Change to the annual registration fees
The NMC’s Council has taken a decision to increase the annual registration fees for the first time in 11 years.
Subject to Parliamentary approval the new fees will apply to notices for payment of fees sent on or after 1 October 2026. Notices are sent approximately 60 days before the retention expiry date and 90 days before the revalidation expiry date.
You are not required to take any immediate action.
Due to inflation since the NMC last increased the fees, there has been a 28.8% loss in the real value of the fees, with a resultant loss of £186m of income up to the end of March.
As a result of freezing the fees, the regulator has had to start funding its vital and expanding workload by drawing down on its reserves – and posting substantial deficits.
Its reserves haven fallen from £101m in March 2024 to around £49.6m now. They are projected to fall to £15.9m in March 2027, if the fees do not increase.
Council recognised that many of the respondents who took part in the NMC’s consultation on its plans were clear about the ongoing financial pressures facing nurses, midwives and nursing associates today. However, it also could not ignore that the regulator is now posting substantial deficits on an annual basis.
Log in to MyNMC to pay your annual fee by:
- annual or quarterly direct debit, or
- credit or debit card.
When you need to pay
Your payment is due by your fee expiry date. You can check your date in MyNMC.
It’s important that you pay your fee on time, otherwise your registration will automatically lapse and you won’t be able to practise until you’re readmitted to the register – this can take between two and six weeks.
Set up a Direct Debit
If you have a UK bank account, you can set up a Direct Debit to pay your fee in one annual amount or in four quarterly instalments.
It takes 11 days for us to set up a Direct Debit with your bank, so you should do this at least 11 days before the first of your fee expiry month.
If you want to set up a Direct Debit after this date you’ll need to make the first payment by debit or credit card.
To set up a Direct Debit, log in to MyNMC and go to the account services section.
Once your Direct Debit is set up we’ll send you an email telling you when your payment will be collected. Once your payment has been collected, your registration will be updated within five working days.
Our emails may go into your junk email folder so make sure you check it regularly. To stop this add noreply@nmc-uk.org to your safe senders list.
Paying by annual Direct Debit
We’ll collect your fee every year on or around 1st of your fee expiry month.
If we’re not able to collect your Direct Debit, we’ll attempt to recollect on or around 10th of your fee expiry month.
If we’re again unable to collect it then, you’ll need to log in to MyNMC to pay by credit or debit card.
We’ll send you a final notice 14 days before your payment’s due. If you don’t pay your fee by your fee expiry date your registration will automatically lapse.
Paying by quarterly Direct Debit instalments
We’ll collect your fee instalments every three months on or around 1st of the month. You’ll need to have an active quarterly Direct Debit set up with us.
If we’re not able to collect your Direct Debit, we’ll attempt to recollect on or around 10th of your fee expiry month.
If we’re again unable to collect it then, you’ll need to log in to MyNMC to pay by credit or debit card.
If you don’t pay before the end of the quarter your registration will automatically lapse.
Your Direct Debit will remain in place for the following year if you choose to pay the outstanding balance for the year.
You’ll still need to pay your outstanding balance if you decide to lapse your registration at any point during the year.
Changing your Direct Debit details
To change your Direct Debit details, you'll need to cancel your Direct Debit with your bank and then allow 5 to 10 working days for that to be processed.
After that, you can set up a new Direct Debit within MyNMC.
Pay by credit or debit card
Log in to MyNMC to pay your fee by credit or debit card. Once logged in, you'll see an alert asking you to pay your fee. Follow the information to add your payment details.
We don’t offer the option to pay instalments by credit or debit card. To pay by instalments you must set up a Direct Debit.
We don’t accept American Express.
Refunds
We cannot refund any part of your annual fee if you decide to lapse your registration at any point during the year.
Find out more about registration fee refunds.
Helpful resources
This short animation explains how you can pay your fee:
