Police Sergeant Salary
The short answer
A police sergeant outside London takes home £37,788 to £39,608 a year — £3,149.03 to £3,300.69 a month — after income tax, National Insurance and pension contributions.
Sergeant Pay Progression (3 pay points)
| Pay Point | Outside London | Met / City (+£10,079) |
|---|---|---|
| Pay Point 2 (entry) | £55,443 | £65,522 |
| Pay Point 3 | £56,573 | £66,652 |
| Pay Point 4 (top) | £58,175 | £68,254 |
Take-Home Pay After Tax, NI and Pension
| Pay Point | Gross | Pension | Tax | NI | Net | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay Point 2 (entry) | £55,443 | £7,452 | £7,084 | £3,119 | £37,788 | £3,149.03 |
| Pay Point 3 | £56,573 | £7,603 | £7,280 | £3,141 | £38,548 | £3,212.35 |
| Pay Point 4 (top) | £58,175 | £7,819 | £7,575 | £3,174 | £39,608 | £3,300.69 |
Sergeants start at pay point 2, not 1 — the scale has no entry point below it. Figures exclude overtime, which sergeants can still claim, and assume the standard tax code with no student loan.
Check your own figure
The Sergeant is the first supervisory rank in the UK police service — the immediate line manager of a Constable team or shift. Sergeants supervise day-to-day operational policing, conduct briefings, oversee custody, and act as on-scene supervisor at incidents.
Promotion to Sergeant is by competitive process after a minimum of two years' competent service as a Constable, passing the OSPRE Part I knowledge exam and the National Police Promotions Framework (NPPF) work-based assessment.
Sergeants start at Pay Point 2 (£55,443) — there's no Pay Point 1; the rank starts at Point 2 by historical convention. Progression to top of scale (£58,175) typically takes around 2 years.
Met / City Sergeants get the full £10,079 London uplift on top: £3,260 London Weighting + £6,819 London Allowance. Both pensionable. Acting Up pay (when temporarily covering an Inspector vacancy) is available on top.
Promotion from constable to sergeant is the step where pay progression slows markedly. The constable scale runs across seven annual points from £32,255 to £52,015, a rise of over 60% across a career; the sergeant scale covers just three points and around £2,700 end to end. For most sergeants the meaningful pay growth after year two comes from allowances and overtime rather than the scale itself.