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How much do doctors in specialty training (residency) earn in the UK?

Talking about money seems to be a taboo subject amongst doctors. Of course we all go into medicine for altruistic reasons, but we all need money to live. And for anyone to move to another country there has to be some incentive. So today I’ll be talking about pay. It’s a complicated matter so to keep things simple in this article, I will stick to the salary for junior doctors in training ie. residency.

Table of Contents

How much a junior doctor in training (residency) is of interest to international medical graduates planning to move to the UK for work. This article discusses the main concepts of pay including typical gross salary depending on the level of the doctor, monthly take home pay after tax and pension deductions, increasing pay through locum work, and the benefits of NHS employment.

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The rules, guidelines and criteria for working as a doctor in the UK change frequently. Please make sure you check the latest official guidance before taking action.

This article needs updating for 2023. But you can read the article below for a general idea of how salaries are calculated. 

UPDATED: November 18, 2020

Talking about money seems to be a taboo subject amongst doctors. Of course, we all become doctors for altruistic reasons, but we also need money to live, and for anyone to move to another country there has to be some incentive.

So today I’ll be talking about pay. It’s a complicated matter so to keep things simple for this article, I will stick to the salary for doctors in specialty training ie. residency or postgraduate training

For doctors in non-training jobs, the salary scales are slightly different but the overall pay is quite similar so you can keep reading for a general idea.

Basic Salary

If you’ve searched for UK doctor salaries before, you may have come across the term “basic salary”. Basic salary is the gross annual salary before tax for a full time job and covers 40 hours per week of work during normal shift hours or “plain time rates”. Plain time rates include any work done between 7am – 9pm any day of the week. The basic salary (gross) is what you will find on NHS jobs if you’re looking for non-training jobs as shown below.

Range of Basic Salary

As you can see from the screenshot above, there is a range for the basic salary. This depends on how many years of experience you have. If you have more years of experience, then your salary can be higher. This usually applies to non-training jobs. For those starting training jobs, you will almost always start from the bottom of the range.

Salary Supplements

On top of the basic salary, trainees can get additional pay for the following:
  • Being on-call from home
  • Working in London or near London (up to £2,162 per year)
  • Training in hard-to-fill specialties (GP, Emergency Medicine & Psychiatry)

Total Gross Salary

Now the basic salary is just the starting point of the annual salary because most jobs involve working more than 40 hours per week. Salary will increase depending on the intensity of the workload. Therefore the total salary for a job will include the basic salary + additional salary for workload intensity. The following are considered as factors for increased workload intensity:
  • Working more than 40 hours a week
  • Working nights and weekends
  • Working during the hours of 9pm to 7am (any day of the week)

Typical Gross Salaries for Each Grade

A typical work pattern for most medical or surgical jobs includes:
  • Working 47 hours per week on average
  • Working 4 nights per month
  • Working 1 weekend per month
For simplicity’s sake, I have listed the total gross annual salary in the table below taking these factors into account.
Grade*Gross basic salary (annual)**Gross total salary for a typical work pattern (annual)**
FY1£ 27,146.00£ 33,340
FY2£ 31,422.00£ 38,590
CT/ST1-2£ 37,191.00£ 49,920
CT3/ST3-8£ 47,132.00£ 63,260

You may earn more or less depending on the intensity of the actual job you do. Remember this table is just a rough estimate.

*If you’re not familiar with the abbreviations for doctors grades you can read about them here.
**All figures are before tax or pension deductions.

Net Monthly Pay

As mentioned in the previous section, all figures provided are before anything has been deducted for tax and pension. I’m sure you’d also like to know what you actually get to keep each month so I have listed the usual take home pay for each grade.

Please note that this is just a ballpark figure based on your NHS job being your only source of income. The figures can be higher or lower depending on any other sources of income you have, whether you opt out of the NHS pension, and whether you claim for any tax deductible expenses.

GradeTypical total gross annual salary*Typical monthly Net salary after tax and pension**
FY1£ 33,340£ 2,000
FY2£ 38,590£ 2,200
ST1-2£ 49,920£ 2,800
ST3-8£ 63,260£ 3,400

We’ve lived a very comfortable life on this salary since moving here in 2014.

