Getting ready for your first job

A first job — a Saturday shift, an apprenticeship, a summer gig — is a big step, and it comes with some new money words. None of them are complicated once you've seen them. Here's a friendly heads-up on what to expect when your first pay lands, so it all makes sense on day one instead of catching you out.

You'll get a payslip

Each time you're paid, you get a payslip — think of it as a receipt showing what you earned and anything that was taken off before the money reached you. It can be paper or in an app. It's worth keeping an eye on it: it's how you check you've been paid correctly for the hours you worked.

Gross pay vs net pay

Two words you'll see a lot. Gross pay is the full amount you earned before anything comes off. Net pay (sometimes called 'take-home') is what actually lands in your bank account. The gap between them is tax and other deductions — so net pay is always the smaller, real-world number, and it's normal for take-home to be a bit less than you first worked out.

The minimum pay for your age

There's a legal minimum amount an employer has to pay for each hour of work — the National Minimum Wage (or National Living Wage for older workers). The rate depends on your age and rises over time, so it's worth checking the current figure for your age on gov.uk before you start. Knowing it means you can check your pay adds up: hours worked times the rate should roughly match your gross pay.

Why a bit gets taken off

Some of your pay can go toward Income Tax and National Insurance. The good news: everyone can earn a certain amount each year — the Personal Allowance, currently £12,570 a year — before paying any Income Tax at all. Earn less than that across the year and there's no Income Tax to pay; earn more, and tax comes off only the part above it, never the whole lot. In a first part-time job, plenty of people don't reach that level anyway.

National Insurance and your tax code

National Insurance is a separate deduction that only starts once you earn above a set level; it goes toward things like the State Pension and the NHS later in life. You'll also see a 'tax code' on your payslip — a short set of letters and numbers that tells your employer how much tax-free pay you get. When you start, giving your employer the right details helps them set this up correctly.

If something looks off

When you start a job, tax can occasionally be worked out wrong at first — for example if your details aren't set up yet — and you can usually get any extra back, because the money is yours. Your payslip and a yearly summary called a P60 are what you'd use to check. If numbers don't look right, a trusted grown-up or your employer's payroll team can help you sort it. This is general information to help you feel ready, not personal tax advice.