jobfacts

Cooks

SOC 2020 5435

Cooks prepare, season and cook food, often using pre-prepared ingredients, in clubs, private households, fast food outlets, shops selling food cooked on the premises and the catering departments and canteens of other establishments.

Also calledHead cookFish fryerChief cookPastry cookPastrycookCookand 11 more titles
Typical full-time pay£24,2002025 Provisional
People in the job48,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month1,100↓ 8.7%on last year · 167th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time cooks earn between £20,300 and £27,800 a year.

What full-time cooks earn, 2025
£24,200 typical£18,100lowest 10%£20,30025%£27,80075%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£20,300–£27,800)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£18,100
Lowest 20% earn less than£19,600
25%£20,300
Median£24,200
75%£27,800
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £24,200
North West!£27,300
South East!£25,100
East of England!£24,200
London!£24,200
Scotland!£24,100
North East!£23,400
Yorkshire and The Humber!£23,100
East Midlands!£22,700
Wales!£20,600
West Midlands!£18,100
South WestNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £24,200
North West£27,300 (small sample)
South East£25,100 (small sample)
East of England£24,200 (small sample)
London£24,200 (small sample)
Scotland£24,100 (small sample)
North East£23,400 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£23,100 (small sample)
East Midlands£22,700 (small sample)
Wales£20,600 (small sample)
West Midlands£18,100 (small sample)
South WestNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £21,500
  • 2024 £22,300
  • 2025 Provisional£24,200
↑ 13% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 1,100 jobs for cooks are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20261,070
Jul 20261,202
Jun 20261,092
May 20261,120
Apr 20261,241
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20261,167
Jan 20261,293
Dec 2025560
Nov 20251,184
Oct 20251,285
Sept 20251,333
Aug 20251,314
Jul 20251,373
Jun 20251,446
May 20251,402
Apr 20251,303
Mar 20251,484
Feb 20251,312
Jan 20251,216
Dec 2024639
Nov 20241,084
Oct 20241,299
Sept 20241,352
Aug 20241,459
Jul 20241,503
Jun 20241,409
May 20241,551
Apr 20241,268
Mar 2024781
Feb 2024830
Jan 2024886
Dec 2023592
Nov 2023643
Oct 2023752
Sept 2023742
Aug 2023882
Jul 2023845
Jun 20231,197
May 20231,251
Apr 20231,007
Mar 20231,201
Feb 20231,096
Jan 20231,317
Dec 2022966
Nov 20221,209
Oct 20221,508
Sept 20221,352
Aug 20221,380
Jul 20221,486
Jun 20221,377
May 20221,534
Apr 20221,244
Mar 20221,445
Feb 20221,305
Jan 20221,305
Dec 20211,019
Nov 20211,121
Oct 20211,147
Sept 20211,174
Aug 20211,074
Jul 20211,159
Jun 2021986
May 2021954
Apr 2021775
Mar 2021841
Feb 2021347
Jan 2021331
Dec 2020367
Nov 2020417
Oct 2020515
Sept 2020596
Aug 2020543
Jul 2020428
Jun 2020436
May 2020357
Apr 2020466
Mar 2020725
Feb 20201,041
Jan 2020848
Dec 2019525
Nov 2019754
Oct 2019746
Sept 2019760
Aug 2019836
Jul 2019798
Jun 2019753
May 2019774
Apr 2019688
Mar 2019722
Feb 2019782
Jan 2019821
Dec 2018624
Nov 2018734
Oct 20181,036
Sept 2018966
Aug 20181,033
Jul 2018927
Jun 20181,097
May 2018749
Apr 20181,388
Mar 2018785
Feb 2018672
Jan 2018781
Dec 2017503
Nov 2017752
Oct 2017881
Sept 2017879
Aug 2017839
Jul 2017839
Jun 20171,028
May 20171,011
Apr 20171,066
Mar 2017935
Feb 20171,215
Jan 2017696
Is there a shortage of cooks?
Elevated

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 grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthWell above usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
30%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London191
North Yorkshire72
Somerset43
Cornwall37
Highland37
Bristol, City of32
Cumberland31
Shropshire30
Manchester29
Dorset28
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where cooks are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of cooks
12%!
16%!
12%!
22%!
31%!
7.5%!
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
16–2412% (small sample)
25–3416% (small sample)
35–4412% (small sample)
45–5422% (small sample)
55–6431% (small sample)
65+7.5% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent!7.8%
Higher education below degree!6.6%
A levels or equivalent28%
GCSEs or equivalent30%
Other qualifications!15%
No qualifications!8.4%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent7.8% (small sample)
Higher education below degree6.6% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent28%
GCSEs or equivalent30%
Other qualifications15% (small sample)
No qualifications8.4% (small sample)

Main employers: restaurants and mobile food service activities (24%), primary education (12%), other food service activities (7.8%), residential care activities for the elderly and disabled (6.7%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
7.8%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
GCSEs or equivalent
held by 30%
Apprenticeships
2
from level 2
Apprenticeships take
1 year
typically

Apprenticeships

2 for this job

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

Other qualifications

QualificationTypeLevel
Catering and hospitality foundation apprenticeshipFoundation apprenticeship2

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • requisitions or purchases foodstuffs and checks quality
  • plans meals, prepares, seasons and cooks foodstuffs
  • cooks and sells a range of meals, such as fish and chips, over the counter
  • plans and co-ordinates kitchen work such as fetching, clearing and cleaning of equipment and utensils

Skills

  • comply with food safety and hygiene
  • control of expenses
  • dispose waste
  • ensure cleanliness of food preparation area
  • handover the food preparation area
  • maintain a safe, hygienic and secure working environment
  • maintain kitchen equipment at correct temperature
  • order supplies
  • receive kitchen supplies
  • store raw food materials
  • use cooking techniques
  • use culinary finishing techniques
  • use food cutting tools
  • use food preparation techniques

Knowledge

  • composition of diets
  • fish anatomy
  • nutrition
  • prepared meals

Suits people who like

  • Practical, hands-on work
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for textiles, printing and other skilled trades, a group of 17 jobs that includes cooks.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035→ 0%about 0 more jobs
Workers needed by 2035276,000including 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.