Minimum Wage for 18, 19 and 20 Year Olds (2026/27)
The UK minimum wage for 18, 19 and 20 year olds is £10.85 an hour from 1 April 2026 — what that comes to a week, a month and a year, how much of it you actually keep, and what changes on your next birthday.
The minimum wage for 18, 19 and 20 year olds is £10.85 an hour
That rate applies from 1 April 2026 and is a legal minimum. It does not depend on the size of the employer, the sector, how long you have been there, or whether you are on a zero-hours or agency contract. Your rate is set by your age on the day you are paid, not the day the work was done.
| Who | Hourly rate | A year at 37.5 hrs |
|---|---|---|
| 21 and over | £12.71 | £24,785 |
| 18 to 20 | £10.85 | £21,158 |
| Under 18 | £8.00 | £15,600 |
| Apprentices (see rules) | £8.00 | £15,600 |
All UK minimum wage rates from 1 April 2026, with the annual figure at a 37.5-hour week. Your band is shown in bold.
What £10.85 an hour actually pays
Most people this age do not work a full week, so the annual headline figure is rarely the useful one. This is what the rate comes to across the hours actually worked, with the take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance rather than just the gross.
| Hours a week | A week | A year | Tax + NI | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 hrs | £173.60 | £9,027 | — | £752 |
| 20 hrs | £217.00 | £11,284 | — | £940 |
| 25 hrs | £271.25 | £14,105 | £430 | £1,140 |
| 30 hrs | £325.50 | £16,926 | £1,220 | £1,309 |
| 37.5 hrs | £406.88 | £21,158 | £2,405 | £1,563 |
| 40 hrs | £434.00 | £22,568 | £2,799 | £1,647 |
Gross pay at £10.85 an hour over 52 weeks, with Income Tax and National Insurance for 2026/27. A dash means nothing is deducted at all.
Working different hours from week to week? The take-home pay calculator takes any hourly figure, and the pro rata calculator converts a full-time salary to part-time hours.
Do you pay tax on the minimum wage at this age?
There is no age-related tax allowance in the UK — a 16 year old and a 60 year old get the same £12,570 Personal Allowance, and National Insurance starts at the same point. What changes with age is the hourly rate, and therefore how many hours it takes to reach those thresholds.
At £10.85 an hour you can work up to about 22.3 hours a week before any Income Tax or National Insurance is deducted at all. On 30 hours you would earn £16,926 a year and pay £1,220 in tax and NI.
If tax is being taken and you think it should not be, the cause is almost always your tax code rather than the rate — a first job with no P45 often starts on an emergency code, which taxes each pay packet in isolation and ignores the allowance you have not used yet.
The apprentice trap at 18, 19 and 20
This is the single most expensive thing to get wrong in this age band. If you are on an apprenticeship, you are entitled to the apprentice rate of £8.00 an hour — not the £10.85 rate — but only while you are under 19, or 19 and over and still in the first year of the apprenticeship.
Once you are 19 and have completed your first year, you must move onto the rate for your age. A 20-year-old apprentice in their second year is legally entitled to £10.85 an hour, not £8.00.
The gap is worth £5,558 a year on a 37.5-hour week, so an employer who forgets to move you across is underpaying you by more than the difference between most pay rises. It is one of the most common causes of minimum wage underpayment, and it is the employer's responsibility to get right, not yours to ask for.
What happens when you turn 21
You move onto the National Living Wage: £12.71 an hour. That is £1.86 more an hour, a rise of 17.1%, worth £3,627 a year on a 37.5-hour week.
The increase applies from the start of the first pay period after your birthday — so if you are paid monthly and turn 21 mid-month, the new rate usually starts the following month rather than being split across the two. Employers are expected to apply it automatically, but it is worth checking the payslip after your birthday, because a missed age change is one of the most common ways people end up underpaid.
Minimum wage at 18, 19, 20: FAQ
What is the minimum wage for a 18 year old in the UK?
£10.85 an hour from 1 April 2026. That is £325.50 a week on 30 hours, or £21,158 a year on a full-time 37.5-hour week. The rate is a legal minimum, not a recommendation — every UK employer must pay at least this much.
How much is £10.85 an hour a year?
£21,158 a year before tax on a 37.5-hour week, or £16,926 on 30 hours. Divided across 12 months that is £1,763 and £1,411 a month gross respectively.
Do 18, 19 and 20 year olds pay tax on minimum wage?
Only above 22.3 hours a week. The Personal Allowance is £12,570 a year and National Insurance starts at the same figure, and neither is reduced because of your age. At £10.85 an hour that works out to about 22.3 hours a week before a single pound is deducted — below that you keep every penny you earn.
What happens to my pay when I turn 21?
You move onto the National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour — a rise of £1.86 an hour, or 17.1%. On a 37.5-hour week that is £3,627 more a year. The change applies from the start of the first pay period after your birthday, and your employer should make it automatically.
What if I am being paid less than the minimum wage?
Underpayment is illegal regardless of whether you agreed to it — you cannot contract out of the minimum wage. Check your payslip against the hours you actually worked, including any time spent on training, opening up, or clearing up after closing, which all counts. If it falls short, raise it with your employer first, and then complain to HMRC via Acas, which can investigate and recover arrears on your behalf.
Does the apprentice rate apply to me?
Only if you are under 19, or 19 and over and in the first year of your apprenticeship. Otherwise you are entitled to the full £10.85 age rate. Staying on the apprentice rate when you should have moved off it costs £5,558 a year on a 37.5-hour week.