BONUS #1: Maximise Your Income

Once you’re working in the UK and you’re in charge of your own money, you’ll want to make sure that you get the most out of it, not just for yourself but for your family as well – whether they’re with you in the UK or back home.

So how can you save money?

1. Use Transferwise for international transfers

I save £240 every year by using Transferwise instead of the bank to send money overseas. Read how I did it here.

2. Use discount codes

There are lots of products and services that IMGs tend to use a lot, and if you’re going to use it anyway, always try to get a discount! 

We’ve gathered the most useful resources for IMGs here with some discount codes. 

We continuously strive to get discounts for you guys, our readers, so do check back regularly!

3. Save money on your PLAB journey

We all count down to the day when our investment in moving to the UK comes back to us. There are ways to make that day come sooner by minimising how much you spend on the PLAB journey. Check out our our guide on The cost of PLAB & GMC fees + tips on saving money

4. Claim tax deductible expenses

There are several professional expenses associated with working as a doctor in training eg. GMC fees, exam fees, Royal College fees etc. These types of expenses can be deducted from your salary before tax is taken out. You can review this BMA guide on the subject.

BONUS #2 – Increase Your Income

Don’t forget that as well as your regular pay from being an NHS employee, you can increase your earnings by doing extra work. This can either be in the same hospital you work at (AKA internal locum or bank) or at another hospital (AKA external locum).

If you are working in the UK on a Tier 2 or Tier 5 visa, there is usually a strict limit of 20 hours per week for external locum work as it counted as a second job. There does not appear to be any restriction for internal locum work. Please check your visa conditions before you take on any locum shifts.

 

Locum shifts usually pay an hourly rate and tend to be higher for external locum work compared to internal locum work.

Due to coronavirus (COVID-19), there’s currently no limit on the number of hours you can work as a doctor as an external locum. (Source)

Typical rates for external locum shifts

GradeTypical hourly rates for acute specialties (medicine and surgery)

SHO

(FY2/CT1/CT2/Junior clinical fellow)

£35-50

Registrar

(CT3, ST3+, Senior clinical fellow)

£60-80

Related: UK doctor titles 101

Rates can be higher or lower depending on the following factors:

  1. Notice period: Short notice shifts tend to pay more.
  2. Times: Evenings, nights, weekends and bank holidays may pay more.
  3. Location:
    • London tends to have the lowest rates due to higher supply of doctors.
    • Rural areas tend to pay higher rates – some very understaffed rural areas will offer Registrar rates to work as a locum SHO, and Consultant rates to work as a locum Registrar.
  4. Specialty: Some specialties pay higher than others.
  5. Roles: Specialised roles may pay higher rates than non-specialised roles eg. locum work as a surgical assistant can sometimes pay more than a ward SHO.

Employee Benefits

Compensation is not all about salary. As an NHS employee, you will also receive lots of benefits that will make life easier and more manageable. We go into detail about the important benefits in this article.

Summary

  • Pay depends on the intensity of the job.
  • Additional pay is given for working in London and in hard-to-fill specialties.
  • Monthly take home pay can differ depending on other income you may have, pension and tax-deductible expenses.
  • You can increase your pay by working additional shifts. There are limits to this if you are working in the UK on a visa.
  • You will receive employee benefits that you can read about here.

Now you have a better idea about the salary in the UK, I hope this helps you decide whether or not to pursue training here.

If you’re preparing for your journey, be sure to know how much you need for the initial investment. With the salary you make in the UK, you can make that money back in just 3-6 months.

Further resources

You might also like

Looking for a step-by-step guide?

Subscribe to the Savvy IMG and grab your FREE 2-year roadmap to UK residency as an IMG.

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Looking for a step-by-step guide?

Subscribe to the Savvy IMG and grab your FREE 2-year roadmap to UK residency as an IMG.

