The £120 Annual NMC Fee Explained

The £120 annual NMC fee is what keeps you on the UK nursing register. Paid every year, regardless of whether it’s a revalidation year, the fee is the financial side of registration that’s easiest to forget about, and the second most common cause of lapsed registration after missed revalidation.

What the fee pays for

The NMC’s published annual accounts show the breakdown of how registration fees are used:

• Fitness-to-practise: the largest single use. Investigation and hearing of concerns.
• Registration operations: applications, renewals, identity verification, register maintenance.
• Revalidation operations: the audit programme, system maintenance, guidance development.
• Education standards: approval and audit of nursing education programmes.
• Communications and policy: the Code, professional standards, public education.
• Operations: IT, governance, staff.

The fee is the NMC’s primary income source. The regulator is publicly accountable but financially independent. It doesn’t receive central government funding.

Who pays the fee

Every registered nurse, midwife or nursing associate pays £120 per year. This includes:

• Newly qualified registrants from their registration date.
• Working nurses regardless of employer.
• Agency, bank, locum and self-employed.
• Nurses on long-term leave (parental, sick), where the fee continues unless registration is allowed to lapse.
• Nurses working overseas who want to remain on the UK register.

The fee is per registrant, not per registration. A dual registrant pays £120, not £240.

Tax relief

The NMC fee is on HMRC’s list of approved professional bodies. The full £120 is tax-deductible at your marginal rate.

For basic-rate taxpayers (20%): Tax relief = £24. Net cost = £96.

For higher-rate taxpayers (40%): Tax relief = £48. Net cost = £72.

For additional-rate taxpayers (45%): Tax relief = £54. Net cost = £66.

How to claim:

• If you’re PAYE only: file a P87 form once. HMRC adjusts your tax code so the relief is applied to future years. Backdate claims up to 4 years if not previously claimed.
• If you complete Self Assessment: claim under “Professional fees and subscriptions” in the employment section.

Tax relief is yours to claim. HMRC doesn’t apply it automatically.

Hardship discount

The NMC operates a 50% hardship discount that drops the annual fee to £60.

Qualifying criteria (always verify against the current NMC page — criteria are updated):

• Universal Credit recipients.
• Some disability benefit recipients.
• Specific low-income thresholds for households.

Application process:

• Apply through NMC Online.
• Provide documentation of the qualifying benefit or income.
• Renewal required each year (it’s not automatic).

If you might qualify and have been paying full price, the discount can be backdated in some circumstances. Worth checking the NMC’s current page.

How to pay

Direct debit (recommended):

• Set up once through NMC Online.
• The fee is collected automatically on your annual renewal date.
• You can’t accidentally forget.
• The most common cause of lapsed registration is forgotten payment; direct debit eliminates this risk.

Card payment:

• One-off payment through NMC Online.
• Required if direct debit isn’t set up.
• Requires you to remember the date.

Cheque or postal payment:

• Available but slow.
• Not recommended for time-critical payments.

Direct debit safety

A direct debit at the right account ensures the fee is paid every year. Risks to manage:

• Account closure or change. Update NMC Online if you change bank accounts.
• Insufficient funds. Some bank accounts will reject the debit if the account is overdrawn at the moment of collection.
• NMC email reminders going to spam. Whitelist NMC Online email so you see reminders.

Setting up direct debit on a current account you actively manage minimises these risks.

In a revalidation year

In your revalidation year, you pay the £120 alongside completing the revalidation submission. They’re separate items in NMC Online but completed at roughly the same time.

The portal won’t let you complete revalidation without the fee being current. You can’t accidentally complete the paperwork but lose your registration to non-payment.

Newly qualified

If you’re newly qualified, the registration fee is paid at the point of joining the register. From the second year onwards, the £120 annual fee continues at the renewal date.

Many NHS trusts reimburse the registration fee for first-year nurses as part of retention packages. Check your employee benefits.

When the fee changes

The fee was £120 from April 2025. The NMC reviews fees periodically and can change them. The current fee is always published on the NMC website.

If you’ve set up a direct debit, the new amount is collected automatically. No action is needed beyond ensuring the account can cover any increase.

Common fee-related issues

Missed payment leading to lapse. The most common single cause. Direct debit prevents.

Wrong account details on direct debit. Sometimes after a bank merger or account change, the direct debit fails. The NMC sends an email reminder; check that contact details are current.

Hardship discount renewal missed. The discount has to be applied for each year. Set a calendar reminder.

Tax relief never claimed. Years of tax relief unclaimed for nurses who’ve been on PAYE the whole time. Worth catching up on the P87.

The penultimate chapter covers returning to NMC practice after a lapsed registration.