Physiotherapist salary in the UK (2026/27)

What locum physiotherapists earn

Pure's locum physiotherapist jobs advertise £22 to £44 an hour, paid weekly for the hours you work.

• Band 6: £22 to £38 an hour, about £42,900 to £74,100 a year if worked full time
• Band 7: £26 to £34 an hour, about £50,700 to £66,300 a year if worked full time
• Band 8a: £36 to £44 an hour, about £70,200 to £85,800 a year if worked full time

Physiotherapist and physical therapist are protected titles: to work as either in the UK you must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and every Pure locum is checked against the register before they start.

Where physiotherapists work, and how that changes pay

Most NHS physios work in acute hospitals or community teams, on the bands above. A newly qualified physio usually joins a Band 5 rotation, moving every four to six months between areas such as MSK outpatients, respiratory and critical care, neurological rehabilitation, orthopaedics and care of older people.

First contact practitioners (FCPs) work in GP practices, seeing patients with muscle and joint problems without a GP referral. In England most are employed through primary care networks and are usually paid at Band 7 (£49,387 to £56,515 a year) or Band 8a. The role needs several years of MSK experience and completion of the first contact practitioner roadmap.

Private clinics, sports clubs, occupational health providers and insurers set their own pay rather than following Agenda for Change, and self-employed physios are often paid per session or per patient. Pay there varies far more than in the NHS, so the bands above are the most reliable benchmark.

Specialist areas and extra pay

Respiratory physios who join an on-call rota (nights and weekends, for patients in critical care or with chest problems) are paid on-call allowances on top of their band, plus the time worked when called in. NHS physios working evenings, nights or weekends also earn unsocial hours payments.

MSK outpatients is the biggest area for locum work, followed by acute respiratory, neurological rehabilitation and community roles that help patients home from hospital. Experience in a hard-to-fill area, or the ability to work across several, widens the jobs open to you and the rates you can ask for.

London and high-cost areas

NHS staff in and around London get a high cost area supplement on top of basic pay: 20% in inner London, 15% in outer London and 5% in the fringe (the areas just outside London). Each has a minimum and a maximum that NHS Employers sets every year.

Locum rates in London are usually higher too, because trusts compete for the same staff.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The figures above are the England scale. NHS Scotland, NHS Wales and Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland use the same bands but set their own pay each year, so the amounts differ slightly. Pure recruits physiotherapists in all four nations and in Ireland.

Locum vs permanent

An NHS salary comes with paid annual leave (27 days plus bank holidays to start, rising with service), sick pay and the NHS Pension. Locum work pays a higher hourly rate, paid weekly, but only for the hours you work, with more choice over where and when.

Many physiotherapists mix the two: a permanent post with extra locum shifts, or locum contracts between permanent roles. Pure handles your compliance and is on call 24/7 while you're on placement.

What moves you up a band

Band 5 rotations give a newly qualified physio experience across several areas. Moving to Band 6 usually means choosing one, such as MSK, respiratory or neurology, and building experience and training in it.

Band 7 posts lead a team or a specialist caseload, or work as a first contact practitioner. Most ask for postgraduate study, such as modules or an MSc in MSK or advanced practice, plus experience supervising junior staff.

Advanced practitioners (Band 8a) work across clinical practice, leadership, education and research, often with independent prescribing or injection therapy. Consultant physiotherapist posts are at Band 8b and above.

Physiotherapist pay: common questions

Sources

• NHS Employers: Agenda for Change pay scales 2026/27
• Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP)
• Pure Healthcare Group: pay advertised on live jobs and past jobs from the last 12 months