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NS&I boosts premium bonds prize fund: are you more likely to win?
An extra £60m will be added to July's premium bonds prize draw
Matthew is an award-winning journalist, specialising in savings, tax and insurance.
National Savings and Investments (NS&I) will increase its premium bond prize fund rate from 3.3% to 3.8% from July's draw – the first time it's risen in almost three years.
The prize fund rate refers to the overall annual growth across the billions of premium bonds held by customers. The boost means an extra 322,000 prizes will be up for grabs, with the prize pot swelling by more than £60m.
Here, Which? explains what's happening and what it means for your chances of winning.
How is the prize fund changing?
The latest prize fund rate increase marks the first rise since September 2023. It has fallen six times since then, dropping to a three-year low of 3.3% in April 2026.
The next draw on 2 June will still use the existing 3.3% prize fund rate, with the increase taking effect from the 1 July draw.
NS&I is expected to give away a total of £436,833,475 in premium bonds prizes in the July prize draw, up from £376,180,825 in May. The overall number of prizes has also spiked, with an expected 6,270,339 prizes due to be handed out in July, up from 5,947,523 in May.
The provider, which is 100% backed by HM Treasury, claims the boost is a response to changes in the wider savings market. NS&I is also tasked with raising money on behalf of the government each tax year. For 2026-27, its net financing target has been increased from £13.6bn to £15bn.
The table shows how the prize fund will change next month:
| Value of prizes | Number of prizes in May 2026 | Number of prizes in July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| £1,000,000 | 2 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 71 | 83 |
| £50,000 | 143 | 167 |
| £25,000 | 285 | 334 |
| £10,000 | 712 | 835 |
| £5,000 | 1,425 | 1,667 |
| £1,000 | 15,046 | 17,472 |
| £500 | 45,138 | 52,416 |
| £100 | 1,538,283 | 1,945,344 |
| £50 | 1,538,283 | 1,945,344 |
| £25 | 2,808,135 | 2,306,675 |
Source: NS&I
- Find out more: premium bonds - are they worth it?
Are the odds of winning any better now?
The odds of winning will increase from 23,000 to 1 to 22,000 to 1. This means for every 22,000 attempts, one is expected to succeed – assuming each attempt is independent of the others. In short, your chances are pretty slim and, in an average month, a typical bondholder is likely to win nothing at all.
If you are lucky enough to win a prize, there's a slightly higher chance of it being worth more than £25 compared with previous draws. Compared to May's draw, there's expected to be an extra 12 additional £100,000 prizes, 24 more £50,000 prizes and an extra 49 prizes worth £25,000. The number of £1m jackpot prizes will remain at two.
The number of £25 prizes, however, will drop by more than 500,000.
Remember, your premium bonds are only eligible for the draw once they've been held for one full calendar month. So if you'll need to be quick to invest if you want your bonds entered into July's prize draw.
- Find out more: what is National Savings & Investments?
Rates also raised for other NS&I savings
There's also a boost for other variable-rate savings products from NS&I. The table shows what's changed:
| Account | Previous rate | Rate from 14 May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Saver | 3.05% gross/AER | 3.45% gross/AER |
| Income Bonds | 3.01% gross/3.05% AER | 3.4% gross/3.45% AER |
| Direct Isa | 3.5% AER | 3.8% AER |
| Junior Isa | 3.55% AER | 3.7% AER |
Source: NS&I
The new rates, which came into effect on 14 May, are an attempt by NS&I to stay competitive as average interest rates for instant-access accounts continue to increase. It follows increases to its range of fixed-bonds in April.
The boost to NS&I's Direct Saver and Income Bonds products is helpful, but several providers are offering top rates of up to 5% for restriction-free instant-access accounts. Savers should therefore shop around first to ensure they're getting the best return on their money.
Similarly, its tax-free adult cash Isa deal is also far from market-leading. As of 18 May 2026, Moneybox offers a top rate of 4.52% AER. That's almost one percentage point more than NS&I's Direct Isa.
The leap to 3.7% AER for NS&I's Junior Isa means the product is catching up with other similar top-rate deals – although it's still lagging behind the current best rate of 4.15% for a Bath Building Society Junior Cash Isa.
- Find out more: how to find the best savings account
What's the difference between gross and AER?
Like many providers, NS&I lists rates using the terms gross and AER. The former is best understood as the flat rate of interest that's actually paid, while the latter takes into account the effect of compounding – the snowball effect of income earned from interest growing together with your original investment.
Understanding the difference between gross and AER matters when it comes to Income Bonds. Because returns are paid into your nominated bank account every month, interest isn't compounded.
The lower gross rate that NS&I quotes for those products is therefore a more accurate reflection of the amount of savings income earned over the course of a year.
