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Medical

Nutritionist

Nutritionists teach patients and clients about the effects of food on their health, motivating them to make positive changes to their diet.

Annual Salary

£28,000 to £43,000

Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

37 to 39 a week

You could work: between 8am and 6pm;

3.8%
Future employment

There will be 3.8% more Nutritionist jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

Your exact day to day tasks will vary depending on where you work.

Generally, as a nutritionist you might:

  • complete research to learn more about a certain area of nutrition
  • recruit volunteers to take part in your research
  • process and analyse biological samples
  • provide scientific advice on healthy eating
  • work with hospital patients, supported by doctors, dieticians and nurses

Working environment

You could work in an NHS or private hospital, in the community, at a GP practice, at a health centre or in a laboratory.

You can get into this job through a university course,

University

You'll usually need a degree or postgraduate qualification approved by the Association for Nutrition.

Approved courses include:

  • food and nutrition
  • biochemistry
  • physiology
  • public health
  • health promotion

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 or 3 A levels, or equivalent, including biology or chemistry
  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study
For more information
Volunteering and work experience

You might want to get some paid or volunteering experience in the NHS. It could help you get a place on a university course.

You could also consider work experience in:

  • food safety
  • animal welfare
  • food poverty charities
  • sports and fitness
  • food manufacturing
  • university research laboratories

You can find volunteering opportunities through The National Council for Voluntary Organisations and Volunteer by Do IT.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Career tips

There are some short courses available to help you decide whether nutrition is the right career for you.

You could take:certified courses from the Association for Nutrition; online nutrition courses with FutureLearn

Professional and industry bodies

After university, you can apply to join the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists which proves you're a qualified or experienced nutritionist.

Further information

You can find out more about:careers in nutrition from the Association for Nutrition; NHS nutritionists on the NHS Health Careers website

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With experience or further training, you could:specialise in an area, such as sports nutrition, public health or animal nutrition; supervise a team of nutritionists; manage whole projects or policies; find your own clients and become self employed

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • sensitivity and understanding
  • knowledge of biology
  • knowledge of training and educating
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work well with others
  • the ability to work on your own
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
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