A conventional gilt pays its fixed coupon in two half-yearly instalments on dates set when it is issued, and GiltIQ shows the next date and the amount per £100 nominal for every gilt in issue.
A conventional gilt pays twice a year
A conventional gilt pays a fixed coupon in two half-yearly instalments. The coupon is quoted per £100 of nominal, so a 4.00 per cent gilt pays £4.00 a year on every £100 of nominal, arriving as two payments of £2.00. That annual figure per £100 of nominal is the gilt's income per £100, and it is fixed by the gilt's own terms for as long as it runs. The two payment dates are set when the gilt is issued and they do not change thereafter.
The rhythm is the same for index-linked gilts, which also pay twice a year, though their coupon is a real coupon scaled by an index ratio rather than a fixed cash rate. The frequency — twice a year — is common to both; what differs is how the amount is worked out.
The dates are fixed at issue
Because the dates are fixed at issue, they do not move with the market or with the holder. A gilt whose first coupon falls in one month pays again six months later, and so on for its life. A gilt issued part-way through a cycle can carry an irregular first coupon period, but once the pattern is established the two dates recur on the same months each year.
- A conventional gilt pays two coupons a year, roughly six months apart.
- The payment dates are fixed at issue and stay the same for the gilt's life.
- The coupon is paid on the nominal held, not on the price paid for the gilt.
- Index-linked gilts pay on the same twice-yearly rhythm, scaled by the index ratio.
Where the next date and the amount appear
On the conventional gilts list each gilt carries its next coupon date, its previous coupon date and its next ex-dividend date, shown beside its coupon, its income per £100 and its yields. That is where a reader finds the next payment date and the amount per £100 nominal for a single gilt in the report the page is built from. The gilt coupon calendar answers the other question — what lands, and when, across every gilt at once — by grouping the same dates by month.
The two pages read the same schedule, so the dates agree by construction. For an index-linked gilt the amount per £100 is an income estimate: the real coupon scaled by the published index ratio, with no further inflation assumed. It is marked as an estimate rather than a contractual amount, because the index ratio can move before the payment date.
The amount depends on the nominal you hold
The income per £100 is a rate per £100 of nominal; the cash a holding receives scales with the nominal held. The table below is an illustration for a notional gilt with a 4.00 per cent coupon and an income per £100 of £4.00. The figures are illustrative and not a quote from any gilt in issue.
| Nominal held | Income per £100 | Annual coupon | Each half-yearly payment |
| £1,000 | £4.00 | £40.00 | £20.00 |
| £10,000 | £4.00 | £400.00 | £200.00 |
| £25,000 | £4.00 | £1,000.00 | £500.00 |
The arithmetic is the income per £100 multiplied by the nominal held and divided by 100. On £25,000 nominal the multiplication gives a £1,000 annual coupon, split into two payments of £500. The coupon itself does not change with the size of the holding; only the number of pounds it produces does.
What the amount does not depend on
The coupon is paid on the nominal, not on the price paid for the gilt. A gilt bought above par or below par still pays its coupon on the £100 of nominal it represents, so the income per £100 is set by the gilt's terms and not by what the market charges for it on a given day. The yield, by contrast, folds the price into the return, which is why a gilt can pay the same coupon as another and still offer a different yield.
Ex-dividend dates and who receives the payment
A gilt goes ex-dividend shortly before each coupon date. A buyer who settles inside that window does not receive the next coupon; the interest they would have lost is refunded through the price as rebate interest, and the seller keeps the payment. The gilt list shows the next ex-dividend date beside the next coupon date so the two can be read together. Settlement timing therefore decides which payment a buyer actually receives, even though the payment date itself never moves.
Where to see the dates, and on what basis
The next payment date and the amount per £100 for a single gilt sit on the conventional gilts list; the same dates across the whole market, grouped by month, sit on the gilt coupon calendar. Every figure there is stamped with the report date it was built from, and the amount scale with the nominal the page is set to. The coupon percentages, dates and index ratios used above are illustrative; the primary source for a real coupon, payment date or index ratio is the gilt's own prospectus and the Debt Management Office. This page is general background on how the payment dates and amounts are put together, not investment, tax or legal advice for any reader's circumstances.