NHS voluntary redundancy and MARS: what is the difference?
Are NHS voluntary redundancy and MARS the same thing?
No. Voluntary redundancy is Section 16 redundancy, paid on the same month's-pay formula as compulsory redundancy — volunteering changes who is selected, not what you are paid. The Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS), by contrast, runs under Section 20 of the Handbook and is explicitly not a redundancy at all.
Voluntary redundancy under Section 16
When a trust needs to reduce headcount, it may ask for volunteers before moving to compulsory selection. A voluntary exit taken this way is still Section 16 redundancy: it carries the same month's-pay formula (subject to the scheme's floor, cap and maximum months) and the same early-retirement-on-redundancy pension route as a compulsory exit. See NHS redundancy pay for the formula, and the calculator once figures are verified.
MARS under Section 20: not a redundancy
NHS Employers states this directly: "The MAR scheme is not a redundancy or a voluntary redundancy." A MARS exit does not carry Section 16 pay and does not carry the early-retirement-on-redundancy pension route. Instead, trusts typically offer up to a number of months' pay at their own discretion, set locally rather than by a published national formula — which is why this page cannot give you a MARS figure the way it can for Section 16.
MARS has historically been used by NHS trusts and NHS England to manage workforce reductions before compulsory redundancy is considered, particularly during wider restructuring. Whether a trust is currently running a MARS window, and on what terms, is set and announced locally or nationally from time to time; check your trust's current position before assuming one applies to you.
Settlement agreement mechanics: both routes
Both a Section 16 exit and a MARS exit are usually documented through a settlement agreement, and in both cases the trust typically pays for your own solicitor's advice on it, which is a legal requirement for the agreement to be binding. The agreement is where the practical differences surface: a Section 16 agreement records a redundancy payment (and, if applicable, the pension route); a MARS agreement records the discretionary months figure the trust has offered and does not touch the redundancy pension provisions, because none apply.
See also the sitewide voluntary redundancy guide for how voluntary exits work outside the NHS, and NHS redundancy pay for the Section 16 formula in full.
Not sure which one you have been offered?
Whether it is a Section 16 exit or a MARS agreement, we will review it the same working day and tell you honestly whether the offer is fair. Free to you when your trust pays our fee, which is the case in nearly every UK settlement agreement.