Ns&i cuts Premium Bond prize rate to 3.3% from April and lengthens odds — March £1m winners named
ns&i will cut the Premium Bond annual prize-fund rate from 3. 6% to 3. 3% for the April draw and beyond, a change that will reduce the headline benchmark savers use to judge returns. The move matters now because it simultaneously lengthens the odds of winning and alters the mix of prizes available.
Ns&i prize-fund change and winning odds
National Savings and Investments (NS&I) is reducing the proportion of the total invested amount paid out in prizes from 3. 6% a year to 3. 3% a year, effective for April’s monthly draw. The change will extend the odds of any single bond number winning from 1 in 22, 000 to 1 in 23, 000; those odds had been unchanged since December 2024. Because the prize-fund rate is the scheme’s nearest equivalent to an interest rate, the cut directly reduces the aggregate pool available for prize payments.
Prize mix and April draw numbers
The April draw is expected to include close to six million tax-free prizes worth about £375 million overall. NS&I is trimming a number of higher-value prizes and increasing the number of smaller payouts: the count of £100, 000 prizes will fall from 78 this month to an estimated 71 in April, £25, 000 payouts will be cut from 311 to 284, and the number of £25 prizes is set to rise from about 2. 6 million to just over 2. 8 million. Those adjustments mean more holders will win modest sums while fewer will claim larger awards.
March £1 million winners: Liverpool and Norfolk
The March 2026 draws produced two £1 million winners. The first winner is from Liverpool with the winning bond number 496VT504601; that winning bond was valued at £25, 000, was purchased in April 2022 and the owner’s overall holding is £50, 000. The second winner is from Norfolk with bond number 282NN327573; that winner’s overall holding is £50, 000 and the winning bond was worth £40, 000, purchased in September 2016. Only two winners take home £1 million each month, while other prize tiers range from £25 up to £100, 000 and £50, 000.
How returns stack up against standard savings and tax rules
Premium Bond prizes are paid tax-free, which is an important contrast with interest-bearing accounts. For savers comparing options, a top easy-access standard savings rate example of 4. 5% would pay £45 in interest for every £1, 000 saved, and the top easy-access cash ISA rate cited is 4. 4%. Interest from normal savings is taxable, but personal savings allowances apply: basic-rate (20%) taxpayers do not pay tax on the first £1, 000 of interest a year, higher-rate (40%) taxpayers do not pay tax on the first £500, while top-rate (45%) taxpayers pay tax on all interest. With a 4. 5% rate, it takes just over £22, 222 in savings for a basic-rate taxpayer to exceed the personal savings allowance and just over £11, 111 for a higher-rate taxpayer. Premium Bonds can therefore be attractive to savers who have larger cash holdings, have maxed their £20, 000 ISA allowance, and want tax-free returns—if they accept the prizes are random rather than guaranteed.
Expert view and wider context of recent cuts
Alastair Douglas at TotallyMoney highlights the tax-free nature as an advantage for higher-rate taxpayers: holding the maximum £50, 000 and winning the equivalent of 3. 3% would yield £1, 650 tax-free, whereas a higher-rate taxpayer earning the same amount from interest could face a tax bill cited as £743. Douglas also notes Premium Bonds do not pay interest and are therefore more vulnerable to inflation, and he advises savers seeking guaranteed returns to consider bank or building society accounts that can offer more than 4% with easy access.