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24 Responses

  1. Your write up is quite educative. Any detail information on how i can get into ST3 paediatric surgery from Ghana? I have about 3years of experience in surgery and 6years post graduation. Thanks

    1. Hi there! To be honest, you’re likely to be considered overqualified but you can always try! You need to pass MRCS, IELTS/OET, build up your portfolio according to the paediatric surgery criteria, apply for GMC registration then apply for ST3. Please check out the link for paeds surgery ST3 in our useful links page, good luck! 🙂

  2. Hi
    If I get a post for a senior clinical fellow can this be regarded as an FY2 job in prep for GP Training
    Also can the same go for Junior Clinical fellow

    Thanks

  3. Hi .I am a General Practitioner in Iran.Can I become a Radiology resident in the UK?
    And Can I have a quality life with a residency salary?
    Tnx For Your Tips

    1. Hi Mehdi,
      1. If you meet all the eligibility requirements, you can apply. It’s a very competitive specialty so you’ll need to build up your application.
      2. As long as you live within your means, I don’t see why not!
      All the best!

  4. Hi Nick! I am also from the Philippines and a consultant of ophthalmology since 2007. I took the PLAB and got registered last Dec 2017. My husband and. I left the Uk Jan 2018 since he got a job in Singapore. I still do not have UK experience but do you think I can work there as an ophthalmologist? Thank you !

    1. Hi there, sorry we don’t know anything about Singapore. Might be best to ask someone who works there. Best of luck to you both!

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Legitimate interest(s): resolving disputes and potential disputes.

How long we retain your information

This section sets out how long we retain your information. We have set out specific retention periods where possible. Where that has not been possible, we have set out the criteria we use to determine the retention period.

Retention periods

Server log information: we retain information on our server logs for 3 months.

Correspondence and enquiries: when you make an enquiry or correspond with us for any reason, whether by email or via our contact form or by phone, we will retain your information for as long as it takes to respond to and resolve your enquiry, and for 36 further month(s), after which point we will archive your information.

Newsletter: we retain the information you used to sign up for our newsletter for as long as you remain subscribed (i.e. you do not unsubscribe).

Membership: we retain the information you used to sign up for our memberships for as long as you remain subscribed (i.e. you do not unsubscribe).

Criteria for determining retention periods

In any other circumstances, we will retain your information for no longer than necessary, taking into account the following:

    • the purpose(s) and use of your information both now and in the future (such as whether it is necessary to continue to store that information in order to continue to perform our obligations under a contract with you or to contact you in the future);
    • whether we have any legal obligation to continue to process your information (such as any record-keeping obligations imposed by relevant law or regulation);
    • whether we have any legal basis to continue to process your information (such as your consent);
    • how valuable your information is (both now and in the future);
    • any relevant agreed industry practices on how long information should be retained;
    • the levels of risk, cost and liability involved with us continuing to hold the information;
    • how hard it is to ensure that the information can be kept up to date and accurate; and
    • any relevant surrounding circumstances (such as the nature and status of our relationship with you).

How we secure your information

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to secure your information and to protect it against unauthorised or unlawful use and accidental loss or destruction, including:

  • only sharing and providing access to your information to the minimum extent necessary, subject to confidentiality restrictions where appropriate, and on an anonymised basis wherever possible;
  • using secure servers to store your information;
  • verifying the identity of any individual who requests access to information prior to granting them access to information;
  • using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software to encrypt any payment transactions you make on or via our website;
  • only transferring your information via closed system or encrypted data transfers;

Transmission of information to us by email

Transmission of information over the internet is not entirely secure, and if you submit any information to us over the internet (whether by email, via our website or any other means), you do so entirely at your own risk.

We cannot be responsible for any costs, expenses, loss of profits, harm to reputation, damages, liabilities or any other form of loss or damage suffered by you as a result of your decision to transmit information to us by such means.

Transfers of your information outside the European Economic Area

Your information may be transferred and stored outside the European Economic Area (EEA) in the circumstances set out earlier in this policy.

We will also transfer your information outside the EEA or to an international organisation in order to comply with legal obligations to which we are subject (compliance with a court order, for example). Where we are required to do so, we will ensure appropriate safeguards and protections are in place.

Your rights in relation to your information

Subject to certain limitations on certain rights, you have the following rights in relation to your information, which you can exercise by writing to the data controller using the details provided at the top of this policy.

