Career and salary paths: median pay at each step of seven UK routes

What the take-home column assumes

ONS publishes gross pay, and the take-home is this site's estimate from the calculators' engine. A payslip can differ.

• As if paid this year: 2026/27 rules on pay from the tax year to 5 April 2026.
• England, on tax code 1257L, with no student loan and no pension.
• The take-home column is worked on the median in that row, not on the 25th or 75th percentile beside it.

How to read a route

A higher median at the next step does not mean moving there raises a given person's pay. The people in the two roles differ, so the gap is not what a move is worth, and nothing on this page is advice about which career to choose.

• Each route's table uses its own roles, picked separately, so the tables cannot be chained: a row in one route says nothing about a row in another.
• A percentile is a share of jobs, not of people: a 25th percentile is the pay a quarter of those jobs fall below.
• Quality is ONS's band for the median, and ONS says the true value is likely to lie within plus or minus twice its coefficient of variation. A median at acceptable quality is weak: construction project managers and related professionals show £49,319 at 13%, so the true figure is likely to be somewhere between £36,000 and £62,000. A difference between two steps may be within that sampling error.
• ONS has not finished with these figures: they are provisional, and it says the final 2026 data comes in October 2027.
• They cover full-time employees on adult rates who were in the same job for over a year. The self-employed are excluded.
• Where a note describes a way into a job, it comes from the government's get careers information and advice service, formerly the National Careers Service, read on 31 October 2026. That service lists separate career services for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

From care work to care management

ONS has no row titled care home manager, so the last step is its row for residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors, a title that also names people who own the business. The careers service says a care worker can, with experience, become a senior care worker, and can move into care services management with further qualifications. It says a senior care worker might progress to become a care home manager. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

Pay by age: caring personal service occupations

For this group, this is a snapshot of different jobs in one year, not one person's career. It holds care workers and senior care workers along with teaching assistants and childcare assistants, and not care managers. Medians for every age from 22 up are in the range £27,249 to £29,344. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

From nursing assistant to health services management

ONS has no row titled healthcare assistant or ward manager. The first step is its row for nursing auxiliaries and assistants, the nearest by title, and the nursing step is the row it calls other nursing professionals. The careers service says a healthcare assistant can apply to train as a nurse, and that a nurse could, with experience, become a clinical team leader or ward manager, or move into a management role. The last row, health services and public health managers and directors, includes directors as well as managers, so it does not show what a ward manager is paid.

None of these rows is an NHS Band: the NHS pay pages linked at the foot of this page have the actual Agenda for Change pay scale. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

Pay by age: health professionals

Among health professionals, this is a snapshot of different jobs in one year, not one person's career. Nurses share this group with doctors, therapists, pharmacists and paramedics, so the figures are not nursing's alone, and nursing assistants are in another group. ONS publishes no figures for 18 to 21 here. The highest median is £52,670, at ages 50 to 59. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

From IT support to IT director

The careers service says a software developer could, with experience, become a senior developer leading a team, or manage development projects. The move from IT support into programming, and the move up to IT director, are this site's illustration.

The third row is lower than the second. IT managers show £58,086 against £59,863 for programmers, and the likely ranges overlap: between £54,000 and £62,000, and between £57,000 and £63,000. So these figures cannot say which of the two pays more. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

Pay by age: science, research, engineering and technology professionals

Among these professionals, this is a snapshot of different jobs in one year, not one person's career. ONS puts programmers and IT managers here with scientists and engineers, so the figures are not software's alone. The median is £26,420 at 18 to 21 and highest at £60,838 at ages 40 to 49. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

From construction labouring to site management

ONS has no row titled apprentice or labourer, so the route starts at elementary construction occupations not elsewhere classified. The only other row in that group is groundworkers, at £42,381, above electricians at £40,717, so this choice of first row happens to give a rising route. The move from labourer to electrician, and from supervisor to the project manager row, are this site's illustration. The careers service says apprenticeships are open to all ages on its electrician page, and that with experience an electrician could work in site supervision. Its construction manager page says you may be able to move into that job after several years' experience in another construction role, and names site supervisor among them.

Project managers are the weak row here, for the reason in the section on reading a route, and ONS does not publish their 75th percentile. The medians either side of them, £45,510 and £59,994, both fall inside their likely range, so this row cannot be placed between its neighbours with any confidence. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

Pay by age: skilled construction and building trades

Across these trades, this is a snapshot of different jobs in one year, not one person's career. Bricklayers, plumbers and carpenters are in this group, as are the supervisors in the route, while electricians sit in a neighbouring one. Ages 40 to 49 show the highest median, £40,540, and both older groups show lower ones. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

From teaching assistant to head teacher

ONS has no row titled deputy head, so that step is missing here. The careers service says a teaching assistant could, with experience, take a course to become a higher level teaching assistant, and that someone could start as a teaching assistant and do further training. It says qualified teacher status is usually needed to teach in a state school in England. Its headteacher page asks for several years as a senior manager or deputy head. The teacher step is the primary row; the other school phases are in the full list on the salary comparison page. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

Pay by age: teaching and other educational professionals

In teaching, this is a snapshot of different jobs in one year, not one person's career. ONS publishes no figures for 18 to 21 in this group, which holds teachers and head teachers from primary schools to universities, and not teaching assistants. The median is £37,939 at 22 to 29. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

From finance administration to financial manager

ONS has no row titled finance clerk or management accountant, so the route starts at financial administrative occupations not elsewhere classified, and the accountant step is its row for chartered and certified accountants. The careers service says a finance officer could also train to become an accountant, and that a management accountant could, with experience, become a finance manager. The first move, from administration to finance officer, is this site's illustration.

The last two rows overlap a long way. Accountants' 75th percentile is £68,619, above the £52,043 at financial managers' 25th. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

Pay by age: business, media and public service professionals

For a group this broad, this is a snapshot of different jobs in one year, not one person's career. Accountants share it with solicitors, architects and social workers, so it says little about finance on its own. Its highest median is £57,159, at ages 50 to 59. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

From community support officer to senior police officer

ONS has no row titled constable: its two rows for police officers are sergeant and below, and senior officers. So the route starts a step earlier with police community support officers. The careers service says you could get paid work as one before applying for police officer training, and that you would apply in the normal way. It says that after training comes a probationary period as a constable, and that with experience and extra training you may be able to apply for promotion to sergeant, inspector or chief inspector. ONS publishes a median for senior police officers but not their 25th or 75th percentile. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

Pay by age: protective service occupations

In the protective services, this is a snapshot of different jobs in one year, not one person's career. Police officers up to sergeant are here with fire and prison officers; community support officers and senior officers are in other groups. ONS publishes only a median at 18 to 21 and at 60 and over, of £34,814 and £45,054. ASHE 2026 provisional, full-time employees.

Where these figures come from

The pay figures are from ONS's Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The salary comparison page has every role with a published median, including the ones these routes leave out. The notes on ways into a job use the careers service's pages, which contain public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.