Dietitian
Also advertised as: Clinical Dietitian, Community Dietitian, dietician, Dietitian, Paediatric Dietitian, public health nutritionist
Advises patients on nutrition to treat illness and improve health outcomes.
What the job involves
Dietitians translate nutritional science into practical eating plans for conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease and malnutrition. Unlike nutritionists, dietitians are regulated and can work directly on hospital wards with acutely unwell patients. The role involves clear explanation, since patients need advice they can actually follow at home.
Typical responsibilities
- Assess nutritional needs of patients
- Design dietary treatment plans
- Support tube or intravenous feeding decisions
- Educate patients and carers
- Work within multidisciplinary teams
Common employers
- NHS trusts
- Public health teams
- Private practice
- Food industry
Pay, hours and working environment
Typical pay
£27,000 – £31,000 a year
With experience
£35,000 – £45,000 a year
Typical hours
37.5 hours, mostly daytime
Working environment
Hospital wards, clinics and community settings
Remote working
on_site
Demand for this work
steady
Pay ranges are indicative guidance drawn from advertised UK vacancies and published careers information. They are not an offer, and actual pay varies by employer, location and experience.
Skills and qualifications
Core skills
- Nutritional science
- Clinical reasoning
- Communication
- Behaviour change coaching
- Report writing
Transferable skills you may already have
- Explaining technical information simply
- Coaching lifestyle changes
- Working in a team
Requirements employers ask for
- Nutritional science
- Clinical reasoning
- Communication
- Behaviour change coaching
- Report writing
- BSc Dietetics degree
- HCPC registration
- HCPC registration
- Enhanced DBS check
- accept own accountability
- sociology
- follow clinical guidelines
- contribute to continuity of health care
- clinical examinations in dietetics
- human physiology
- provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health
- obesity
- offer advice on diet-related concerns
- medical terminology
- provide health education
- chemistry
Useful but not essential
- Explaining technical information simply
- Coaching lifestyle changes
- Working in a team
- Experience in a hospital catering or care setting
- Public health nutrition modules
- pedagogy
- employ foreign languages for health-related research
- intensive care medicine
- psychiatry
- business management principles
- first aid
- general medicine
- communicate with media
Helpful qualifications
- Experience in a hospital catering or care setting
- Public health nutrition modules
Licences and checks
- HCPC registration
- Enhanced DBS check
Ways into this career
A degree is only one route. Where an apprenticeship, work-experience or qualification route exists, it is listed here alongside the academic option.
Apprenticeships and work-based routes
- Dietitian (Degree Apprenticeship, limited availability)
Degree and college routes
- Related subject: Biology
- Related subject: Chemistry
- Related subject: Food science
Where this career can lead
next
Specialist Dietitian
next
Consultant Dietitian
next
Public Health Nutrition Lead
The good parts and the hard parts
What people enjoy
- Directly improves patient health outcomes
- Options beyond the NHS in industry and media
- Regulated status protects the title
What people find hard
- Smaller job market than nursing
- Persuading behaviour change can be slow
Common questions
- Do you need a degree to become a dietitian?
- No. As well as degree routes, this career can be entered through an apprenticeship or by building experience and qualifications on the job. required
- How much does a dietitian earn in the UK?
- Typical advertised pay runs from £27,000 to £31,000 a year, rising towards £45,000 with experience. Figures are indicative guidance rather than an offer.
- What skills transfer into this career?
- Skills that transfer well include Explaining technical information simply, Coaching lifestyle changes, Working in a team.
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Where this information comes from
- National Careers Service
- Institute for Apprenticeships
Last reviewed 14 September 2026.
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