Police Acting Up Pay
Typical Acting Up Uplift by Rank (entry-to-entry differences)
| Acting Up From → To | Annual uplift | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PC top → Sergeant entry | ~£3,312 | £55,443 - £52,015 |
| Sergeant top → Inspector entry | ~£7,560 | £66,000 - £58,175 |
| Inspector top → Chief Inspector entry | ~£1,362 | £72,806 - £71,396 |
| Chief Inspector top → Superintendent entry | ~£9,867 | £87,123 - £76,911 |
| Superintendent top → Chief Supt entry | ~£4,782 | £107,430 - £102,481 |
Acting Up Pay (or "Temporary Promotion Pay") applies when an officer is required to perform the role of a higher rank for a continuous period. Under Police Regulations, an officer acting in a higher rank for 10 consecutive working days or more is entitled to pay at the higher rank for the period.
The pay is calculated as the difference between your substantive (current) rank pay point and the equivalent or next pay point at the higher rank. It's typically paid as a separate line on payslips during the acting-up period, then ceases when the temporary arrangement ends.
Acting Up Pay is pensionable for the period it's paid. So during a 6-month acting-up arrangement, your pensionable pay reflects the higher rank's basic for those 6 months.
The uplift varies enormously by which rank step is involved — from around £1,400/year (Inspector → Chief Inspector entry) to nearly £10,000/year (Chief Inspector → Superintendent entry, which is the largest step up the scale).
One change to watch: the PRRB's 2026 report recommended abolishing the 10-day qualifying period from 1 September 2026, so acting-up pay would start from day one. The government accepted the 2026 pay award at 3.5%; whether this allowance recommendation was accepted in full will be confirmed in the Home Office circular — this page will be updated when it is.
The calculator doesn't model Acting Up directly — enter the additional annual amount you'd earn in the "Other allowances" input to see how it affects your take-home and tax position.
The two things that make Acting Up Pay behave differently from overtime are that it is pensionable and that it is paid at a defined rate rather than by the hour. Being pensionable cuts both ways: a contribution is deducted, which reduces take-home slightly, but the period counts towards your pension and the income is reflected in the benefits that build up. For a long arrangement that trade is usually worth more than the monthly difference suggests.