National Savings and Investments (NS&I) will lower the Premium Bonds prize price from 3.6% to 3.3% from the April 2026 draw, in the newest discount to returns on the government-backed financial savings product.
The Treasury-backed financial institution will even lengthen the odds of every £1 bond successful a prize to 23,000 to 1, from the present 22,000 to 1.
The prize fund price on the well-liked financial savings product was final modified in August 2025, whereas the odds have been final adjusted in December 2024.
The adjustments will scale back the variety of higher-value prizes obtainable. The variety of £100,000 prizes will fall from 78 in the most up-to-date draw to an estimated 71 in April. There will probably be 143 prizes price £50,000, down from 154, and 285 prizes price £25,000, in contrast with 311 in February.
Andrew Westhead, NS&I retail director, mentioned: “This change to the Premium Bonds prize fund rate and odds reflects changes in the wider savings market, and ensures we continue to balance the interests of savers, taxpayers and the wider financial services sector.”
NS&I mentioned Premium Bonds stay the UK’s hottest financial savings account and lately handed £40bn in prizes drawn since their launch in November 1956.
Instead of paying curiosity, Premium Bonds supply savers the likelihood to win tax-free prizes via a month-to-month draw funded by an annual prize fund price. Each £1 bond bought is entered into the draw, with prizes starting from £25 to £1m.
Individuals can maintain up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds, together with kids below the age of 16. New purchases have to be held for one full calendar month earlier than being eligible for entry into the month-to-month prize draw.
Premium Bonds have lengthy been a favorite for UK savers searching for a likelihood to win tax-free cash prizes. However, whereas they provide the pleasure of a month-to-month prize draw, how probably are you to win, and is your cash actually working for you?
In 2025 alone, NS&I paid out over £4.95bn throughout 71.7 million prizes, making it considered one of the greatest payout years on report. December 2025 was significantly busy for ERNIE (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment) — the machine used to generate the successful numbers for the UK’s month-to-month Premium Bonds prize draw — producing over 6.1 million prizes price £403.8m.
Premium Bonds aren’t conventional financial savings merchandise as a result of they don’t earn curiosity. Instead, every £1 invested buys a bond, which is entered into a month-to-month prize draw. Prizes vary from £25 to £1m, and all winnings are tax-free. The extra bonds you maintain, the higher your odds of successful, although prizes are randomly chosen. Importantly, the quantity of bonds held has no bearing on when or the place they have been bought.
The prize price — NS&I’s closest equal to an rate of interest — is 3.60% since August 2025, after peaking at 4.65% in late 2023. This signifies that for each £100 invested, £3.6 in prizes is awarded annually. The prize price will go down to 3.3% from April.
This price is variable, that means it might probably shift in response to adjustments in the broader financial savings market or the Bank of England base price. However, this 3.3% determine is simply a mean, that means most savers will expertise returns far beneath this degree.
First Premium Bonds draw in 1957. ·PA, PA Images
According to NS&I, the present odds of successful a prize with any single bond are one in 22,000, climbing to 23,000 to one from April. But for savers hoping for vital payouts, the numbers inform a extra sobering story.
For occasion, for those who make investments £1,000 in Premium Bonds, you’d have to wait round 3,500 years for a 50-50 likelihood of successful £1,000. To have the similar odds of successful £50, it may take over 200 years. Meanwhile, a 50/50 likelihood of successful the £1m jackpot would require a staggering wait of three.2 million years.
Even for those who max out your holding at £50,000, the odds stay daunting. It would take round 60 years to stand an excellent likelihood of successful £1,000, and over 64,000 years for a shot at the £1m prize, in accordance to information scientist Andrew Zelin, who analysed the figures on behalf of the Family Building Society.
The likelihood of successful the £1m jackpot over the course of a 12 months is one in 49,563,028.
The 2025 numbers present related unpredictability. One jackpot winner from Cleveland gained the £1m prize with a holding of simply £100, the second-smallest ever to scoop the prime award. Another of December’s jackpot winners had purchased their successful bond earlier the similar 12 months, in February.
