jobfacts

Bank and post office clerks

SOC 2020 4123

Bank and post office clerks deal with the payment and receipt of money, cheques and other routine financial transactions and open and close accounts. They advise upon financial products and services offered by banks, building societies and post offices.

Also calledPost Office customer service assistantPost Office counter clerkCashierBanking adviserSupervisorPost masterand 137 more titles
Typical full-time pay£30,3002025 Provisional
People in the job66,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month2,500↑ 45%on last year · 74th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time bank and post office clerks earn between £26,600 and £35,700 a year.

What full-time bank and post office clerks earn, 2025
£30,300 typical£23,600lowest 10%£26,60025%£38,200top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£26,600–£35,700)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£23,600
Lowest 20% earn less than£25,700
25%£26,600
Median£30,300
75%£35,700
Top 20% earn more than£38,200
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £30,300
London£34,400
North West!£32,700
East Midlands!£29,900
East of England!£29,800
South East£29,400
Scotland£29,000
West Midlands£28,900
Wales!£28,700
Yorkshire and The Humber£28,500
North EastNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £30,300
London£34,400
North West£32,700 (small sample)
East Midlands£29,900 (small sample)
East of England£29,800 (small sample)
South East£29,400
Scotland£29,000
West Midlands£28,900
Wales£28,700 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£28,500
North EastNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £24,800
  • 2024 £28,100
  • 2025 Provisional£30,300
↑ 22% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 2,500 jobs for bank and post office clerks 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 20263,341
Jul 20263,125
Jun 20262,660
May 20262,693
Apr 20262,405
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20262,567
Jan 20262,905
Dec 20251,226
Nov 20252,043
Oct 20252,148
Sept 20252,301
Aug 20251,870
Jul 20251,972
Jun 20251,881
May 20252,420
Apr 20251,801
Mar 20251,757
Feb 20251,653
Jan 20251,390
Dec 2024884
Nov 20241,518
Oct 20241,745
Sept 20241,787
Aug 20241,812
Jul 20241,882
Jun 20241,763
May 20242,088
Apr 20241,722
Mar 20241,403
Feb 20241,408
Jan 20241,574
Dec 20231,066
Nov 20231,247
Oct 20231,563
Sept 20231,679
Aug 20231,892
Jul 20232,018
Jun 20232,666
May 20232,578
Apr 20232,038
Mar 20232,121
Feb 20232,064
Jan 20232,814
Dec 20222,552
Nov 20223,078
Oct 20223,533
Sept 20223,144
Aug 20223,311
Jul 20223,244
Jun 20223,016
May 20223,376
Apr 20222,730
Mar 20223,337
Feb 20223,048
Jan 20224,038
Dec 20212,712
Nov 20213,402
Oct 20213,276
Sept 20213,537
Aug 20212,762
Jul 20213,415
Jun 20212,758
May 20213,022
Apr 20212,078
Mar 20212,179
Feb 20211,148
Jan 20211,278
Dec 20201,366
Nov 20201,548
Oct 20201,933
Sept 20201,492
Aug 20201,384
Jul 20201,178
Jun 2020985
May 2020881
Apr 20201,135
Mar 20202,328
Feb 20202,693
Jan 20202,353
Dec 20191,830
Nov 20192,611
Oct 20192,711
Sept 20192,282
Aug 20192,178
Jul 20192,442
Jun 20192,565
May 20192,612
Apr 20191,770
Mar 20192,156
Feb 20191,858
Jan 20192,300
Dec 20181,564
Nov 20182,456
Oct 20182,961
Sept 20182,728
Aug 20182,460
Jul 20182,337
Jun 20182,547
May 20182,504
Apr 20182,250
Mar 20182,690
Feb 20182,394
Jan 20182,808
Dec 20171,594
Nov 20172,110
Oct 20172,801
Sept 20173,107
Aug 20172,519
Jul 20172,348
Jun 20172,620
May 20172,373
Apr 20172,325
Mar 20172,597
Feb 20172,116
Jan 20172,687
Is there a shortage of bank and post office clerks?
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 growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsAbove usual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
34%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for administrative occupations: finance, which includes bank and post office clerks. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London968
Manchester138
Birmingham118
Leeds103
Bristol, City of88
Somerset87
Glasgow City83
City of Edinburgh78
Cherwell67
Cheshire West and Chester67
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where bank and post office clerks 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 bank and post office clerks
n/p
30%!
16%!
18%!
20%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3430% (small sample)
35–4416% (small sample)
45–5418% (small sample)
55–6420% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent30%
Higher education below degree!8.3%
A levels or equivalent29%
GCSEs or equivalent28%
Other qualifications!3.4%
No qualifications!1.6%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent30%
Higher education below degree8.3% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent29%
GCSEs or equivalent28%
Other qualifications3.4% (small sample)
No qualifications1.6% (small sample)

Main employers: other monetary intermediation (55%), postal activities under universal service obligation (12%), other credit granting (5.1%), administration of financial markets (3%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
30%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You could do a college course to learn some of the skills and knowledge you need in this job. Courses include:

  • customer service
  • principles of customer service
  • retail skills
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You may be able to apply to do an apprenticeship with a Post Office shop or counter service. Options include:

  • Retail Service, Supply and Administration Level 2 Foundation Apprenticeship
  • Customer Services Practitioner Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
  • Retailer Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • no specific qualifications or experience to apply for a foundation apprenticeship
  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
More about this route
Foundation apprenticeship

You can apply for a foundation apprenticeship if you're aged 16 to 21.

If you're aged 22 to 24, you can apply if you:

  • have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
  • are in care or have been in care
  • are in prison or have been in prison

Apply directly

You'll need a good standard of education with numeracy and literacy skills, alongside good customer service skills, to apply for jobs.

You will be given training in Post Office products, services and computer systems by your employer when you start.

Many post offices are run as a franchise and are part of shops selling other goods and services. Each franchise will have its own recruitment and selection methods.

What you’ll need

  • pass background checks

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

Customer service experience in retail, banking or hospitality will be helpful when applying for jobs.

Further information

You can find out more about working as a counter assistant from the Post Office.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for post office customer service assistant. 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

  • deals with enquiries from customers, other banks and other authorised enquirers
  • maintains records of transactions and compiles information
  • advises customers on financial services and products available
  • manages the operations of a sub-post office
  • receives and pays out cash, cheques, money orders, credit notes, foreign currency or travellers cheques
  • provides postal services, pays state pensions, unemployment and other state benefits to claimants, supplies official forms and documentation to the public, and performs other tasks specific to the activities of a post office

Skills

  • communicate with customers
  • convert currency
  • handle financial transactions
  • offer financial services
  • advise on financial matters
  • assist customers
  • deliver correspondence
  • issue sales invoices
  • maintain financial records
  • maintain records of financial transactions
  • operate cash register
  • produce statistical financial records
  • provide financial product information
  • satisfy customers

Knowledge

  • customer service
  • financial products
  • financial markets
  • banking activities
  • characteristics of products
  • characteristics of services
  • financial jurisdiction
  • accounting techniques

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Leading and persuading

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for administrative occupations, a group of 20 jobs that includes bank and post office clerks.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 12%about 381,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 20351 millionincluding 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.