Annual Salary
£35,000 to £50,000
Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Engineering design or Maintenance or go back to all job sectors or go to green jobs
Clinical engineers apply engineering principles to the research, design and development of healthcare products and equipment.
Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends; on a rota
There will be
2.4% more Clinical engineer jobs in 2027.
As a clinical engineer, you could:
You could work in an NHS or private hospital, in a laboratory, at a research facility or in a workshop.
You can get into this job through:
You can do a degree to start training as a clinical engineer. Relevant subjects include:
After your degree, you can apply for the postgraduate NHS Scientist Training Programme (STP). During the 3-year programme, you'll be employed and study a postgraduate master's degree at university.
Areas of clinical engineering covered by the programme include:rehabilitation engineering; clinical measurement; medical device development
There is a lot of competition for places on the STP, so it helps to have relevant experience. You could do some voluntary work in a hospital to get experience of patient contact.
There are also jobs in the private sector for clinical engineers, where you could work your way up to chartered engineer status.
You'll usually need:
You could get into this job by completing a Healthcare Science Practitioner Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship.
This takes a minimum of 3 years.
You'll usually need:
If you do not have a degree, you could apply for the NHS Practitioner Training Programme.
During the 3-year programme, you'll be employed and study for an accredited degree in healthcare science (clinical engineering) at university.
To apply, you'll usually need:
Equivalent qualifications to A levels in science or engineering may be acceptable, for instance T levels or extended diplomas.
When applying for NHS training and apprenticeships, you'll be expected to have an understanding of how NHS values apply in your work.
You can find out more about becoming a clinical engineer from Health Careers and Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.
With experience and further training, you could become a consultant, specialising in particular clinical areas, or move into:project management; medical research; teaching
There are opportunities in both the public and private sectors.
You'll need: