jobfacts

Clinical psychologist

Clinical psychologists — SOC 2020 2225

Clinical psychologists work with people experiencing emotional, psychological or behavioural distress, perform tests and assess their emotional, cognitive and behavioural processes, and determine treatments to help patients improve their mental wellbeing.

Also calledConsultant clinical psychologistClinical associate
Typical full-time pay£58,4002025 Provisional
People in the job24,000across the UK
Demand for workersCritical
New adverts a month374↓ 30%on last year · 287th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time clinical psychologists earn, 2025
£58,400 typical£37,600lowest 20%n/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less than£37,600
25%£38,500
Median£58,400
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £58,400
Scotland!£67,700
West Midlands!£61,500
London!£58,900
Yorkshire and The Humber!£40,900
South West!£38,800
North EastNot published by ONS–
North WestNot published by ONS–
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
South EastNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £58,400
Scotland£67,700 (small sample)
West Midlands£61,500 (small sample)
London£58,900 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£40,900 (small sample)
South West£38,800 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
North WestNot published by ONS
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
South EastNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £35,100
  • 2024 £45,800
  • 2025 Provisional£58,400
↑ 66% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 374 jobs for clinical psychologists are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as critical.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026392
Jul 2026382
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026359
Apr 2026358
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026358
Jan 2026369
Dec 2025192
Nov 2025496
Oct 2025417
Sept 2025414
Aug 2025483
Jul 2025651
Jun 2025492
May 2025488
Apr 2025491
Mar 2025622
Feb 2025479
Jan 2025562
Dec 2024475
Nov 2024558
Oct 2024596
Sept 2024547
Aug 2024572
Jul 2024640
Jun 2024678
May 2024776
Apr 2024711
Mar 2024641
Feb 2024691
Jan 2024733
Dec 2023596
Nov 2023722
Oct 2023636
Sept 2023662
Aug 2023719
Jul 2023926
Jun 2023922
May 2023798
Apr 2023669
Mar 2023727
Feb 2023844
Jan 2023801
Dec 2022726
Nov 2022923
Oct 2022919
Sept 2022925
Aug 2022884
Jul 2022978
Jun 2022914
May 2022900
Apr 2022802
Mar 20221,054
Feb 2022844
Jan 2022816
Dec 2021796
Nov 2021932
Oct 2021960
Sept 2021883
Aug 2021803
Jul 2021950
Jun 2021901
May 2021826
Apr 2021811
Mar 20211,036
Feb 2021852
Jan 2021953
Dec 2020939
Nov 2020842
Oct 2020970
Sept 2020798
Aug 2020880
Jul 2020802
Jun 2020860
May 2020708
Apr 2020568
Mar 2020745
Feb 2020747
Jan 2020825
Dec 2019584
Nov 2019682
Oct 2019695
Sept 2019633
Aug 2019574
Jul 2019690
Jun 2019737
May 2019753
Apr 2019495
Mar 2019601
Feb 2019670
Jan 2019608
Dec 2018368
Nov 2018678
Oct 2018682
Sept 2018567
Aug 2018486
Jul 2018492
Jun 2018575
May 2018494
Apr 2018438
Mar 2018557
Feb 2018444
Jan 2018529
Dec 2017418
Nov 2017545
Oct 2017480
Sept 2017457
Aug 2017472
Jul 2017406
Jun 2017505
May 2017573
Apr 2017493
Mar 2017533
Feb 2017453
Jan 2017539
Is there a shortage of clinical psychologists?
Critical

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthWell above usual
  • Pay against similar jobsAbove usual
  • Hours workedUsual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
31%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for health professionals, which includes clinical psychologists. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London216
Birmingham61
Leeds43
Sheffield31
Manchester26
Bristol, City of25
Nottingham23
Glasgow City22
Newcastle upon Tyne22
Liverpool22
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where clinical psychologists are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 18 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from India, Australia, Brazil, ranking it 187th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of clinical psychologists
n/p
25%!
27%!
21%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
25–34Not published
35–4425% (small sample)
45–5427% (small sample)
55–6421% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent108%
Show as table
Degree or equivalent108%

Main employers: hospital activities (41%), other human health activities (30%), regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security (17%), specialist medical practice activities (17%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
108%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
1
from level 7, a degree apprenticeship
Apprenticeships take
18 months
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through a university course or an apprenticeship.

University

The first step is to study for a degree in psychology accredited by The British Psychological Society.

If you have a degree in a subject other than psychology, you can apply to do an accredited conversion course.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 3 A levels or equivalent
More about this route
Postgraduate course

After your degree, you'll need to complete a postgraduate doctorate (DClinPsych) in clinical psychology. There is usually a lot of competition for places on doctorate courses.

To get a place, you'll need:

  • a first class or 2:1 (upper second class) award in your degree
  • evidence of excellent research skills
  • work experience

Apprenticeship

You could do a Clinical Associate in Psychology Level 7 Degree Apprenticeship.

As a qualified clinical associate, you could apply for graduate membership of The British Psychological Society.

You would work within the field you trained for under the supervision of a registered clinical psychologist.

You would also continue with further postgraduate doctorate training (DClinPsych) to become a clinical psychologist.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • a degree in a relevant subject

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks as you may work with children and vulnerable adults

Registration and professional bodies

Registration
  • you'll need to register with the Health and Care Professions Council
Professional and industry bodies

You can join The British Psychological Society for professional development and training opportunities.

Further information

You can find out more about careers in clinical psychology from The British Psychological Society and Health Careers.

You can also explore other careers in the psychological professions.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for clinical psychologist. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

1 for this job
Level 7About 18 monthsDegree

Clinical associate in psychology (CAP)

You gain
Masters Clinical Associate in Psychology
Leads to
British Psychological Society
Details on Skills England

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • administers tests to assess patients' needs through interviews, psychometric tests and observation of their behaviour
  • determines appropriate treatment and may refer patients to other mental health professionals
  • provides treatment or guidance using a variety of therapy and counselling techniques
  • helps patients to manage their own psychological conditions
  • maintains required contacts with family members, education or other health professionals, as appropriate, and recommends possible solutions to problems presented
  • writes reports on their work and conducts applied research

Skills

  • analyse legal evidence
  • assess character
  • comply with legal regulations
  • comply with legislation related to health care
  • conduct psychological assessement
  • conduct research interview
  • counsel clients
  • document interviews
  • ensure safety of healthcare users
  • follow clinical guidelines
  • identify mental health issues
  • interact with healthcare users
  • interpret psychological tests
  • listen actively

Knowledge

  • psychology
  • behavioural disorders
  • client-centred counselling
  • consultation
  • counselling methods
  • forensic intelligence
  • health care occupation-specific ethics
  • psychological counselling methods

Suits people who like

  • Working with ideas and solving problems
  • Helping and caring for people

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for health professionals, a group of 24 jobs that includes clinical psychologists.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 19%about 310,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.3 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.