The forecast says 31 years will do, or that 38 will not, and the reader who was told 35 assumes an error. There is none. Thirty-five is the rule for a working life that began after April 2016; everyone older was given a personal starting amount on that date, and the number of years the forecast asks for is the number that lifts it to the full rate. This page is that calculation, with the rule about contracting out that makes the difference.
The rule for a record that began after 2016
GOV.UK says you need 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any new State Pension, and that if your record started after April 2016 you will need 35 qualifying years to get the full rate of £241.30 a week (GOV.UK, The new State Pension: eligibility, checked 1 November 2026).
Its explainer adds that most people will have made, or been credited with, contributions before 6 April 2016, and that their pension takes both halves of the record into account (GOV.UK, Your State Pension explained, checked 1 November 2026). For anyone reading this at 60 or over, the second half is the one that counts.
The starting amount
GOV.UK’s explainer says that for people with qualifying years at 5 April 2016 a starting amount was worked out for the new State Pension: the higher of what the previous system would have paid up to 6 April 2016, and what the new State Pension would have paid on the record to that date (GOV.UK, Your State Pension explained, checked 1 November 2026).
Both figures, it says, reflect any periods when you were contracted out of the additional State Pension, paying less National Insurance because a workplace pension took over part of it. The starting amount is then either below the full rate, at it, or above, and each case has its own rule below.
Below the full rate: each year adds about £6.89
GOV.UK’s explainer says that if your starting amount is less than the full new State Pension, each qualifying year added after 5 April 2016 adds a set amount to it, about £6.89 a week, a thirty-fifth of the full rate, until you reach the full amount or State Pension age, whichever comes first (GOV.UK, Your State Pension explained, checked 1 November 2026).
Its contracting-out page repeats the figure for years from 5 April 2016 (GOV.UK, What contracting out was, checked 1 November 2026).
That is the arithmetic behind the forecast’s number of years. A starting amount of £200 needs six more years, whatever the total on the record; one of £170 needs eleven. A record with 40 years can still be short, and a record with 30 can be full.
Contracting out
The deduction that lowers a starting amount is contracting out. GOV.UK says that if you were contracted out before 6 April 2016 you might not get the full rate, because an amount is taken off your new State Pension (GOV.UK, What contracting out was, checked 1 November 2026). The reason is where the contributions went.
GOV.UK says that is because you paid National Insurance at a lower rate, or some of the contributions you paid were used to contribute to a workplace or private pension, and its main State Pension page says that if you were contracted out you will usually need more than 35 qualifying years to get the full rate (GOV.UK, The new State Pension: eligibility, checked 1 November 2026).
Public sector staff, and members of most final salary schemes, were contracted out for decades. The money did not vanish: the workplace pension that was built with it is the other half of the figure. The forecast shows the amount deducted for contracting out; GOV.UK’s public pages do not name it, and this page does not quote a term for it.
Above the full rate: the protected payment
GOV.UK’s explainer says that if your starting amount is more than the full new State Pension you will get the higher amount when you reach State Pension age, and that the difference between the full rate and your starting amount is called your protected payment (GOV.UK, Your State Pension explained, checked 1 November 2026).
A protected payment comes from a long record under the old system with additional State Pension, and it is paid on top of the full rate. Years added after 2016 cannot increase it. Someone in that position has nothing to gain from voluntary contributions, which is one reason to read the forecast before paying, on our voluntary contributions page.
The forecast, and its limits
GOV.UK says you cannot use the forecast service if you are already getting your State Pension or have deferred it, and that its results may change because State Pension age is regularly reviewed (GOV.UK, Check your State Pension forecast, checked 1 November 2026). Before pension age there are three routes to it.
GOV.UK says applying online is quickest, and that with more than 30 days to go you can send form BR19 by post or call the Future Pension Centre for a posted forecast.
The forecast shows the starting amount’s effect without naming it: a figure based on the record to date, a higher figure if you carry on, and the years between them. Our is my pension on track page names the four documents to read together, and the National Insurance credits page covers the free years a record may be missing before any are bought. Once the pension is in payment, the State Pension hub covers what is paid and when.