GP Locum Form A and Form B: what each form does

For eligible freelance GP locum practice work in England, Locum A records the work and goes through the commissioning practice’s approval. Locum B is completed by the locum for the relevant monthly pension contribution process. PCSE Online is the preferred route for submitting A and B and paying the calculated contribution through GOV.UK Pay.

NHSBSA publishes scheme-year versions of GP Locum A and B. Always use the online process or form for the correct work period. A PDF saved from a previous year is not a safe template for current rates or declarations.

Locum A connects a period of eligible freelance locum work to the practice or commissioning body. It captures the locum, work period and fee/pensionable-pay context, and the commissioning practice confirms its part. In PCSE Online, the locum submits and the practice approves.

Tell the practice from the outset if you intend to pension the income. That allows the employer contribution element and approval responsibility to be understood before the invoice arrives. If one invoice covers several sessions at the same practice, keep the individual dates available and follow current NHSBSA instructions for listing them.

A submitted A is unfinished until the practice approval is visible. Record both states. If the practice cannot see it, confirm the organisation and ask whether the appropriate PCSE GP Payments and Pensions user has approval access.

Locum B is the locum’s monthly contribution record. It draws together the relevant approved A work and asks for information needed to establish the contribution position, including cumulative pensionable income under the current form. Review it against your session list before submission.

PCSE says that after A and B are submitted online, the system calculates the amount to pay. On successful B submission, the GOV.UK Pay route enables card payment of the displayed contribution. Retain the B submission date, amount, payment date and confirmation reference.

Form B is not a substitute for missing A approval. If a session does not appear where expected, trace the A entry back to the practice and submission status before adjusting totals.

The exact fields and instructions belong to the current official form and PCSE workflow. The comparison above is an administrative map, not completion advice for an individual return.

GP SOLO is not a third stage after A and B. It is a different route used for qualifying work where the provider manages the pension contribution process, including categories described in current NHSBSA guidance such as certain out-of-hours or ICB work. Ask the provider how it handles pension contributions before invoicing.

Keep SOLO sessions separate in your tracker. If the provider is responsible for submission, record the evidence or confirmation you receive rather than creating an A/B status that never existed. NHSBSA publishes annual GP SOLO forms and guidance beside the locum forms.

Illustrative only: you work at Oak Practice on 4, 11 and 18 May, then issue one invoice covering all three dates. In your diary, keep three sessions linked to that invoice. For the official A workflow, follow current instructions for recording the dates and the relevant fee. The practice can then compare the submission with a clearly itemised invoice.

After approval, check that all relevant work is represented in the B workflow. If only two dates appear in your source total, do not hide the difference with an adjustment; return to the A and invoice records to identify the missing session.

PCSE states that freelance GP locum work ending more than 10 weeks ago cannot be pensioned and forms received after ten weeks may be rejected. Because A requires practice approval before the related B/payment stage, submit early and monitor the hand-off.

A calendar alert at week nine is not an adequate control. Reconcile the previous month early, review approvals weekly and sort outstanding items by the oldest work end date.

Preserve these as source facts. Do not copy a previous practice’s code or contribution assumptions merely because the session fee is similar.

This is where airGP can help: the tracking record remains tied to the sessions, organisation and invoice. It does not become the official form. airGP is not PCSE, NHSBSA, NHS England, an accountant or a pension adviser, and cannot decide pensionability, generate or fill A/B/SOLO paperwork, approve or submit it, calculate the official liability, or send your contribution.