Find out when you'll qualify for the state pension and how many years you'll need to have worked to get a full state pension.
Paul Davies
In this article
People who reach state pension age after April 2016 need to have made at least 10 years of National Insurance contributions to qualify for the state pension.
To get the full amount of £221.20 per week in 2024-25, you need 35 years of National Insurance contributions.
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With life expectancy getting longer, the government is having to pay the state pension for longer, and to more people.
To accommodate the cost of this, the state pension age is gradually increasing.
It increased to 66 in October 2020.
To find out when you will qualify for the state pension, you can use our state pension age calculator.
Note that the calculator currently reflects the increase in state pension age to 68 occurring between 2044 and 2046. We will update the tool when the government publishes more information.
The state pension age will rise again to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
The age at which you're eligible for the state pension is set to increase again to age 68, with the change legislated to happen between 2044 and 2046.
Separate independent reviews in 2017 and 2023 have recommended the age rising to 68 in 2037-39 and 2041-43 respectively.
However, a final decision is unlikely before 2026 at the earliest.
The amount of state pension you will receive depends on how many years you've paid National Insurance contributions.
To claim the full state pension you need 35 years (it increased from 30 years in April 2016).
If you've made fewer than 35 years' contributions and at least 10 years' worth, you'll still get a state pension - it will just be adjusted to reflect the number of qualifying years you have.
If you have any gaps in your National Insurance record, you can pay voluntary contributions to build up your entitlement to the state pension.
Go further: National Insurance rates - find out how much National Insurance you'll pay
When you're working you pay National Insurance and get a qualifying year if:
If you're earning less than £12,584 a year but more than £6,396, you won't pay National Insurance but will still get a qualifying year.
If you're not working, or have had a period of unemployment, you can still qualify for the state pension.
This is through National Insurance credits , which fill in any gaps in your National Insurance record. You'll receive credits if:
You'll also receive National Insurance credits if you are in work, but don't earn enough to pay it.
The additional state pension, also known as the state earnings-related pension scheme (Serps) or state second pension (S2P) allowed employees to top up their state pension.
It disappeared in 2016 with the introduction of the new flat-rate state pension.
This means you can no longer build up additional state pension, but the state pension you get will reflect any additional state pension you've accrued in the past.
Find out more in our guide to the additional state pension .
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