PPC calculator: is a prescription prepayment certificate worth it?

What the calculator compares

The tool takes the number of NHS prescription items you expect to collect in England and multiplies by the £9.90 charge. It then sets the total against the two certificate prices: £32.05 for 3 months and £114.50 for 12 months. The result shows which of the three options costs least and the difference in pounds.

Items means lines on the prescription form, not visits to the pharmacy. A monthly collection of two medicines is two items. A medicine the prescriber writes in two strengths is two items.

Worked example: one item a month

Twelve items across the year. At the counter you pay 12 times £9.90, which is £118.80. A 12-month PPC costs £114.50, so the certificate comes out £4.30 ahead. The margin is small. If the prescriber changes the quantity so one collection covers two months, you drop to 11 items and £108.90, and the certificate loses by £5.60. For one item a month the honest answer is that the two options are within £6 of each other either way.

A 3-month PPC does not help here. Three items a quarter cost £29.70 against £32.05 for the certificate.

Worked example: two items a month

Twenty-four items across the year. Counter cost is 24 times £9.90, which is £237.60. The 12-month PPC at £114.50 saves £123.10. The saving is the same whether you pay the £114.50 up front or in 10 Direct Debit instalments of £11.45.

Over a quarter, 6 items cost £59.40 at the counter and £32.05 on a 3-month PPC, a saving of £27.35. Four quarters of 3-month certificates would cost £128.20, so the 12-month certificate still wins by £13.70.

Worked example: three items a month

Thirty-six items across the year. Counter cost is 36 times £9.90, which is £356.40. The 12-month PPC saves £241.90. Over a quarter, 9 items cost £89.10 against £32.05, a saving of £57.05. The NHSBSA's own table on its PPC page gives the same figures: more than £241 a year and more than £57 in 3 months for 3 items a month.

Summary table

Method

Counter cost equals items multiplied by £9.90. The 12-month result equals counter cost across 12 months minus £114.50. The 3-month result equals counter cost across 3 months minus £32.05. A positive figure is money the certificate saves. A negative figure is money the certificate loses. The break-even points fall at 12 items a year and 4 items a quarter, which matches the NHSBSA statement that you save money with more than 3 items in 3 months or more than 11 items in 12 months.

The calculator ignores items that are free for everyone, such as contraception, and assumes you are not already exempt. Run the NHSBSA eligibility checker first. The free prescriptions guide lists every exemption group.

Before you buy

Check the medical exemption certificate conditions. Anyone with diabetes treated by medicine, epilepsy, hypothyroidism or several other listed conditions gets a free certificate and never needs a PPC. If your prescriptions are HRT, the HRT PPC at £19.80 may be cheaper than either standard certificate. Once you know a PPC is right, the prepayment certificate guide covers buying, Direct Debit and refunds.

Where the figures come from

The £9.90 charge is from the NHS website prescription charges page and leaflet HC11, April 2026. The £32.05 and £114.50 certificate prices and the savings table for 2, 3 and 4 items a month are from the NHSBSA PPC page. The £11.45 instalment is from NHSBSA knowledge base article KA-03627. The HRT PPC price and the rule for when a standard PPC beats it are from the NHSBSA HRT PPC page.