In whole, 24 new millionaires have been created in 2025, and since the £1m prize was launched in 1994, ERNIE has now created 568 millionaires.
While the probabilities of a life-changing win stay slim, 2025 additionally noticed uncommon instances – somebody in Outer London gained £100,000 in March with a holding of simply £14, bought in 1977, and one other saver gained £50,000 in July with a holding of solely £71 courting again to 1962.
Premium Bonds operate as an easy-access financial savings account with the bonus of prize attracts, and so they include no threat to your capital as they’re backed by the UK Treasury. But since there’s no assured curiosity, your cash doesn’t develop until you win — that means inflation can erode its worth over time.
If you might be searching for a regular return in your financial savings, fixed-rate bonds from banks and constructing societies supply higher charges. These accounts present assured curiosity for those who’re prepared to lock your cash away for a fastened time period, with charges presently round 4.5% at some lenders.
Mark Hicks, director of energetic financial savings at Hargreaves Lansdown, mentioned: “Premium Bonds maintain a particular place in folks’s hearts with the alternative to win up to £1m tax free appearing as a nice incentive to pile your cash in. However, the odds of successful something simply received even longer, from 22,000 to one to 23,000 to one, with the prize price additionally being slashed to 3.30% — it serves as a well timed reminder as to whether or not you may get extra on your cash elsewhere.
“Premium Bonds don’t pay out interest — their prize rate is more of a benchmark of average return for your money. However, the reality is that, if you don’t win anything, you don’t get anything at all. It’s well worth looking at the wider savings market to see what deals are available. Cash ISA rates remain incredibly competitive ahead of tax year end with the market leading outright rate available on our Active Savings platform at 4.3%. Savers can also get above 4% by utilising fixed terms which are available across regular savings and cash ISA accounts in the market.
“For kids with a very long time horizon, it’s additionally nicely price contemplating junior ISAs as a substitute. Growth and revenue is tax free, like with Premium Bonds, however for those who make investments the cash for 5 to 10 years or extra there’s actual progress potential, and your cash stands a significantly better likelihood of rising notably sooner than inflation.”
That said, Premium Bonds remain extremely popular. In 2025, more than 470,000 people opened new accounts, with an average opening balance of £10,674. Of these, over 77,000 were for children, who collectively won more than 1.3 million prizes worth £91.7m, including 22 child millionaires and high-tier winners.
Via post by sending an application form to NS&I, Glasgow G58 1SB
The minimum purchase amount is £25, and you must be at least 16 years old to buy them. Parents or guardians are responsible for children’s Premium bonds until their 16th birthday.
You can reinvest any winnings up to the £50,000 cap, or have them paid out to your bank account.
You can check if you’re a winner through the app. Photo: NS&I
If you’re lucky sufficient to win, NS&I’ll notify you by e mail, or you’ll be able to verify your bonds via your on-line account or the prize checker app. The greatest winners — these fortunate sufficient to scoop the £1m prize — will probably be visited in individual by an NS&I consultant often known as “Agent Million”.
In 2025, Agent Million travelled across the UK to deliver news to the 24 jackpot winners, visiting locations from North East Scotland to Cornwall. Norwich and Cumbria were particular hotspots, each producing two millionaires.
If you’ve lost track of your bonds or missed a win, you can register with NS&I online or by phone to update your details and check unclaimed prizes. NS&I allows you to claim prizes as far back as 1957, the year the Premium Bond scheme began.
Overall, there are 2,677,306 premium bonds prizes worth £111m waiting to be claimed.
NS&I also offers fixed-rate savings products like Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Guaranteed Income Bonds, which provide more predictable returns over two-, three-, or five-year terms. These bonds, available from £500 to £1m, are backed by the Treasury, offering full protection regardless of how much is deposited.
However, NS&I cut rates on these bonds, following a general trend in the savings market. Rates for the two-year Growth Bond currently stands at 3.98%, while the five-year option now offers 4.05%.
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