Buying annual leave
All colleagues can buy up to an additional one week’s annual leave each holiday year. One week’s annual leave is defined as follows:
- 37.5 hours for staff on Agenda for Change contracts
- 40 hours for resident doctors/medical staff not paid in sessions
- Up to 12 PAs for consultants
- Pro-rata for part time staff
Applying to buy annual leave
The application process for colleagues to buy up to an additional one week’s annual leave is open from Friday 1 August to Friday 5 September.
You can apply to buy additional annual leave via the following link:
All fields on the form must be completed before the form is submitted. Once submitted, the form will be sent to your line manager for approval.
Annual leave that is purchased, must be used this financial year (before Tuesday 31 March 2026). Payment for the additional days will be deducted in six monthly instalments from the employee’s salary, from October 2025 through to March 2026.
Please note, that within one annual leave year, only up to one week’s additional leave can be bought.
Approving the purchase of leave requests
Approval to purchase additional leave will be authorised by your direct line manager.
As a line manager, you will be notified of any new approval requests by ‘Power Automate’ in your MS Teams channel. The notification will include a link, which when clicked, will take you through to the page where you can approve the request.
It is the line manager's responsibility to ensure that the submission is correct and in line with the staff member’s contracted hours/PAs. Line managers will also be responsible for recording the purchase of any approved additional annual leave requests, ensuring that any required adjustments are made to the annual leave entitlement for staff members concerned.
Line managers must review all requests and confirm approval by no later than Friday 19 September.
Payment for approved requests
Colleagues who submit their applications will receive any additional leave that they purchase this annual leave year (April 2025 - March 2026). Payment for the additional days will be deducted in six monthly instalments from the employee’s salary, from October 2025 through to March 2026.
Video guides
Buying annual leave on behalf of a colleague
Reviewing managers guide
Buying annual leave user guide
Questions and answers
Do all staff have the opportunity to buy up to an additional one week of annual leave each holiday year?
Yes, all staff are eligible.
Colleagues working at bands 1 and 2, and those at the entry point of band 3, may still purchase up to 37.5 hours of additional leave (pro-rata for part time staff) , but the way in which it is presented in their pay slip will look different.
For resident doctors, the impact of any additional leave must be considered by Health Education England (local office) and you must have written approval from the TPD/Dean before submitting an application. Applications that do not have prior written approval will not be approved.
If I bought annual leave in February for this leave year (April 2025 - March 2026), will I also be able to purchase leave in August/September?
No, colleagues can only purchase up to one week of additional leave within one annual leave year.
My staff do not have access to the online form, how can they apply to purchase their leave?
Managers will need to complete the information on behalf of colleagues who do not have access to a computer/internet during work. The same consideration and approval will be required.
When will annual leave purchased in February be deducted?
Deductions will be made in 12 monthly instalments from the employee’s salary, from April through to the following March.
When will annual leave purchased in August/September be deducted?
Deductions will be made in six monthly instalments from the employee’s salary, from October 2025 through to March 2026.
What rate will purchased annual leave be paid at?
The rate of pay will be calculated based on the staff member's basic salary as at 1 April 2025 for those on Agenda for Change, and on standard contractual pay as at 01 April 2025 for medical and dental staff (in accordance with their rota template/job plan).
I want to purchase annual leave, how do I calculate the cost?
The cost of purchasing leave will vary between colleagues depending on their working hours and salary.
A calculator has been provided on this page to allow you to check the anticipated costs of purchasing additional leave throughout the holiday year. Please note, the figure provided should be used as a guide only.
When can I take the additional leave?
The annual leave should be taken during this leave year (April 2025 - March 2026), and managed with your line manager, as per the current leave procedure.
For medical consultants and SAS grades, this additional leave cannot be taken during on-call or hot weeks, and must be taken during elective weeks. The quantum of work delivered will be reduced and therefore there will be a requirement to review the impact of this on the service plan. On-call should not be impacted by the leave being taken in elective weeks.
What if I change my mind?
The opportunity to buy annual leave is time limited. After the deadline has passed, colleagues will no longer be able to buy additional leave until the next opportunity. Furthermore, once a request has been submitted and approved, employees will be unable to withdraw their request.
For any direct queries in relation to the purchasing of annual leave, please contact:
A member of my team who is leaving has purchased annual leave. How do I process this on the termination forms?
We are advising managers to keep the purchased hours separate. You will need to pro rata the base annual leave and then add back in the purchased. Payroll will collect, in full, the remaining balance of the purchased annual leave and process for payment any outstanding leave documented on the leaver form. If you have any queries, please contact Payroll directly.
What happens if I choose to purchase additional annual leave and the deductions from my salary take my pay below the National Minimum Wage (NMW)?
We want all colleagues, regardless of banding, to be able to benefit from this scheme. We are pleased to have found a solution that is compliant with the national minimum wage, which we have not had previously. However, there are still some limitations that will impact colleagues.
Colleagues working at bands 1 and 2, and those at the entry point of band 3, may still purchase up to 37.5 hours of additional leave (pro-rata for part time staff), but the way in which it is presented in their pay slip will look different.
Colleagues at bands 1 and 2, should apply to purchase additional annual leave via the below link. This will be deducted through their pay as ‘authorised unpaid leave’.
Colleagues at the entry point of band 3, should apply to purchase additional annual leave via the below link. Any additional annual leave purchased up to 30 hours will be deducted from their pay as usual. Any annual leave in excess of that, up to an additional 7.5 hours, will be deducted through their pay as ‘authorised unpaid leave’.
Colleagues will not see any additional deductions in their payslip, but the hours paid will be reduced to reflect this. This will result in reduced tax and national insurance deductions, similar to those who will receive this benefit via annual leave deductions. The deduction is considered non-pensionable, which means that the amount being deducted from pay does not have any impact on your pension calculations and pensionable earnings remain unaffected.
Please note, there is no option for an employee to opt out of NMW.
If I choose to purchase annual leave, will there be any impact on my pension?
The deduction is a gross deduction, which means that it is taken from your pay before any taxes are applied. As a result, both your taxable income and your National Insurance (NI) contributions are lowered. However, the deduction is considered non-pensionable, which means that the amount being deducted from your pay does not have any impact on your pension calculations. In other words, while your gross pay may be reduced due to this deduction, your pensionable earnings remain unaffected.
What impact will the pay award have on the monthly deductions?
Please note that deductions will be in line with the recent pay award announcement. Please take this into consideration when using the calculator to estimate your monthly repayments.
