Armed forces pension increase 2026
The armed forces pension increase for 2026 is 3.8%, the current uprating, applied from April 2026. Like other public service pensions, armed forces pensions are uprated each April in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI).
Key takeaways
- The 2026 increase is 3.8%, based on the September 2025 CPI figure.
- It applies to armed forces pensions in payment from April.
- Preserved pensions are also revalued each year until you draw them.
- The increase is index-linked to CPI, so it varies year to year.
What the 2026 armed forces pension increase is
The armed forces pension increase for 2026 is 3.8 per cent, applied from April 2026. This is the annual uprating that keeps service pensions broadly in step with the cost of living, and it is the same figure used across public service pensions because they all follow one rule. The percentage is set by the Consumer Prices Index, the official measure of inflation published by the Office for National Statistics. For 2026 the relevant CPI reading is the figure to September 2025, which came out at 3.8 per cent.
If you already draw an armed forces pension, the gross amount you receive will rise by 3.8 per cent from the April payment onward. If you have a preserved pension that you have not yet started to draw, the same 3.8 per cent is added to its value so it does not stand still while you wait. The increase is not a discretionary bonus and it is not something you apply for. It is written into the rules that govern AFPS 75, AFPS 05 and AFPS 15, and Veterans UK applies it automatically.
It is worth being clear about what 3.8 per cent does and does not do. It protects the buying power of your pension against the prices measured to last September. It does not reflect what has happened to prices since, and it is not linked to current pay rises for serving personnel. The figure is locked once the September CPI is known, then confirmed in the Pensions Increase (Review) Order before it takes effect in April.
How the annual CPI uprating works
Every April, public service pensions, including the armed forces schemes, are increased by the rise in the Consumer Prices Index over the year to the previous September. So the April 2026 increase looks back at the twelve months ending September 2025. The Treasury confirms the figure in the autumn, it is laid before Parliament in a Pensions Increase (Review) Order, and then it is applied from the first Monday of the new tax year in April. This September to April lag is normal and applies to every scheme the same way.
Using September CPI means there is always a gap between the inflation you feel day to day and the increase that lands in April. In a year when inflation is falling, the April figure can look generous compared with current prices; in a year when inflation is climbing, it can feel as though your pension is playing catch-up. Neither is a fault in the system. It is simply the price of having a fixed, predictable reference point that everyone can check against the published ONS data.
One quirk catches people out. If your pension only came into payment part-way through the previous year, your first increase is usually pro-rated. Rather than the full 3.8 per cent, you receive a proportion based on the number of complete months the pension was in payment before the April uprating. From the following April you then receive the full annual increase like everyone else. This is standard practice and not a reduction to your entitlement.
Who receives the 2026 increase
The 3.8 per cent applies to people drawing or holding an armed forces pension, not to serving personnel building one up. That includes veterans receiving a pension in payment, members holding a preserved pension they have not yet claimed, and people receiving an Early Departure Payment income, although the timing of when an increase actually shows up differs by scheme, as set out below. It also reaches dependants receiving a survivor's pension, and members drawing pension after ill-health discharge.
There is an age feature in the legacy schemes that surprises many veterans. Under AFPS 75 and AFPS 05, a pension that comes into payment before age 55 is held flat, with no annual increases, until you reach 55. At 55 the scheme applies all the inflation that built up across those earlier years in one go, after which you receive the normal CPI increase every April. So a 42-year-old drawing an AFPS 05 preserved pension early would not see the 3.8 per cent reflected in their monthly payment in 2026; it is being stored up and credited at 55.
Serving members do not receive this April increase on the pension they are accruing, because their benefits are revalued by a different mechanism while they remain in service. We cover that under revaluation below. The short version is that the 3.8 per cent is a feature of pensions that are deferred or in payment, not of live, in-service accrual.
In-payment versus preserved pensions
A pension in payment is one you are already drawing, money arriving in your bank account. For these, the 2026 increase of 3.8 per cent is added to the gross annual figure and you see a higher payment from April. Across AFPS 75, AFPS 05 and AFPS 15, once a pension is genuinely in payment and past the relevant age threshold, the annual mechanism is CPI, so the headline 3.8 per cent is what applies.
A preserved pension, sometimes called a deferred pension, is one you have earned but not yet started to draw, typically because you have left service but not yet reached the scheme's normal pension age. The point of the annual increase here is to stop your earned pension from being eroded by inflation during the years between leaving and claiming. Each year, including 2026, the preserved amount is revalued so that when you finally draw it, it reflects the cost of living rather than the value it had on the day you left.
The practical upshot is that you benefit from the uprating whether your pension is in payment or sitting preserved, but you may not see the cash effect at the same time. A preserved pension grows quietly in the background; an in-payment pension shows the rise directly on your April payslip. For the legacy schemes, remember the flat-to-55 rule means an early in-payment pension can behave more like a preserved one until you turn 55.
Revaluation while you are still serving
AFPS 15 is a career average scheme, not a final salary one. Each year you serve, it banks 1/47th of that year's pensionable pay into a running pension pot. To stop the early years of a long career from withering, the scheme revalues the pot each year while you are still serving. Crucially, the in-service revaluation for active members tracks earnings growth, not CPI, so it is a different number from the 3.8 per cent April increase that applies to pensions in payment and preserved pensions.
