Which Pension Scheme Am I In? A Quick Public Sector Check

Most people know they have a public sector pension. Fewer know which pension scheme they’re in, and fewer still know which part of it. Answer two or three quick questions below and we’ll point you to the right guide.

Educational, not advice

This page explains which scheme the rules usually put you in. It doesn’t tell you what to do with your pension, and your payslip or Annual Benefit Statement is always the final word. For free, impartial guidance, start with MoneyHelper. A decision about your own pension is a job for an FCA-authorised adviser. Pension Plain is not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Scheme finder

Which scheme am I in?

Question 1

Who do you work for?

This finder shows which scheme the rules usually put people in. It’s an information tool, not financial advice, and it doesn’t know your personal history. Your payslip or Annual Benefit Statement is the final word.

Which pension scheme am I in? The short answer

It depends on who employs you and what you do, not just where you work. Here’s the usual picture for England and Wales.

Your job	Usual scheme
NHS trust, GP practice or other NHS body	NHS Pension Scheme
Teacher or lecturer at a school, academy, college or university	Teachers’ Pension Scheme
Teaching assistant or other support staff at a school, academy or college	LGPS
Council employee	LGPS
Civil servant, or staff at a public body that takes part	Civil Service Pension Scheme
Police officer	Police Pension Scheme
Civilian police staff	LGPS
Firefighter, wholetime or on-call	Firefighters’ Pension Scheme
Civilian fire service staff	LGPS
Armed Forces, regular or reserve	Armed Forces Pension Scheme

Where people get it wrong

School support staff are not in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. Teaching assistants, office staff, site staff and caterers in schools, academies and colleges are in the LGPS. The Teachers’ Pension Scheme is for people whose job is mainly teaching.
Police staff and fire service staff are in the LGPS. The police and firefighters’ schemes are for officers and operational firefighters. If you’re civilian staff employed by a police or fire authority, you’re in the LGPS.
Some independent schools have left the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. An independent school can choose to leave after consulting its staff. If you teach in one, check what your school offers.
Universities differ. Lecturers at many universities are in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, but the older (pre-1992) universities mostly use a different scheme, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which we don’t cover.
Not every public body is in the Civil Service scheme. Government departments are, and so are many arm’s-length bodies, museums and commissions. Others run their own schemes or use the LGPS. Your contract says which.
Working for a contractor or charity doesn’t always mean a private pension. When a council or school contracts out a service, the contractor can be let into the LGPS. Some independent healthcare providers have been given access to the NHS scheme in the same way.

Which part of your scheme are you in?

Every scheme except the LGPS has older sections that closed to new members over the years. Which one you started in depends on when you joined. Since 1 April 2022 everyone still working builds new pension in the newest scheme, but anything you built before stays in the old one, so many people have pension in two.

NHS

1995 Section: joined before 1 April 2008.
2008 Section: joined from 1 April 2008, or came back after a break of five years or more.
2015 Scheme: joined from 1 April 2015.

Teachers

Final salary, pension age 60: in service before 1 January 2007.
Final salary, pension age 65: joined from 1 January 2007.
Career average: joined from 1 April 2015.

Civil Service

classic: joined before 1 October 2002.
classic plus: classic members who chose to switch in October 2002.
premium: joined from 1 October 2002 to 29 July 2007.
nuvos: joined from 30 July 2007 to 31 March 2015.
alpha: joined from 1 April 2015. Partnership, a defined contribution account, is an alternative some people chose instead.

Armed Forces

AFPS 75: joined from 1 April 1975 to 5 April 2005.
AFPS 05: joined from 6 April 2005 to 31 March 2015.
AFPS 15: joined from 1 April 2015.

Police

1987 scheme: joined before 6 April 2006.
2006 scheme: joined from 6 April 2006 to 31 March 2015.
2015 scheme: joined from 1 April 2015.

Firefighters

1992 scheme: wholetime firefighters who joined before 6 April 2006. On-call firefighters couldn’t join a scheme until that date.
2006 scheme: joined from 6 April 2006 to 31 March 2015. Some on-call firefighters with earlier service were later let into a modified version of it.
2015 scheme: joined from 1 April 2015.

LGPS

The LGPS works differently. In England and Wales it changed from final salary to career average on 1 April 2014 for everyone, so there was no move to make in 2022. Service before that date is final salary; service since is career average.

Why the dates aren’t the whole story

When the new schemes opened in 2015, people close to their pension age were protected and stayed in their old scheme for longer. Everyone else moved across in 2015. That treatment was later found to be age discrimination, which is what the McCloud remedy fixes. If you were in a public service scheme on or before 31 March 2012 and still working after March 2015, it probably applies to you.

How to check for certain

Your payslip. The pension deduction line usually names the scheme.
Your Annual Benefit Statement. It shows which scheme, and which section, your benefits are in. Our guide to reading it walks through the layout.
Your scheme’s member portal. Teachers have My Pension Online. Civil servants can log in through the Civil Service Pension Scheme site. LGPS members use their own fund’s portal, and lgpsmember.org explains the scheme. Armed Forces members can use Discover My Benefits. NHS members will find guides on the NHSBSA member hub.
Your HR or payroll team. They know which scheme they pay into.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Our guides cover the schemes in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own versions, which work in a similar way but have their own rules and administrators.

Scotland: the Scottish Public Pensions Agency runs the NHS, teachers’, police and firefighters’ schemes. Local government staff are in the Scottish LGPS, run by council pension funds (see our LGPS Scotland guide).
Northern Ireland: the HSC Pension Service runs the health and social care and firefighters’ schemes. NILGOSC runs local government pensions. Teachers are in the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Pension Scheme, and the Northern Ireland Civil Service has its own schemes.
The Armed Forces scheme covers the whole UK.

Sources

Information, not advice. This page is educational and is not financial, tax or legal advice. It describes how the schemes usually work and can’t take account of your personal history, such as breaks in service or transfers. Pension Plain is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Checked against the schemes’ own guidance on 5 November 2026.

Which public sector pension scheme am I in?