The Datum Report

Occupation 2256 · Professional occupations

Podiatrists

Half of full-time podiatrists in the UK earn more than £47,699 a year, and half earn less.

Podiatrists (formerly known as chiropodists) diagnose and treat ailments and abnormalities of the human foot and lower limb, deal with minor infections, injuries and deformities, and conditions resulting from other major health disorders such as diabetes.

How people enter it

Entry requires a degree in podiatry approved by the Health Professions Council and registration with and membership of the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists. Degree courses combine theoretical and practical training. Qualified podiatrists must undertake 30 hours of Continuing Professional Development each year.

What the work involves

• examines patient’s feet to determine the nature and extent of disorder
• provides vascular and neurological assessment for the long-term management of chronic disorders and high-risk patients
• administers local anaesthetic where appropriate
• treats conditions of the skin, nails and soft tissues of feet by minor surgery, massage and heat treatment, padding and strapping or drugs
• prescribes, makes and fits pads and other orthotic appliances to correct and/or protect foot disorders
• those with advanced training may carry out minor surgery on the feet
• advises patients on aspects of foot care to avoid recurrence of foot problems
• delivers foot health education to groups such as the elderly, children, the homeless, those with medical problems such as arthritis
• refers patients who require further medical or surgical attention

Also called

Chiropodist · Foot health practitioner (qualified) · Podiatrist

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for podiatrists, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 0 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

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