jobfacts

Registered nurse practitioners

SOC 2020 2234

Registered nurse practitioners provide nursing care for the sick, injured and others in need of such care, assist medical doctors with their tasks and also provide care independently, including diagnosing patients, the ordering and interpretation of tests, the determination of treatment and prescription of medication.

Also calledMental health practitionerMidwifery practitionerPractitionerAdvanced nurse practitionerAdvanced neonatal nurse practitionerMental health nurse practitionerand 8 more titles
Typical full-time pay£46,1002025 Provisional
People in the job92,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month1,600↓ 15%on last year · 119th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time registered nurse practitioners earn between £38,100 and £53,200 a year.

What full-time registered nurse practitioners earn, 2025
£46,100 typical£29,500lowest 10%£38,10025%£54,400top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£38,100–£53,200)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£29,500
Lowest 20% earn less than£35,100
25%£38,100
Median£46,100
75%£53,200
Top 20% earn more than£54,400
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £46,100
London£54,300
East Midlands!£51,100
Scotland!£47,200
South East!£47,200
West Midlands!£46,400
Yorkshire and The Humber£45,200
East of England!£44,900
North West£44,900
South West£44,400
North East!£43,100
Wales!£39,200
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £46,100
London£54,300
East Midlands£51,100 (small sample)
Scotland£47,200 (small sample)
South East£47,200 (small sample)
West Midlands£46,400 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£45,200
East of England£44,900 (small sample)
North West£44,900
South West£44,400
North East£43,100 (small sample)
Wales£39,200 (small sample)
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £41,600
  • 2024 £44,800
  • 2025 Provisional£46,100
↑ 11% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 1,600 jobs for registered nurse practitioners 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 (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20261,230
Jul 20261,242
Jun 2026Not published
May 20262,145
Apr 20261,441
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20261,709
Jan 20261,655
Dec 20251,343
Nov 20251,833
Oct 20251,764
Sept 20251,789
Aug 20251,743
Jul 20251,848
Jun 20251,629
May 20252,949
Apr 20251,661
Mar 20251,835
Feb 20251,733
Jan 20251,892
Dec 20241,396
Nov 20241,711
Oct 20241,968
Sept 20241,993
Aug 20242,111
Jul 20242,306
Jun 20242,226
May 20242,692
Apr 20242,578
Mar 20242,379
Feb 20242,320
Jan 20242,685
Dec 20232,482
Nov 20232,550
Oct 20232,569
Sept 20232,377
Aug 20232,512
Jul 20234,339
Jun 20233,421
May 20233,115
Apr 20232,851
Mar 20233,315
Feb 20233,346
Jan 20233,424
Dec 20223,115
Nov 20223,460
Oct 20223,734
Sept 20223,482
Aug 20223,363
Jul 20223,349
Jun 20223,035
May 20223,450
Apr 20222,910
Mar 20223,468
Feb 20222,955
Jan 20222,885
Dec 20212,510
Nov 20212,819
Oct 20212,640
Sept 20212,373
Aug 20212,276
Jul 20212,668
Jun 20212,298
May 20212,246
Apr 20212,028
Mar 20212,439
Feb 20212,131
Jan 20212,183
Dec 20201,992
Nov 20201,959
Oct 20202,323
Sept 20202,629
Aug 20201,934
Jul 20202,119
Jun 20201,991
May 20201,787
Apr 20201,708
Mar 20202,037
Feb 20202,454
Jan 20202,422
Dec 20191,556
Nov 20191,922
Oct 20192,050
Sept 20191,858
Aug 20191,963
Jul 20192,144
Jun 20192,242
May 20192,240
Apr 20191,544
Mar 20191,876
Feb 20191,600
Jan 20191,764
Dec 20181,141
Nov 20181,815
Oct 20181,510
Sept 20181,692
Aug 20181,511
Jul 20181,602
Jun 20181,895
May 20181,695
Apr 20181,469
Mar 20181,940
Feb 20181,453
Jan 20181,763
Dec 20171,228
Nov 20171,941
Oct 20171,732
Sept 20171,700
Aug 20171,778
Jul 20171,650
Jun 20171,701
May 20172,086
Apr 20171,717
Mar 20171,946
Feb 20171,450
Jan 20171,578
Is there a shortage of registered nurse practitioners?
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
25%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for nursing professionals, which includes registered nurse practitioners. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London527
Birmingham168
Somerset78
Fife77
Liverpool76
Manchester75
South Gloucestershire68
North Yorkshire67
Bristol, City of66
Nottingham65
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where registered nurse practitioners are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 152 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from Nigeria, Philippines, India, ranking it 88th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of registered nurse practitioners
25%!
34%
22%
17%
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
25–3425% (small sample)
35–4434%
45–5422%
55–6417%
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent79%
Higher education below degree13%
A levels or equivalent!2.3%
GCSEs or equivalent!3.1%
Other qualifications!1.4%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent79%
Higher education below degree13%
A levels or equivalent2.3% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent3.1% (small sample)
Other qualifications1.4% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: hospital activities (45%), other human health activities (21%), regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security (16%), general medical practice activities (7.9%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
79%
as their highest qualification
Registration
NMC
required for some roles: Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Apprenticeships
2
from level 6, including degree apprenticeships
Apprenticeships take
18 months to 4 years
typically

Apprenticeships

2 for this job
Level 6About 4 yearsDegree

Registered nurse degree (NMC 2018)

You gain
Degree in Nursing or L7 qualification approved by the NMC where the apprentice already…
Registration
Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Details on Skills England
Level 6About 18 months

Enhanced clinical practitioner

Employers may ask for
Enhanced Clinical Practitioners must be registered with either one of the statutory healthcare regulators, Social Work England or with one of the following…
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/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • assists medical doctors and works with other healthcare professionals to deal with emergencies and pre-planned treatment of patients
  • manages own case load
  • interviews and diagnoses patients, orders tests and interprets results and determines appropriate treatments
  • monitors patient’s progress, administers drugs and medicines, applies surgical dressings and gives other forms of treatment
  • plans duty rotas and organises and directs the work and training of ward and theatre nursing staff
  • plans, manages, provides and evaluates nursing care services for patients, supervises the implementation of nursing care plans

Skills

  • accept own accountability
  • adapt leadership styles in healthcare
  • address problems critically
  • adhere to organisational guidelines
  • advise on healthcare users' informed consent
  • advise on healthy lifestyles
  • analyse the care quality
  • apply context specific clinical competences
  • apply health sciences
  • apply nursing care in long-term care
  • apply person-centred care
  • apply sustainability principles in health care
  • carry out nurse-led discharge
  • comply with legislation related to health care

Knowledge

  • impact of social contexts on health

Suits people who like

  • Helping and caring for people
  • Working with ideas and solving problems

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for health professionals, a group of 24 jobs that includes registered nurse practitioners.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 19%about 310,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.3 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.