Health board · Pontypridd, Wales
Physiotherapist at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Working as a physiotherapist at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board in Pontypridd, Wales means a caseload that can span the whole pathway — acute wards, outpatient clinics and community teams — without changing employer, because the board is responsible for all NHS care in its area. Band 5 starts at £32,557 on the Wales 2026/27 scale. No workforce or staff survey figures for this organisation are in the open dataset yet, so this page sets out the caseload, the national pay ladder and where the local courses are, and states nothing it cannot source.
The job at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Physiotherapists assess and treat problems with movement and function caused by injury, illness, disability or ageing. They take a history, examine movement, strength and joint range, then agree goals and deliver treatment through exercise prescription, manual therapy, education, pacing advice and structured rehabilitation. Specialties include musculoskeletal outpatients, respiratory care on wards and in intensive care, neurological rehabilitation after stroke or spinal injury, paediatrics, pelvic health and care of older people. Many also work in sport, occupational health and private practice. 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.
At a health board such as Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, that work means a caseload that can span the whole pathway — acute wards, outpatient clinics and community teams — without changing employer, because the board is responsible for all NHS care in its area. Boards often run broad rotations across acute and community services, and specialising later rarely means leaving the organisation. Across the profession as a whole, physiotherapists work in settings including NHS acute trust, outpatient musculoskeletal clinics, intensive care and respiratory wards, community and home-based rehabilitation and neurological rehabilitation units — an organisation of this type will run some of those services and not others, which is why two posts with the same job title in the same city can be very different jobs.
Pay is not an employer decision. Agenda for Change is negotiated nationally and set separately in each of the four nations, so Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board pays band 5 exactly what every other NHS employer in Wales pays it: £32,557 at the bottom of the band on the 2026/27 scale. For context, median full-time pay across all occupations in Wales was £35,796 in 2025. What genuinely differs between two employers is the caseload, how rotations are structured, how much protected time you get for supervision and continuing professional development, how much band 6 progression is built into the establishment, and how far you travel between sites. Those are the questions worth asking at interview.
This page states no figure specific to Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board because none is published in the open data. When the workforce and staff survey feeds include this organisation, the establishment size, the response rate and the theme scores will appear above.
- Employer
- Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
- Organisation type
- Health board
- Based in
- Pontypridd
- Nation
- Wales
- Regulator
- HCPC registration required
- Usual starting band
- Band 5
- Local courses
- 6 in Wales
What you would be paid, band by band
Wales Agenda for Change rates, 2026/27 — the same at every NHS employer in the nation.
| Band | Starting | Point 2 | Point 3 | Top of band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 5 Entry level | £32,557 | £35,114 | £39,631 | £39,631 |
| Band 6 | £40,559 | £42,805 | £48,841 | £48,841 |
| Band 7 | £50,129 | £52,712 | £57,365 | £57,365 |
| Band 8a | £58,379 | £61,317 | £65,723 | £65,723 |
Physiotherapist pay in detail · The whole Wales scale · Band 5 physiotherapists
Where to train for this job near Pontypridd
4 universities in Wales run an approved pre-registration course for physiotherapists. Placements are commissioned with the trusts and boards nearest the university, so these are the courses most likely to place students with Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, across undergraduate degree and pre-registration master’s routes.
| Course | University | Route | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy | Cardiff University | BSc | |
| MSc pre-registration Physiotherapy | Cardiff University | MSc pre-reg | |
| Postgraduate Diploma Physiotherapy (pre-registration) | Cardiff University | MSc pre-reg | |
| PGDip Physiotherapy | Bangor University | MSc pre-reg | 2 years |
| BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy | University of South Wales | BSc | |
| BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy | Wrexham University | BSc |
The national picture
UK-wide figures for the profession, not for this organisation.
| Measure | Value | Geography | As at |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCPC registrants on the 'Physiotherapists' part of the Register (all application routes) | 76,920 registrants | United Kingdom (HCPC Register; includes registrants trained outside the UK) | 1 April 2025 |
| People in employment in the UK in SOC 2020 unit group 2221 (Physiotherapists), Annual Population Survey estimate | 73,700 people in employment | United Kingdom | 31 March 2026 |
| Median gross annual pay, full-time employee jobs (ASHE Table 14.7a, SOC 2020 2221) | 43,532 GBP | United Kingdom | 2025 |
| Mean gross annual pay, full-time employee jobs (ASHE Table 14.7a, SOC 2020 2221) | 43,457 GBP | United Kingdom | 2025 |
Physiotherapists at other organisations in Wales
Same registration, same bands, different caseload — the organisation type is the variable, and the size of the establishment tells you how many colleagues and how many rotation slots sit behind the job title.
| Organisation | Type | Based in | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aneurin Bevan University Health Board | Health board | Newport | |
| Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board | Health board | Bangor | |
| Cardiff and Vale University Health Board | Health board | Cardiff | |
| Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board This page | Health board | Pontypridd | |
| Digital Health and Care Wales | Specialist trust | Cardiff | |
| Health Education and Improvement Wales | Specialist trust | Cardiff | |
| Hywel Dda University Health Board | Health board | Carmarthen | |
| Powys Teaching Health Board | Health board | Brecon | |
| Public Health Wales NHS Trust | Specialist trust | Cardiff | |
| Swansea Bay University Health Board | Health board | Neath | |
| Velindre University NHS Trust | Specialist trust | Cardiff |
A blank establishment figure means the organisation did not return one for this profession, not that it employs nobody. Only organisations whose type runs this service are listed.
Other allied health professions at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
- Occupational therapist — Band 5 entry
- Paramedic — Band 5 entry
- Diagnostic radiographer — Band 5 entry
- Operating department practitioner — Band 5 entry
- Dietitian — Band 5 entry
- Speech and language therapist — Band 5 entry
- Podiatrist — Band 5 entry
Next steps
- Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board — The organisation in full
- How to become a physiotherapist — Every route in
- All physiotherapists courses — Every approved UK course
- Physiotherapist jobs in Wales — The local job market
- Physiotherapist pay — Band by band
- All NHS employers — Grouped by nation and region
Where this page’s data comes from
The figures on this page are national or regional. No workforce, staff survey or inspection data for this organisation is in the open dataset yet.
- HCPC register summary and registrant snapshots (aggregate)Health and Care Professions Council · No open licence stated; HCPC copyright · checked 3 September 2026
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) via NomisOffice for National Statistics, delivered by Nomis (Durham University) · Open Government Licence v3.0 · checked 3 September 2026Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- HCPC approved programmes directoryHealth and Care Professions Council · No open licence stated; HCPC copyright · checked 3 September 2026
- directory.spineservices.nhs.ukCited page
- ctmuhb.nhs.walesCited page
- healthcareers.nhs.ukCited page
- ons.gov.ukCited page
- hee.nhs.ukCited page
- faq.nhsbsa.nhs.ukCited page
- instituteforapprenticeships.orgCited page
- bangor.ac.ukCited page