jobfacts

Public relations professionals

SOC 2020 2493

Public relations professionals plan, organise and co-ordinate the activities that promote the image and understanding of an organisation and its products or services to consumers, businesses, members of the public and other specified audiences.

Also calledPublic relations officerPR officerPR executiveCommunications officerPress officerSocial media managerand 58 more titles
Typical full-time pay£37,6002025 Provisional
People in the job81,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month1,800↓ 3.5%on last year · 108th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time public relations professionals earn between £30,900 and £47,600 a year.

What full-time public relations professionals earn, 2025
£37,600 typical£27,700lowest 10%£50,800top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£30,900–£47,600)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£27,700
Lowest 20% earn less than£30,200
25%£30,900
Median£37,600
75%£47,600
Top 20% earn more than£50,800
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £37,600
South East!£40,700
West Midlands!£39,700
London£39,500
Scotland!£37,200
North East!£34,900
North West!£33,600
South West!£31,500
Yorkshire and The Humber!£30,500
East Midlands!£29,800
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £37,600
South East£40,700 (small sample)
West Midlands£39,700 (small sample)
London£39,500
Scotland£37,200 (small sample)
North East£34,900 (small sample)
North West£33,600 (small sample)
South West£31,500 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£30,500 (small sample)
East Midlands£29,800 (small sample)
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £36,700
  • 2024 £37,000
  • 2025 Provisional£37,600
↑ 2.4% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 1,800 jobs for public relations professionals 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 20261,832
Jul 20261,788
Jun 20262,712
May 20261,797
Apr 20261,411
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20261,471
Jan 20261,568
Dec 20251,016
Nov 20252,030
Oct 20251,890
Sept 20251,774
Aug 20251,725
Jul 20251,878
Jun 20252,165
May 20252,214
Apr 20251,811
Mar 20252,091
Feb 20251,781
Jan 20251,567
Dec 20241,025
Nov 20241,979
Oct 20241,667
Sept 20242,173
Aug 20241,856
Jul 20242,350
Jun 20241,772
May 20242,087
Apr 20242,761
Mar 20241,811
Feb 20242,480
Jan 20242,677
Dec 20232,030
Nov 20232,132
Oct 20231,779
Sept 20231,956
Aug 20232,425
Jul 20232,707
Jun 20233,097
May 20232,916
Apr 20232,329
Mar 20233,369
Feb 20233,047
Jan 20233,618
Dec 20223,017
Nov 20223,408
Oct 20223,711
Sept 20223,192
Aug 20223,691
Jul 20224,059
Jun 20223,915
May 20224,456
Apr 20223,772
Mar 20224,466
Feb 20224,183
Jan 20224,747
Dec 20213,872
Nov 20213,698
Oct 20214,091
Sept 20213,962
Aug 20213,351
Jul 20213,919
Jun 20213,353
May 20213,200
Apr 20212,710
Mar 20214,752
Feb 20212,457
Jan 20212,398
Dec 20201,979
Nov 20201,872
Oct 20202,022
Sept 20201,939
Aug 20201,436
Jul 20201,870
Jun 20201,559
May 20201,458
Apr 20201,675
Mar 20203,103
Feb 20203,513
Jan 20203,439
Dec 20192,439
Nov 20193,142
Oct 20193,115
Sept 20192,927
Aug 20193,097
Jul 20194,033
Jun 20194,072
May 20193,813
Apr 20192,689
Mar 20193,385
Feb 20192,991
Jan 20193,004
Dec 20181,998
Nov 20182,798
Oct 20182,769
Sept 20182,922
Aug 20182,643
Jul 20182,934
Jun 20183,019
May 20183,034
Apr 20182,696
Mar 20183,217
Feb 20183,187
Jan 20183,261
Dec 20171,960
Nov 20172,543
Oct 20172,504
Sept 20172,497
Aug 20172,620
Jul 20172,563
Jun 20173,211
May 20172,841
Apr 20173,228
Mar 20173,255
Feb 20172,891
Jan 20173,354
Is there a shortage of public relations professionals?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
28%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for business, media and public service professionals, which includes public relations professionals. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London1,985
Manchester218
Birmingham153
Leeds139
Bristol, City of91
Glasgow City78
City of Edinburgh61
Liverpool60
Cardiff54
Nottingham51
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where public relations professionals are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 180 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from United States, China, France, ranking it 82nd of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of public relations professionals
5.7%!
47%
20%!
15%!
9.6%!
2.2%!
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
16–245.7% (small sample)
25–3447%
35–4420% (small sample)
45–5415% (small sample)
55–649.6% (small sample)
65+2.2% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent79%
Higher education below degree!2.3%
A levels or equivalent14%
GCSEs or equivalent!1.8%
Other qualifications–
Not published
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent79%
Higher education below degree2.3% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent14%
GCSEs or equivalent1.8% (small sample)
Other qualificationsNot published
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: public relations and communication activities (11%), business and other management consultancy activities (7.1%), general public administration activities (6.8%), advertising agencies (6.2%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
79%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
2
from level 4
Apprenticeships take
14 months to 2 years
typically

Routes in

Public relations officer

You can get into this job through:

University

You can get into public relations (PR) with a degree in most subjects.

