When's your next shot at £1 million?
The key dates for this month's Premium Bonds draw, this month's prize rate, and whether they actually beat a normal savings account for money like yours.
What happens, and when
Buying Bonds works on a similar delay in reverse: they need to be held for a full calendar month before they're entered into a draw, so Bonds bought any time in a given month join the draw two months later. Buy in November and you're first eligible for the January draw, not December. Withdrawals are quicker: cashing in typically takes 3–5 working days to reach your bank account.
Results dates, month by month
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"Results live" is when the prize checker updates for everyone: the day after the draw. Big prizes (£5,000+) are usually confirmed on the draw day itself; the smallest amounts can occasionally take a day longer to appear. "Paid by" is the 7th working day of the month, when bank-registered winnings normally arrive.
This month's prize rate
NS&I sets the prize fund rate to describe what an average holding might return over a year. In practice, prizes are lumpy: most people win nothing most months, a majority win only the £25–£100 tier when they do win, and a very small number scoop the larger prizes. So your actual return depends heavily on luck, and more predictably, on how much you hold.
The rate over time
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The prize fund rate has moved three times in the last 13 months: a cut in August 2025, a bigger cut in April 2026, then two rises that take it to its highest level since December 2024.
Is it better than a savings account?
Most winners get the £25 minimum: the average above is a mathematical mean, not a typical result. It's skewed well above what most people actually get by rare six- and seven-figure jackpots, so it overstates realistic returns, especially for smaller holdings. The "equivalent taxable rate" above shows what a normal savings account would need to pay to match that average once your income tax is accounted for. It does not correct for the mean-vs-median skew.
For a more realistic figure than the mean shown here, MoneySavingExpert's Premium Bonds calculator models the full prize distribution and shows the median return, the amount someone with average luck actually receives, which runs meaningfully below the mean, particularly for smaller holdings. See why the average is misleading and simulate a realistic past year for your own holding.
With this little in bonds, the maths of 1-in-21,000 odds means many months bring nothing at all, and a full year with zero prizes isn't unusual. A top easy-access account paying close to 5% is a more reliable, and often higher, return for this size of pot.
Enough bonds to expect a handful of small prizes across the year, but your actual rate can still land well above or below 4.35%. Whether that beats a leading easy-access account depends on your luck that year and on whether you pay tax on savings interest.
With more bonds in the draw each month, your results even out closer to the advertised 4.35% average. For higher and additional-rate taxpayers especially, a tax-free 4.35% can beat many taxable accounts once tax is accounted for, even ones with a higher headline rate.
Tax matters more than it looks. Basic-rate taxpayers can already earn £1,000 of savings interest a year tax-free, higher-rate taxpayers £500, and additional-rate taxpayers get no allowance at all. Premium Bond prizes are always entirely tax-free, which narrows or reverses the gap the more tax you'd otherwise pay, and the more you hold, the more that consistently matters.
Get notified when the rate changes
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