United Kingdom · Fourteen professions, fifteen career paths

Getting in, and getting on, with the numbers attached

Speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, paramedic science and eleven more. Approved courses and training routes if you are trying to get in; Agenda for Change pay across all four nations, employer workforce data and the career ladder if you are already in. Compiled from published open data, with every figure traceable to its source.

15 Professions covered Including both radiography disciplines
677 Approved courses Pre-registration, all UK nations
101 Universities Providers with at least one approved course
£32,073 Band 5 starting salary England, 2026/27, before London weighting

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The allied health professions

Fourteen professions, fifteen career paths — diagnostic and therapeutic radiography are separate degrees and separate jobs. Each hub covers what the work is, every way in, what it costs and what it pays.

Physiotherapist

People of all ages with musculoskeletal pain and injury, neurological conditions, respiratory and cardiac disease, frailty and falls risk, long-term conditions, and those recovering from surgery or critical illness.

139 coursesStarts at band 5
OT

Occupational therapist

People of all ages recovering from surgery, stroke or injury, and people living with mental illness, learning disability, dementia, long-term conditions or physical disability who want to live more independently.

129 coursesStarts at band 5

Paramedic

People of all ages with acute illness, injury, mental health crisis or long-term conditions who call for urgent help, from cardiac arrest and major trauma to falls, breathing problems and end-of-life care at home.

80 coursesStarts at band 5

Diagnostic radiographer

Patients of all ages, from newborns to older people, who need imaging for diagnosis, screening, monitoring or image-guided treatment, including trauma, cancer, cardiac and emergency patients.

67 coursesStarts at band 5
ODP

Operating department practitioner

Patients of all ages undergoing planned or emergency surgery and other procedures requiring anaesthesia, alongside surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre nurses and support workers.

59 coursesStarts at band 5
RD

Dietitian

People of all ages with medical conditions affected by diet — including digestive, kidney, metabolic and swallowing disorders, malnutrition, food allergy, obesity and eating disorders — as well as healthy populations.

57 coursesStarts at band 5
SLT

Speech and language therapist

Children and adults with speech, language, communication or swallowing needs, including people after stroke or brain injury, autistic people, people with learning disabilities, progressive neurological conditions, head and neck cancer and voice disorders.

51 coursesStarts at band 5

Podiatrist

People of all ages with foot and lower limb problems, particularly those living with diabetes, circulatory or neurological disease and arthritis, children with walking or lower limb pain, and athletes and dancers.

31 coursesStarts at band 5

Therapeutic radiographer

Adults and children having radiotherapy for cancer, and their families and carers, throughout planning, daily treatment, side-effect management and follow-up.

18 coursesStarts at band 5

Osteopath

Adults, older people, children and babies with musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction, sports and occupational injuries, pregnancy-related pain and chronic pain conditions.

12 coursesStarts at band 5

Art therapist

Children, young people, adults and older people living with mental health difficulties, trauma, learning disabilities, neurodivergence, dementia, life-limiting illness or emotional and behavioural difficulties.

11 coursesStarts at band 6

Music therapist

People of all ages with emotional or mental health difficulties, learning or physical disabilities, developmental conditions including autism, neurological conditions, dementia, and life-limiting or palliative illness.

8 coursesStarts at band 6

Orthoptist

Babies, children and adults with squint, amblyopia, double vision, reduced or unstable vision, and patients with stroke, acquired brain injury, thyroid eye disease, glaucoma, diabetes or neurological conditions.

6 coursesStarts at band 5

Dramatherapist

People of all ages — children, young people, adults and older people — with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, neurological conditions or serious illness.

5 coursesStarts at band 6

Prosthetist/orthotist

People with limb loss including military veterans and people with vascular disease or diabetes, children with cerebral palsy and congenital conditions, and adults with arthritis, neurological conditions, sports injuries or spinal deformity.

4 coursesStarts at band 5

Built on open data, and it says where everything came from

Course approval comes from the regulators. Pay comes from the Agenda for Change circulars. Funding comes from NHS BSA, SAAS, HEIW and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland. Workforce and vacancy figures come from NHS England’s monthly statistics.

Every page carries the sources it used, with the licence each one is published under. If a figure is not in the open data, the page says so rather than estimating it.

How this site is built · Sources and licensing

242 NHS employers
13 Apprenticeship standards
8 Funding schemes
3 September 2026 Dataset built