Gross to Net

Where every pound of your salary actually goes.
Sources of income
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The narrator

The job offer says "£32,000 a year". That number is called your gross pay. Almost none of it lands in your bank account. The amount that actually does is called your net pay, or take-home pay. The gap between them is bigger than most people guess. We'll walk through it, deduction by deduction, until you know exactly where every pound goes.

What you'll do

  • Pick a salary, or use one of three preset jobs.
  • Decide if there's a student loan to repay.
  • Click through the deductions, one at a time, on a real-looking payslip.
  • See your final take-home pay, and what share of the gross it actually is.
5Deductions
~5Minutes
2026Tax year

Why this matters

The most common shock when people start working is the size of the gap between gross and net. A £30,000 salary doesn't put £30,000 in your bank account. It puts something closer to £24,000. Knowing exactly how this works is the first piece of financial literacy that every adult needs. And it's a skill that pays off the moment you start earning.

Set up the payslip
Pick a salary, then choose whether there's a student loan.
£ per year

Other circumstances

They have a student loan (Plan 5) Repayments are 9% on income above £25,000 (Plan 5, the plan for most students starting an undergraduate course in England now). The exam will give you any figures you need.
They're paying into a workplace pension (illustrative 5%) Auto-enrolment minimums are usually worked out on qualifying earnings and schemes vary, so we use a simple 5% here as an illustration.
Your payslip
Each step reveals one deduction.
Payslip
Tax year 2026/27 · monthly
Gross pay this year
£0
Take home this year (so far)
£0
That's £0 a month landing in your bank account