State Pension Age Starts Rising to 67 — How to Check If You're Affected

The State Pension age is beginning its long-legislated move from 66 to 67, with the increase phasing in gradually across 2026, 2027, and 2028 rather than happening on a single fixed date for everyone. If you're in your late fifties or early sixties, this is worth checking now — not when you're a year away from expecting to claim.

Why this is happening

The rise from 66 to 67 was legislated under the Pensions Act 2014, part of a series of increases originally designed to keep the State Pension age broadly in step with rising life expectancy and to manage the long-term cost of the state pension system as the population ages. It follows the earlier increase from 65 to 66, which completed in 2020. A further rise to 68 is currently legislated for the mid-2030s to late 2030s, though the exact timing has been reviewed and debated by successive governments and could shift again.

Why your exact date matters

Because the increase is phased in month by month over roughly two years, two people born only a few months apart can end up with meaningfully different State Pension ages. There isn't a single "everyone born in this year gets 67" rule — the transition works on a sliding scale based on your specific date of birth. Guessing is risky: if you're planning your retirement finances, a mistaken assumption about your State Pension date could leave a gap of months, or in some cases longer, between when you stop working and when your State Pension income actually starts.

What's changing alongside the age rise

Separately from the age increase, the new State Pension rose to £241.30 a week for 2026/27, up from £230.25, while the basic State Pension (for those who reached pension age before April 2016) rose to £184.90 a week from £176.45 — both increases reflecting the 4.8% uprating tied to average earnings growth under the triple lock mechanism. These are separate issues from the age rise, but both affect how much retirement planning you need to do and when.

Checklist: what to do now

• Use the official GOV.UK "Check your State Pension age" tool — it only needs your date of birth and takes a couple of minutes.
• Separately, get your State Pension forecast to see how much you're on track to receive and whether you have any gaps in your National Insurance record.
• If you have gaps, check whether paying voluntary National Insurance contributions to fill them makes financial sense for you — this can sometimes add hundreds of pounds a year to your eventual pension for a modest one-off cost.
• If you're planning to retire before your State Pension age, work out how you'll bridge the income gap — workplace pension, personal savings, or continued part-time work.
• Review your plans every couple of years, since past State Pension age changes have occasionally been brought forward or delayed by government review.

How this compares internationally

The UK is not unusual in raising its pension age — most developed economies have done the same as life expectancy has risen. In the US, full Social Security retirement age is gradually rising to 67 for people born in 1960 or later, almost identical to the UK's trajectory. Australia's Age Pension qualifying age reached 67 in July 2023 and is not currently legislated to rise further, while several EU countries, including Germany, are phasing in a rise to 67 by the late 2020s.

Key Numbers

• New State Pension (2026/27): £241.30 a week
• Basic State Pension (2026/27): £184.90 a week
• 2026/27 uprating: 4.8%
• Phase-in period for the rise to 67: 2026 to 2028

Sources

• Check your State Pension age — GOV.UK
• Check your State Pension forecast — GOV.UK
• State Pension 2026/27 — MoneySavingExpert
• US Social Security Administration — full retirement age

Educational content only — not financial advice.