Take Home

State Pension age

State Pension age is rising from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028. A further rise to 68 is scheduled between 2044 and 2046. Your exact date of birth determines when you can claim. Check the timetable or use the calculator below.

The short version

State Pension age by date of birth, the short version
BornState Pension age
Before 6 December 1953Reached already: 65 for men, 60 rising to 65 for women
6 December 1953 to 5 October 1954A fixed date between March 2019 and September 2020, all reached
6 October 1954 to 5 April 196066, on your 66th birthday
6 April 1960 to 5 March 196166 and 1 month, up to 66 and 11 months, one month more for each month of birth
6 March 1961 to 5 April 197767, on your 67th birthday
6 April 1977 to 5 April 1978A fixed date between 6 May 2044 and 6 March 2046
6 April 1978 or later68, on your 68th birthday

Men and women

The ages are the same for men and women born on or after 6 December 1953. Before that they differed: men had a State Pension age of 65, and women born before 6 April 1950 had 60. The Pensions Acts 1995 and 2011 raised women's State Pension age in steps for women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 December 1953, so that it reached 65 in November 2018. The rise to 66 for everyone then ran from December 2018 to October 2020.

Retirement age is not State Pension age

There is no compulsory retirement age in the UK. The default retirement age of 65 was abolished, and an employer can only set one for a job with a legitimate reason, such as a physical requirement or a legal age limit. State Pension age is the earliest you can claim the State Pension; it does not stop you working, and it is not when you can draw a private pension, which is 55 now and 57 from 6 April 2028.

The full timetable

From the gov.uk State Pension age timetable, tables 3 to 5. Where the age is in years and months, someone born on the 31st of a month reaches it on the 30th of the month it falls in, because gov.uk counts to the last day of a shorter month: born 31 July 1960, you reach 66 years and 4 months on 30 November 2026.

The full timetable, gov.uk tables 3 to 5
Born fromToState Pension ageAct
6 December 19535 January 1954Reached on 6 March 2019Pensions Act 2011
6 January 19545 February 1954Reached on 6 May 2019Pensions Act 2011
6 February 19545 March 1954Reached on 6 July 2019Pensions Act 2011
6 March 19545 April 1954Reached on 6 September 2019Pensions Act 2011
6 April 19545 May 1954Reached on 6 November 2019Pensions Act 2011
6 May 19545 June 1954Reached on 6 January 2020Pensions Act 2011
6 June 19545 July 1954Reached on 6 March 2020Pensions Act 2011
6 July 19545 August 1954Reached on 6 May 2020Pensions Act 2011
6 August 19545 September 1954Reached on 6 July 2020Pensions Act 2011
6 September 19545 October 1954Reached on 6 September 2020Pensions Act 2011
6 October 19545 April 196066Pensions Act 2011
6 April 19605 May 196066 and 1 monthPensions Act 2014
6 May 19605 June 196066 and 2 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 June 19605 July 196066 and 3 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 July 19605 August 196066 and 4 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 August 19605 September 196066 and 5 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 September 19605 October 196066 and 6 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 October 19605 November 196066 and 7 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 November 19605 December 196066 and 8 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 December 19605 January 196166 and 9 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 January 19615 February 196166 and 10 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 February 19615 March 196166 and 11 monthsPensions Act 2014
6 March 19615 April 197767Pensions Acts 2014 and 2007
6 April 19775 May 1977Reached on 6 May 2044Pensions Act 2007
6 May 19775 June 1977Reached on 6 July 2044Pensions Act 2007
6 June 19775 July 1977Reached on 6 September 2044Pensions Act 2007
6 July 19775 August 1977Reached on 6 November 2044Pensions Act 2007
6 August 19775 September 1977Reached on 6 January 2045Pensions Act 2007
6 September 19775 October 1977Reached on 6 March 2045Pensions Act 2007
6 October 19775 November 1977Reached on 6 May 2045Pensions Act 2007
6 November 19775 December 1977Reached on 6 July 2045Pensions Act 2007
6 December 19775 January 1978Reached on 6 September 2045Pensions Act 2007
6 January 19785 February 1978Reached on 6 November 2045Pensions Act 2007
6 February 19785 March 1978Reached on 6 January 2046Pensions Act 2007
6 March 19785 April 1978Reached on 6 March 2046Pensions Act 2007
6 April 1978onwards68Pensions Act 2007

Will it change again?

The Pensions Act 2014 requires the government to review State Pension age and publish a report at least once every six years, having regard to life expectancy. gov.uk says the government is not planning to revise the timetables for 66 or 67. The rise to 68 could move as a result of a review, and Parliament would have to approve any change before it became law.

Your own date

Type your date of birth for the age and the date you reach it, and the years between the age you would like to stop work and the State Pension starting.

About you

Your State Pension age depends on the exact date; the tables change on the 6th of a month.
Day
Month
Year

You are 64.

The age you would like to stop, to see the years before the State Pension starts.

67 your State Pension age

You reach it on 15 March 2029, in 2 years and 5 months.

The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27, £12,547.60 a year. The estimate below uses 35 qualifying years for the full rate.

This amount assumes your NI record started after April 2016. An earlier record, contracting out or overseas years can change it. Your State Pension forecast gives your own estimate.

From 64 now to State Pension age 67, stopping work at 643 years between stopping at 64 and the State Pension starting at 67.3 years from your own moneyNow, stopping64State Pension starts67

Stop now and it is 3 years before the State Pension starts. Living on £2,693.30 a month, that is £94,915 of your own money in today's money, to cover that gap. Retirement spending after that is separate.

See what stopping at 64 takes

Your National Insurance record

Your State Pension forecast on gov.uk lists them; a year counts if you worked, had credits or paid voluntarily.

0 means unknown here, so we assume the full 35 years. It does not mean a zero-year entitlement.

Check your State Pension forecast on gov.uk for your own years and any gaps.

What could change it

State Pension age is reviewed at least every six years and the rise to 68 could move; gov.uk says the 66 and 67 timetables will not be revised.

Contracted out before 2016, you will usually need more than 35 years for the full rate. Paid into the Additional State Pension before 2016, you may get a protected payment on top. Your forecast shows your own starting amount.

Years can be added by working, by credits for caring, illness or unemployment, or by paying voluntary contributions for gaps. The full rate rises each April; everything here is in today's money.

You do not have to stop work to claim it, and you can defer it for a higher amount later.

How this is worked out

The age comes from the gov.uk State Pension age timetable: the 66th birthday for people born up to 5 April 1960, 66 plus one month a band for 6 April 1960 to 5 March 1961, 67 for 6 March 1961 to 5 April 1977, fixed dates from 6 May 2044 to 6 March 2046 for 6 April 1977 to 5 April 1978, and the 68th birthday after that.

The amount is a thirty-fifth of the full rate, £241.30 a week, for each qualifying year up to 35, and nothing under 10. Adding future years assumes one qualifying year per tax year until State Pension age. The years before it are costed as your spending each year, in today's money at the growth, charge and inflation assumptions on the retirement pages.