State Pension rises 3.9% to £250.70 a week in April 2027; the 25p age-80 addition stays frozen

The two headlines, and what DWP's table says

Two kinds of headline are going round this week. Some say State Pension payments are “frozen” in April 2027; others ask whether a 3.5% rise is still coming. Both point back to the same place: DWP's proposed benefit and pension rates for 2027 to 2028, published on GOV.UK at 9:30am on 11 November 2026.

GOV.UK says the table lists the rates “as set out in the written ministerial statement made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 28 October 2026.” The table is titled “Proposed”. On it, the main State Pension rates rise by 3.9%. The main State Pension rates are not frozen.

What the State Pension will be, week by week

The full new State Pension goes from £241.30 a week in 2026 to 2027 to £250.70 in 2027 to 2028. That is £9.40 a week more, a rise of 3.9%. Over 52 weeks it comes to £488.80 a year, our sum from DWP's weekly figures.

The full basic State Pension goes from £184.90 to £192.10 a week, £7.20 more, or £374.40 over a year. GOV.UK says you get the basic State Pension, rather than the new one, if you're a man born before 6 April 1951 or a woman born before 6 April 1953.

Many people get less than the full rate, depending on their National Insurance record. Your rise is still about 3.9% of the new or basic State Pension you get, so it will be smaller in pounds. The Work and Pensions Secretary's statement says the new rates “will mainly come into effect from 12 April 2027”. DWP's rates are for Great Britain; the statement notes State Pensions are “a transferred matter in Northern Ireland”.

If you live abroad, GOV.UK says your State Pension only increases each year if you live in the EEA, Gibraltar, Switzerland or a country with a social security agreement with the UK, and “you cannot get increases in Canada or New Zealand”.

Where the 3.5% comes from

The triple lock raises the State Pension each year by the highest of 2.5%, inflation or earnings growth. The Budget on 28 October said that continues “through to April 2029”.

This year earnings growth was the highest of the three. In his written statement on 28 October, the Work and Pensions Secretary said the basic and new State Pensions rise by 3.9% “in line with the increase in average weekly earnings in the year to May-July 2026”. The ONS had put annual growth in total pay in Great Britain at 3.9% for May to July. Inflation was lower: the ONS said on 21 October that CPI “rose by 3.5% in the 12 months to September 2026”.

That 3.5% is the rise for the parts of the State Pension that follow prices rather than the triple lock. In DWP's table the protected payment, additional State Pension and increments for putting off your pension all go up by 3.5%. So someone with a £20 a week protected payment on top of the full new State Pension would see that part rise by 70p, our worked example.

What doesn't rise in the table

The addition at age 80. DWP's table lists the “Addition at age 80” at £0.25 a week in 2026 to 2027 and £0.25 in 2027 to 2028. This is the 25p the press calls the over-80s addition. It is different from the over 80 pension, a separate payment for people with little or no basic State Pension, which GOV.UK puts at £110.75 a week this year; DWP's table raises that rate, listed as Category C or D, to £115.05.

The Christmas Bonus. GOV.UK describes it as “a one-off tax-free £10 payment made before Christmas”. It is not in DWP's table of rates for 2027 to 2028.

The Winter Fuel Payment. This isn't a weekly rate and isn't in the uprating table either. For this winter, GOV.UK says you could get between £100 and £300 if you were born on or before 27 June 1960 and usually live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Some reports give £150 as the lowest amount; GOV.UK says £100. Our Winter Fuel Payment guide has the detail, including the £35,000 income rule.

Pension Credit and tax

Pension Credit rises in line with the State Pension. DWP's table takes the standard minimum guarantee from £238.00 to £247.30 a week for a single person, £9.30 more, and from £363.25 to £377.40 for a couple, £14.15 more. If your income is close to those figures, it is worth checking whether you qualify: GOV.UK says people on Pension Credit can also get the £150 Warm Home Discount.

On tax, the Budget brought in a new Pension Tax Allowance from 6 April 2027. The Treasury says pensioners with incomes at or under the value of the full new State Pension “will not be brought into paying tax because of State Pension uprating in this Parliament”. It says the allowance “will be uprated in line with the full new State Pension”.