You could also do a degree or postgraduate course related to public relations. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations has a list of recognised university courses.

Courses include:

  • public relations
  • public relations and media
  • marketing and PR
  • PR and corporate communications
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in any subject for a postgraduate course

College

You could do a college course, which might give you an advantage when looking for a trainee public relations role.

Courses include:

  • English
  • marketing
  • creative and digital media - social media option
  • T Level in Marketing
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T Level

Apprenticeship

You could work towards this role by doing a Public Relations and Communications Assistant Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship.

This takes a minimum of one year to complete.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Other ways in

Volunteering

You'll find it useful to get paid or unpaid experience of working in public relations. You could:

  • contact PR departments and consultancies for work experience
  • volunteer to promote local charities
  • write for student magazines, blogs and social media
  • work on student or volunteer radio services
Other routes

You could study for professional qualifications through the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

These can be done online or at a training centre. Courses include:

  • Foundation Certificate for beginners
  • Professional PR Certificate, if you're a graduate or have at least 2 years of PR experience

You can find out more about a career in public relations from the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

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

Social media manager

You can get into this job through:

University

Some employers may expect you to have a degree in a relevant subject, like:

  • advertising
  • marketing and public relations
  • digital and social media marketing
  • digital content creation
  • journalism
  • business management

A degree with a work placement will help you gain valuable experience and may be an advantage when you look for work.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do an apprenticeship to get into this job.

For example:

  • Content Creator Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
  • Multi-channel Marketer Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
  • Digital Community Manager Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship
  • Digital Marketer Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship

These apprenticeships take between 2 and 3 years to complete and are a mix of on-the-job training and classroom learning.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Work your way up

You could start work with a social media or marketing company as an assistant, digital content creator or SEO specialist. As you get more experience, you could work your way up into a management position.

You could also do qualifications through professional bodies like the Data and Marketing Association and The Chartered Institute of Marketing to help improve your prospects.

Volunteering

Experience of working with social media could help when applying for jobs. You could get experience by:

  • volunteering to manage a charity or community group's social media channels
  • managing your own social media profiles
  • contributing to your school, college or university channels
  • writing blogs or creating podcasts and tracking their use and popularity
  • getting involved in social media for the company you already work for

You could also keep up to date by joining webinars about social media trends.

You may find volunteering opportunities through Do It or The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

Many jobs combine technical duties with management roles, so it can help if you have:

  • video, sound and image editing skills
  • the ability to write engaging copy and scripts for a target audience
  • an understanding of search engine analytics

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

Apprenticeships

2 for this job
Level 4About 14 months

Public relations and communications assistant

Leads to
Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA)
Details on Skills England

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Other qualifications

QualificationTypeLevel
Certificate of Higher Education in Technical Practice in Digital Community ManagementHigher technical4
Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Digital Technologies for EnglandHigher technical5

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • discusses issues of business strategy, products, services and target client base with senior colleagues to identify public relations requirements
  • writes, edits and arranges for the effective distribution of press releases, newsletters, social media and other public relations material
  • addresses individuals, clients and other target groups through meetings, presentations, the media and other events to enhance the public image of an organisation
  • develops and implements tools to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of public relations exercises

Skills

  • advise on public relations
  • perform public relations
  • advise on public image
  • develop professional network
  • liaise with politicians
  • maintain relationships with government agencies
  • manage fundraising activities
  • coordinate advertising campaigns
  • advise politicians on electoral procedures
  • analyse election procedures
  • analyse external factors of companies
  • analyse internal factors of companies
  • communicate with media
  • coordinate events

Knowledge

  • political science
  • content marketing strategy
  • corporate social responsibility
  • election law
  • political campaigning
  • advertising techniques
  • brand marketing techniques
  • diplomatic principles

Suits people who like

  • Leading and persuading
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for business, media and public service professionals, a group of 32 jobs that includes public relations professionals.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 26%about 670,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20352.1 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.

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