  • to request access to your information and information related to our use and processing of your information;
  • to request the correction or deletion of your information;
  • to request that we restrict our use of your information;
  • to receive information which you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format (e.g. a CSV file) and the right to have that information transferred to another data controller (including a third-party data controller);
  • to object to the processing of your information for certain purposes (for further information, see the section below entitled Your right to object to the processing of your information for certain purposes); and
  • to withdraw your consent to our use of your information at any time where we rely on your consent to use or process that information. Please note that if you withdraw your consent, this will not affect the lawfulness of our use and processing of your information on the basis of your consent before the point in time when you withdraw your consent.

In accordance with Article 77 of the General Data Protection Regulation, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or of an alleged infringement of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Further information on your rights in relation to your personal data as an individual

You can find out further information about your rights, as well as information on any limitations which apply to those rights, by reading the underlying legislation contained in Articles 12 to 22 and 34 of the General Data Protection Regulation, which is available here:http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/reform/files/regulation_oj_en.pdf

Verifying your identity where you request access to your information

Where you request access to your information, we are required by law to use all reasonable measures to verify your identity before doing so.

These measures are designed to protect your information and to reduce the risk of identity fraud, identity theft or general unauthorised access to your information.

How we verify your identity

Where we possess appropriate information about you on file, we will attempt to verify your identity using that information.

If it is not possible to identity you from such information, or if we have insufficient information about you, we may require original or certified copies of certain documentation in order to be able to verify your identity before we are able to provide you with access to your information.

We will be able to confirm the precise information we require to verify your identity in your specific circumstances if and when you make such a request.

Your right to object

You have the following rights in relation to your information, which you may exercise in the same way as you may exercise by writing to the data controller using the details provided at the top of this policy.

  • to object to us using or processing your information where we use or process it in order
  • to carry out a task in the public interest or for our legitimate interests, including ‘profiling’ (i.e. analysing or predicting your behaviour based on your information) based on any of these purposes; and
  • to object to us using or processing your information for direct marketing purposes(including any profiling we engage in that is related to such direct marketing).

You may also exercise your right to object to us using or processing your information for direct marketing purposes by:

  • clicking the unsubscribe link contained at the bottom of any marketing email we send to you and following the instructions which appear in your browser following your clicking on that link;
  • sending an email to info@thesavvyimg.co.uk, asking that we stop sending you marketing communications or by including the words “OPT OUT”.

Sensitive Personal Information

‘Sensitive personal information’ is information about an individual that reveals their racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, genetic information, biometric information for the purpose of uniquely identifying an individual, information concerning health or information concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

Our website does not allow you to register any ‘Sensitive Information’, however if we ask for this, you will be considered to have explicitly consented to us processing that sensitive personal information under Article 9(2)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We update and amend our Privacy Policy from time to time.

Minor changes to our Privacy Policy

Where we make minor changes to our Privacy Policy, we will update our Privacy Policy with a new effective date stated at the beginning of it. Our processing of your information will be governed by the practices set out in that new version of the Privacy Policy from its effective date onwards.

Major changes to our Privacy Policy or the purposes for which we process your information

Where we make major changes to our Privacy Policy or intend to use your information for a new purpose or a different purpose than the purposes for which we originally collected it, we will notify you by email (where possible) or by posting a notice on our website.

We will provide you with the information about the change in question and the purpose and any other relevant information before we use your information for that new purpose.

Wherever required, we will obtain your prior consent before using your information for a purpose that is different from the purposes for which we originally collected it.

Children’s Privacy

Because we care about the safety and privacy of children online, we comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). COPPA and its accompanying regulations protect the privacy of children using the internet. We do not knowingly contact or collect information from persons under the age of 18. The website is not intended to solicit information of any kind from persons under the age of 18.

It is possible that we could receive information pertaining to persons under the age of 18 by the fraud or deception of a third party. If we are notified of this, as soon as we verify the information, we will, where required by law to do so, immediately obtain the appropriate parental consent to use that information or, if we are unable to obtain such parental consent, we will delete the information from our servers. If you would like to notify us of our receipt of information about persons under the age of 18, please do so by contacting us by using the details at the top of this policy.