the change of practice includes a change of NHS Local Office, this will automatically be updated.
Once the GP submits the change of status i.e. leaving your practice, the practice main contact will need to accept the change, also in PCSE Online.
Visit the GP Performer List page for more information. You can also refer to the user guides for help:
Please note, if the GP/practice submitted an NPL2 or NPL3 to notify PCSE of a GP leaving, prior to December 2019, this will be processed as a paper notification. There is no need to submit a change request through PCSE Online.
Once the practice has confirmed the change i.e. GP joining the practice, an Estimate of Pensionable Profits/Pay form should be completed and submitted via the online form, choosing GP Pensions as the query type. Read more in the Estimate of Pensionable Profits/Pay section.
The Pensions team will automatically be notified of the change of practice and systems will be updated accordingly.
From December 2019, it is the leaving GP's responsibility to update their status on the GP Performers List for England using PCSE Online.
The GP needs to log in to PCSE Online and update their practice in the Employment Details section. If the change of practice includes a change of NHS Local Office, this will automatically be updated.
Once the GP submits the change of status i.e. leaving your practice, the practice main contact will need to accept the change, also in PCSE Online.
Visit the GP Performer List page for more information. You can also refer to the user guides for help:
Please note, if the GP/practice submitted an NPL2 or NPL3 to notify PCSE of a GP leaving, prior to December 2019, this will be processed as a paper notification. There is no need to submit a change request through PCSE Online.
Once the practice has confirmed the change i.e. GP joining the practice, an Estimate of Pensionable Contributions should be completed
The Pensions team will automatically be notified of the change of practice and systems will be updated accordingly.
An Estimate of Pensionable Profits/Pay form is used to:
The Estimate of Pensionable Profits/Pay form is not to be used for GPs who wish to be considered as a freelance GP Locum. See the GP Locum section for more information.
The Estimate of Pensionable Profits/Pay provides PCSE with projected pensionable pay, so that the monthly contributions deducted are as accurate as possible. This will reduce outstanding contributions at year end.
What happens if my practice doesn’t submit the Estimate of GP and non-GP Provider NHS Pensionable Profits/Pay: 2020/21 form?
Practices are advised to complete this as soon as possible because from 1st April PCSE have been advised by NHS Pensions to deduct the contributions at the 14.5% maximum tiered rate regardless of previous contribution rates if they do not have the estimate.
This will impact on practices resulting in the higher deductions being made.
Forms are available from the NHSBSA website and via PCSE online.
The 2020/21 Estimate of Pensionable Pay form will be on the NHSBSA/NHS Pension website is now available.
PCSE should receive the new financial year's Estimate of Pensionable Profits/Pay form, no later than 1st March each year.
Download Estimate of Pensionable Pay Form
It is important that all GPs, as outlined above are included on the form, even if the practice are aware of changes that will be happening in the future. The estimate should be submitted using the online form.
Once a practice has confirmed a GP is joining, leaving or changing a role through PCSE Online Performer Management, then a new Estimate of Pensionable Profits/Pay should be submitted to PCSE, using the online form.
Download Estimate of Pensionable Pay Form
Please remember to include all GPs, not just the joiner, leaver or GP changing role, are included on the new estimate.
If the estimate is submitted before the Performer process has been completed, the estimate will not be used to update pensions information for the practice.
Similarly, a practice needs to confirm the addition of a non-GP Partner through PCSE Online Performer Management, before submitting a new Estimate of Pensionable Profits/Pay, using the online form.
Download Estimate of Pensionable Pay Form
Please remember to include all GPs, including the non-GP Partner, are included on the new estimate.
If the estimate is submitted before the Performer process has been completed, the estimate will not be used to update pensions information for the practice.
We know that the Pension Year End can be a hugely busy and stressful time. Below are links to information you may find useful for Pension Year End.
You can download an easy to use guide and timeline for the End of Year pension administration. These have been PCSE developed in association with the BMA and NHS England.
The guide includes information on submitting your pension forms via the PCSE online form, information about adjusting your next contractual payment once PCSE has processed your end of year certificates and guidance on submitting forms without a hand-written signature via a secure email address.
New enquiry
If you need to contact PCSE for any enquiries about pensions issues within your practice, please use the online form, choosing GP Pensions at the category, and as the type of enquiry, and complete the form.
All forms should be submitted to PCSE via a dedicated online form.
Select ‘GP Pensions’ from the drop-down list.
Complete the information requested, and upload document(s) when prompted.
You can upload up to 8 documents in one submission. The maximum individual file size is 3.2 Mb.
Once successfully submitted, you will receive an email confirming the submission with a case reference number you can use to follow up on the case if needed.
Existing enquiry
If you need to contact us about an existing enquiry, please use the online form:
You will be able to complete the Follow Up Enquiry form to:
The online form will ensure the quickest possible response time to your enquiry. You will be prompted for all the information PCSE needs to process your request. Please note that only the submitter of the original request can use this form.
If your case number was provided to you as part of your day to day administration processes on PCSE online you will be unable to use this follow up enquiry form.
Please click 'back' in your browser and raise this as a new enquiry.
This section provides general information for accountants acting on behalf of GPs and/or GP practices.
All pension related forms can be downloaded from the NHSBSA website.
Our Annual Pension Administration Guide includes information on:
Click the picture below to download the guide.
Download our timeline for guidance on what happens when for the end of year pension administration process.
All forms should be submitted to PCSE via a dedicated online form.
Select ‘GP Pensions’ from the drop-down list.
Complete the information requested, and upload document(s) when prompted.
You can upload up to 8 documents in one submission. The maximum individual file size is 3.2 Mb.
Once successfully submitted, you will receive an email confirming the submission with a case reference number you can use to follow up on the case if needed.
