jobfacts

Receptionist

Receptionists — SOC 2020 4216

Receptionists receive and direct telephone calls and visitors to commercial, government and other establishments.

Also calledReception officerReception supervisorA&E receptionistDental receptionistDoctor's receptionistHospital receptionistand 20 more titles
Typical full-time pay£24,7002025 Provisional
People in the job149,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month5,000↓ 10%on last year · 32nd of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time receptionists earn between £22,100 and £28,700 a year.

What full-time receptionists earn, 2025
£24,700 typical£19,400lowest 10%£22,10025%£28,70075%£32,800top 10%
Middle half (£22,100–£28,700)
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£19,400
Lowest 20% earn less than£21,500
25%£22,100
Median£24,700
75%£28,700
Top 20% earn more than£30,000
Top 10% earn more than£32,800
Typical pay by regionUK median £24,700
London£27,700
South East£25,400
East of England£24,700
Wales£24,600
Scotland£24,100
North West£24,100
East Midlands£23,800
Yorkshire and The Humber£23,600
South West£23,500
West Midlands£23,500
North East£22,700
Show as table
UK median, £24,700
London£27,700
South East£25,400
East of England£24,700
Wales£24,600
Scotland£24,100
North West£24,100
East Midlands£23,800
Yorkshire and The Humber£23,600
South West£23,500
West Midlands£23,500
North East£22,700
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £21,700
  • 2024 £23,600
  • 2025 Provisional£24,700
↑ 14% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 5,000 jobs for receptionists 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 20264,377
Jul 20264,951
Jun 20264,687
May 20265,354
Apr 20265,260
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20265,076
Jan 20265,065
Dec 20252,510
Nov 20255,527
Oct 20255,812
Sept 20256,103
Aug 20255,556
Jul 20255,718
Jun 20255,667
May 20256,402
Apr 20255,393
Mar 20256,215
Feb 20255,557
Jan 20255,309
Dec 20243,264
Nov 20245,145
Oct 20246,338
Sept 20246,716
Aug 20246,423
Jul 20247,171
Jun 20246,943
May 20247,717
Apr 20247,173
Mar 20245,757
Feb 20245,905
Jan 20246,330
Dec 20233,961
Nov 20234,480
Oct 20234,534
Sept 20234,324
Aug 20236,419
Jul 20236,106
Jun 20238,964
May 20238,882
Apr 20237,759
Mar 20239,042
Feb 20238,289
Jan 20239,096
Dec 20227,006
Nov 20228,945
Oct 20229,732
Sept 20229,391
Aug 202210,042
Jul 202211,044
Jun 202210,452
May 202211,567
Apr 20229,664
Mar 202211,180
Feb 20229,858
Jan 202210,455
Dec 20217,627
Nov 20219,236
Oct 20219,882
Sept 20219,823
Aug 20218,507
Jul 20218,854
Jun 20217,973
May 20217,034
Apr 20214,656
Mar 20216,047
Feb 20212,682
Jan 20212,567
Dec 20202,702
Nov 20203,041
Oct 20203,555
Sept 20204,015
Aug 20203,137
Jul 20202,916
Jun 20202,106
May 20201,518
Apr 20201,947
Mar 20204,695
Feb 20207,120
Jan 20207,029
Dec 20194,907
Nov 20196,221
Oct 20196,869
Sept 20196,646
Aug 20196,402
Jul 20197,339
Jun 20197,381
May 20197,501
Apr 20195,751
Mar 20196,164
Feb 20195,492
Jan 20196,129
Dec 20184,148
Nov 20186,306
Oct 20186,826
Sept 20186,890
Aug 20186,226
Jul 20186,439
Jun 20187,259
May 20186,217
Apr 20185,686
Mar 20186,643
Feb 20186,014
Jan 20186,710
Dec 20174,446
Nov 20176,360
Oct 20176,232
Sept 20176,712
Aug 20176,485
Jul 20176,368
Jun 20177,217
May 20177,701
Apr 20178,142
Mar 20178,950
Feb 20177,093
Jan 20178,241
Is there a shortage of receptionists?
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 advertsWell above usual
  • Wage growthAbove 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
13%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London2,901
Manchester291
Birmingham289
City of Edinburgh215
Leeds214
Glasgow City192
Bristol, City of188
Liverpool164
North Yorkshire158
Buckinghamshire131
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where receptionists 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 receptionists
22%!
18%
15%
17%
21%
7%!
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
16–2422% (small sample)
25–3418%
35–4415%
45–5417%
55–6421%
65+7% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent19%
Higher education below degree!5.1%
A levels or equivalent32%
GCSEs or equivalent33%
Other qualifications!5.3%
No qualifications!3.3%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent19%
Higher education below degree5.1% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent32%
GCSEs or equivalent33%
Other qualifications5.3% (small sample)
No qualifications3.3% (small sample)

Main employers: general medical practice activities (21%), hotels and similar accommodation (9.4%), dental practice activities (7.3%), veterinary activities (5.1%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
19%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
GCSEs or equivalent
held by 33%
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You can take a college course before applying for work as a receptionist. Some courses relate to particular types of work, others are more general.

For example:

  • salon reception (beauty and hairdressing)
  • business administration (office work)
  • front of house reception (hospitality and catering)
  • customer service
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship, such as:

  • Customer Service Practitioner Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
  • Administration Assistant Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
  • Hospitality Accommodation Team Member Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
  • Hospitality Supervisor Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship

These take around 1 year to complete.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship

Other ways in

Work your way up

You could begin as an admin assistant in an organisation, for instance by doing temporary work, then apply for a permanent job as a receptionist when a vacancy becomes available.

In a hotel, you could start in housekeeping and take further training on the job.

Apply directly

You may be able to apply directly for receptionist jobs. It will help to have good admin and customer service skills.

Some employers will prefer you to have GCSEs and IT skills to work with computerised booking or payment systems.

Registration and professional bodies

Further information

You can learn more about working as a receptionist in hospitality from Caterer.com.

You can also find out about medical reception work from NHS Careers.

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

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • receives callers and clients and directs them to the appropriate person or department
  • records the details of enquiries and makes appointments and reservations
  • answers, screens and forwards or otherwise deals with telephone enquiries
  • supplies brochures, pamphlets and other information for clients
  • records details of visitors, issues security passes and informs visitors of any actions to be taken in case of an emergency
  • maintains reception area in good order

Skills

  • greet guests
  • handle customer complaints
  • process payments
  • adhere to organisational guidelines
  • administer appointments
  • carry out end of day accounts
  • communicate by telephone
  • communicate verbal instructions
  • communicate with customers
  • comply with food safety and hygiene
  • deal with arrivals in accommodation
  • deal with departures in accommodation
  • disseminate internal communications
  • disseminate messages to people

Knowledge

  • company policies
  • customer service
  • accounting techniques

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Helping and caring for people

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for secretarial and related occupations, a group of 7 jobs that includes receptionists.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 16%about 105,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 2035243,000including 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.