When does the State Pension age increase to 67? Key dates

Rise from 66 to 67 starts 6 April 2026 and completes April 2028. Your State Pension age is set by your date of birth, not just the calendar date. People born 6 April 1960 to 5 March 1961 fall in a transitional band where the age rises by one month per birth month, from 66 years 1 month to 66 years 11 months. Anyone born on or after 6 March 1961 has a State Pension age of 67. The rise from 67 to 68 is scheduled for 2044–2046 under current legislation, and that timetable may change.

When does the State Pension age rise to 67?

Start and end dates

The rise runs for two years. The exact State Pension age for any individual depends on their date of birth, not on the calendar date alone.

How the phasing works

The phased rise replaces a single cut-over. Under this approach, the State Pension age increases gradually between the start and end dates instead of switching from 66 to 67 overnight.

Planning around the window

Budget calendars should use the phase dates rather than assuming a fixed age of 66 or 67. Three practical steps help:

• Note 6 April 2026 and April 2028 as the boundaries of the transition in your household calendar.
• Confirm your own State Pension age before fixing any retirement income date in your budget.
• Recheck your State Pension age on GOV.UK after any official announcement, and keep the dated result.

Which birth dates are affected?

The intermediate ages apply only to people born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961, which forms the transitional band. Within that band, the State Pension age rises by one month for each month of birth. Someone born 6 April to 5 May 1960 can claim at 66 years 1 month, and someone born 6 February to 5 March 1961 can claim at 66 years 11 months. Their State Pension age therefore falls somewhere between 66 and 67.

Anyone born on or after 6 March 1961 has a State Pension age of 67 and can claim from their 67th birthday. This group does not pass through an intermediate age.

To place a date in the band, count monthly windows starting from 6 April 1960. The window 6 April to 5 May 1960 is the first, and the window 6 February to 5 March 1961 is the eleventh. Each window adds one month to the age, giving 66 years 11 months at the end of the band. The next window, starting 6 March 1961, reaches the full age of 67, so the step to 67 is a single boundary rather than a gradual change.

How do I check my own State Pension age?

The official way to confirm your own State Pension age is the State Pension age checker on GOV.UK. GOV.UK states that this checker is the official way to confirm your own date, so use its result for planning rather than a date estimated from a general table or a secondhand article.

Run the checker, follow its steps, and read the State Pension age it returns. Write the result down with the date you ran the check. A result is only current as of that date, so the saved note tells you when it was last confirmed.

Results can change over time. GOV.UK says the State Pension age is regularly reviewed, so the checker’s output may change in the future. A result saved earlier is not a permanent confirmation, and a new check can return a different figure.

Recheck after each official announcement. When the government or GOV.UK publishes a change, a review outcome, or a new timetable, run the checker again and compare the new output with your saved note. If the two differ, the newest GOV.UK result replaces the old one. The dates below are reference points where a recheck is worth doing:

When will the State Pension age rise to 68?

The rise from 67 to 68 is scheduled for 2044–2046 under current legislation. That window is the timetable in force today for the 68 threshold. A proposal to bring the rise forward to 2037–2039 has been put forward, but it has not been enacted, so it does not change the dates that apply now.

The rise to 67 is confirmed in law, while the 2044–2046 timetable for 68 may change. Current legislation is the only basis for planning the 68 threshold, and an unenacted proposal should not be used as a reference date. To find your exact State Pension age, use the GOV.UK State Pension age checker.

Sources: Royal London (2026-04-05); Pension Bible (2026-04-09); GOV.UK (2026).

Could the timetable change after the review?

The timetable for the rise from 67 to 68 can change. Current legislation sets out a schedule for that rise, but the government has stated that the timetable may change. The review launched in 2025 is part of that process, but its scope is narrow: it will not change the rise to 67.

Ten years’ notice is the main protection for people affected by any change. The government has said it will give at least ten years’ notice of any change to the timetable for the rise to 68. That notice period is a minimum, so a change announced under this commitment would give anyone affected at least ten years to adjust their plans.

Subject to future government decisions describes the limit of that protection. The timetable is not fixed by the review alone. Any change depends on decisions the government makes later, and the government has said it will give at least ten years’ notice of any change, but this is a stated commitment, and it does not decide whether a change happens.

The table below separates what the review leaves unaffected from what remains open.

Because the timetable depends on future decisions, the current dates should be treated as the position under current legislation, not as a guarantee. The point of the notice commitment is that any change should be visible well before it takes effect.

What does it mean for your household budget?

The rise from 66 to 67 means your first State Pension payment may arrive later than your household plans assume. Under the phased rise, which runs from 6 April 2026 to April 2028, the claim age can be anywhere from 66 years 1 month to 67. Your budget needs to cover the gap months, meaning the months between the end of your other income and the first payment. The table below assumes, for illustration, that your other income ends at your 66th birthday.

Bridging income between 66 and your claim date

Use these steps to size the bridge:

1. Confirm your claim age before budgeting.
2. List essential monthly costs: housing, energy, food, insurance, debt repayments.
3. List income that continues after 66: wages, workplace pension, and savings withdrawals.
4. Calculate the monthly shortfall as essential costs minus continuing income.
5. Multiply the shortfall by your gap months to get the total sum to cover.

Budgeting for a later first payment month

Treat the first payment month as unconfirmed until you check it through the official route. Keep a separate reserve for the period between the claim date and the first payment, and do not count the State Pension in your monthly budget until its first payment is confirmed.

Modelling cash flow under different start dates

Build three cases: earliest, midpoint and latest claim age in your birth-date range. For each case, the monthly shortfall stays the same. Only the number of months to fund changes, so the total required reserve scales in direct proportion to the gap months.

For planning beyond the current window, the rise from 67 to 68 is scheduled for 2044–2046 under current legislation, so keep that range as the baseline unless the law changes.

Key dates at a glance

This register sorts each State Pension age milestone by legal status, so you can see which points are fixed and which may still change. Only the rise from 66 to 67 is confirmed in law. The rise to 68 is in the current legislative timetable but is not fixed.

How to read the status labels

Confirmed in law means the milestone is set in legislation that is currently in force. Only a change to that legislation would alter it.

Scheduled, not guaranteed means the date appears in current legislation, but the government can change the timetable. For the rise to 68, the 2044–2046 window is the current plan, not a settled outcome.

Not enacted means a proposal exists but has no legal effect.

Using the register

Check any date against the status label before relying on it. For a personal figure, the State Pension age checker on GOV.UK is the official source.

Frequently asked questions

When does the State Pension age rise to 67 start and finish?

The phased rise starts on 6 April 2026 and completes in April 2028, so the transition runs for two years. Because the rise is staggered, your own State Pension age depends on your date of birth rather than on the calendar date.

Which people have an age between 66 and 67?

Only people born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 fall into the transitional band, where each birth month adds one month to the State Pension age, from 66 years 1 month up to 66 years 11 months. Anyone born on or after 6 March 1961 has a State Pension age of exactly 67, and can claim from their 67th birthday.

Could the rise to 68 be brought forward?

The rise to 68 is scheduled for 2044–2046 under current law, but that timetable can change. The government has committed to giving at least ten years’ notice of any change, which is a policy commitment rather than a legal guarantee, and proposals to move the rise to 2037–2039 have not been enacted.

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