Medical secretaries: average salary and pay in the UK
Full-time medical secretaries in the UK earned a median £26,958 in the year to 5 April 2025, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE): 31% less than the £39,039 median for all full-time jobs.
What the figures show
It is in the lowest-paid third of the 382 occupations (45th from the bottom).
The middle half of full-time jobs paid between £24,938 and £30,436.
Median full-time pay: women £26,968 a year, men £25,990 a year.
About 58% of the roughly 48,000 employee jobs are full-time.
From £21,508 in 2021, the median is up 25.3%, close to the 25.0% for all jobs.
The Annual Population Survey counts 62,500 people in this line of work across the UK.
Pay distribution, 2025 provisional
| Gross pay | Full-time, annual | Full-time, weekly | Full-time, hourly | All, annual | All, weekly | All, hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | £22,740 | £458.90 | £12.56 | £12,330 | £246.00 | £12.47 |
| 20th percentile | £24,147 | £482.20 | £13.09 | £15,530 | £304.90 | £12.99 |
| 25th percentile | £24,938 | £492.00 | £13.13 | £17,286 | £339.80 | £13.13 |
| 30th percentile | £25,659 | £492.70 | £13.27 | £18,299 | £367.40 | £13.13 |
| 40th percentile | £26,320 | £508.40 | £13.57 | £21,642 | £426.10 | £13.48 |
| Median (50th percentile) | £26,958 | £516.60 | £13.90 | £24,071 | £473.60 | £13.79 |
| 60th percentile | £29,114 | £558.00 | £14.89 | £25,674 | £501.20 | £14.88 |
| 70th percentile | £29,446 | £564.30 | £15.02 | £26,880 | £517.60 | £14.92 |
| 75th percentile | £30,436 | £573.90 | £15.13 | £28,194 | £558.00 | £15.11 |
| 80th percentile | £31,050 | £587.80 | £15.48 | £29,125 | £558.60 | £15.37 |
| Mean | £27,724 | £537.50 | £14.46 | £23,031 | £451.90 | £14.60 |
Pay since 2021
| ASHE year | Full-time, annual median | Full-time, weekly median | Full-time, hourly median | All, annual median | All, weekly median | Jobs (thousands, indicative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 revised | £21,508 | £419.80 | £12.30 | £17,826 | £360.20 | 41 |
| 2022 revised | £22,674 | £453.50 | £12.69 | £20,207 | £389.60 | 39 |
| 2023 revised | £24,864 | £484.00 | £13.41 | £21,341 | £416.50 | 43 |
| 2024 revised | £26,532 | £503.70 | £13.44 | £22,553 | £437.30 | 42 |
| 2025 provisional | £26,958 | £516.60 | £13.90 | £24,071 | £473.60 | 48 |
Medical secretaries by region
UK: 62,500 (± 9,700), April 2025 to March 2026.
Annual Population Survey (Nomis)
What medical secretaries do
Medical secretaries deal with correspondence, make appointments and handle patients’ queries file and maintain medical and other records transcribe notes and dictation and perform other clerical tasks in hospitals/surgeries and other medical establishments. (ONS SOC 2020, 4211)
Also covers: clinic coordinator, clinic administrator, medical administrator, medical secretary, secretary (medical practice), admin clerk, administration clerk, clerical officer, clerical worker, clinical administrator, clinical secretary, doctor's secretary, hospital secretary, GP surgery administrator and medical notes summariser.
- Sorts and files correspondence and maintains diary of the person/s for whom they work
- Transcribes dictation into required format
- Maintains patients’ records and arranges appointments
- Answers enquiries and refers patient to appropriate experts
- Organises and attends meetings and takes minutes of proceedings
- Books resources such as rooms and refreshments, and orders stationery and other supplies as appropriate
Entrants require GCSEs/S grades or an Intermediate GNVQ/GSVQ level II. Professional qualifications as a medical secretary are available entrants take a one year full-time or two year part-time diploma in medical secretarial studies. NVQs/SVQs in Administration are available at levels 2, 3 and 4.
Related
Secretarial and related occupations (median £28,388) · Legal secretaries · School secretaries · salary percentile · UK average weekly earnings growth · Median
ASHE Table 14: 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 · coding index · notes · 15 October 2026