This distinction matters when you read your annual benefit statement and try to reconcile the figures. The 3.8 per cent CPI increase you may have seen in the news is the rate for pensions that are deferred or being paid. The amount your live AFPS 15 pot grows by while you remain in uniform is governed by the earnings-linked revaluation order for active members, which is set separately. Mixing the two is one of the most common reasons people think their statement is wrong when it is not.
Once you leave service, or once your AFPS 15 pension comes into payment, the basis switches from earnings revaluation to CPI. From that point your benefit moves with the annual April increase, the 3.8 per cent for 2026. So a single member's pension can be revalued by earnings during service and then by CPI afterwards, which is exactly how the scheme is designed to work.
How 2026 compares with nearby years
Because the uprating tracks CPI, the percentage moves around from year to year. The April 2024 increase was 6.7 per cent, reflecting the high inflation measured to September 2023. The April 2025 increase then dropped sharply to 1.7 per cent, in line with the September 2024 CPI. For 2026 the figure sits between those two at 3.8 per cent, based on CPI to September 2025. Seen together, the run of 6.7, then 1.7, then 3.8 per cent shows how much the annual figure can swing.
There is no smoothing or averaging between years. Each April stands alone on its own September CPI reading, which is why a sharp spike like 2024 is not paid back later and a quiet year like 2025 is not topped up afterwards. Over a long retirement these ups and downs tend to broadly even out against inflation, but in any single year your increase reflects only that one twelve-month window.
If you are comparing your own payments across these years, do it on the gross figure before tax, because that is the number the percentage is applied to. Comparing net amounts can mislead, since changes to your tax code or other income can move the net figure independently of the pension increase itself.
A worked example of the 2026 increase
Here is an illustrative example using only round figures to show the mechanics; your own pension will differ. Suppose a veteran is drawing a gross armed forces pension of 12,000 pounds a year and is past the age at which CPI increases apply to them. Applying the 2026 increase of 3.8 per cent adds 456 pounds, taking the gross pension to 12,456 pounds a year. In monthly terms that is a rise of 38 pounds, from 1,000 pounds to 1,038 pounds gross before any tax.
Now take a preserved pension as a second illustrative case. Suppose someone left service with a preserved pension valued at 8,000 pounds a year that they cannot yet draw. The 2026 revaluation of 3.8 per cent lifts that preserved figure by 304 pounds to 8,304 pounds a year. They do not receive any cash in 2026, because the pension is not yet in payment, but the amount waiting for them when they reach pension age is now higher, which is the whole purpose of revaluing it.
These examples are deliberately simple and are not a forecast of your benefits. They ignore tax, any earlier flat-rate period before 55 in the legacy schemes, and the effect of commutation choices. For a figure tied to your own service, use the calculator, and for a binding number request an official forecast from Veterans UK.
Tax treatment and how to check your own position
The annual increase is applied to your gross pension, the amount before tax. An armed forces pension is taxable as income in the normal way, so if the 3.8 per cent lifts your total taxable income, the extra is taxed at your marginal rate like the rest of your pension. The increase does not change how your pension is taxed; it simply makes the gross figure a little larger, and your tax code does the rest. Tax-free lump sums already paid are not affected by the annual increase, because the increase applies to pension income, not to a one-off lump sum already in your pocket.
To check your own position, start with the gross annual figure on your most recent pension payslip or your annual statement, then look for the April uplift. Multiplying last year's gross by 1.038 should land close to the new gross figure, allowing for any first-year pro-rating or the flat-to-55 rule in the legacy schemes. If the numbers do not reconcile, the usual culprits are a part-year first increase, a legacy pension still inside its flat period before 55, or confusion between the CPI increase and the separate in-service earnings revaluation.
Our calculator already applies the latest uprating, so the estimate you see reflects current values rather than last year's. Bear in mind this is an independent education site, not affiliated with the MOD, Veterans UK or JPAC, and the figures here are estimates rather than regulated financial advice. The only binding statement of your benefits is an official forecast: serving members request it on form 12, and those with a preserved pension on form 14.
Common mistakes and next steps
The most frequent mistake is expecting the 3.8 per cent to match the inflation you are feeling right now. It cannot, because it is measured to September 2025, several months before it is even paid. A second common error is a veteran under 55 on a legacy scheme assuming their early pension has been frozen or shortchanged; in fact AFPS 75 and AFPS 05 pensions are held flat until 55, when all the stored increases are applied at once, and the 3.8 per cent is being banked rather than lost.
Another trap is treating the in-service revaluation on an AFPS 15 statement as if it were the CPI increase, or vice versa. They are two different orders set on two different bases, earnings for active members and CPI for deferred and in-payment pensions, and they will rarely be the same number. If you remember nothing else, remember that the 3.8 per cent headline is for pensions that are deferred or being paid, not for the pot you are still building while serving.
For next steps, locate your latest pension payslip or annual benefit statement and confirm the April uplift against the gross figure. If anything looks off, contact Veterans UK rather than guessing. If you are weighing up a decision, leaving early, commuting part of an AFPS 15 pension, or comparing schemes during the McCloud remedy choice, use the calculator for a quick estimate and then get the official forecast before you commit to anything.
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Frequently asked questions
James Hartley
James Hartley spent 22 years in the British Army, including unit personnel administration and pensions and records duties, and now writes the scheme guides and scenario pages on this site. He is not a regulated financial adviser, so the content is general information rather than personal advice.
Sources: gov.uk · GAD factors · Veterans UK · Forces Pension Society · MoneyHelper.