The 21 UK jobs with the biggest pay rises, ranked

21 UK jobs with the biggest pay rises in 2025

The UK job market is both bruised and booming. The public sector has handed out pay rises in response to volatile pay disputes, while private employers are bidding through the roof for tech-savvy talent. 

Drawing on data from employment website TotalJobs, we've highlighted the jobs with the biggest year-on-year pay rises. From courtroom heavyweights such as barristers to public sector stalwarts like social workers and nurses, read on to discover the roles offering the fastest-growing financial rewards in 2025...

21. Data engineer: 25.19%

20. Site operations manager: 25.22%

As we've already learned, the UK is in a data boom; Google recently announced a £5 billion London-area data centre and the UK is set to host Europe’s largest GPU cluster (a network of interconnected computers all fitted with graphics processing units) under an £11 billion investment drive. But what does this have to do with site operations managers (SOMs)? Well, they're just some examples of the variety and diversity of sites that SOMs have in their portfolio nowadays. 

Alongside this, SOMs also face constant public-sector pressure, including visiting schools with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) issues, social housing with unsafe cladding, and NHS buildings that need returning to a minimum working standard. Therefore, it's likely the salary increase for 2025 reflects the sheer scale of the job today. 

19. Sonographer: 25.61%

More scans (especially ultrasound), extended hours, skills shortages, and private-sector competition have all combined to push sonographers' pay up by a whopping 25.61%. According to an NHS report, ultrasound is one of the highest-volume tests in NHS diagnostics – a statistic driving significant demand for sonographers.

At the same time, community diagnostic centres have multiplied and extended their evening and weekend hours, which means premium rates or specialist recruitment to keep scanners running. The jump from £59,663 to £74,940 is shocking but not surprising when a specialist job and overstretched public sector collide. 

18. Nurse: 26.31%

Let’s tackle the elephant in the room: why the big pay jumps and yet more strikes? The data can be skewed by high-paying, hard-to-fill roles, while high-cost areas like London have boosted base pay and unsociable-hour enhancements, meaning salaries aren't standardised across the country. Given these factors, it's easy to see why nursing wages have nominally ballooned against a bitter backdrop of pay disputes. 

When it comes to these ongoing disputes, unions argue real-terms pay has eroded since 2010, and the latest award felt so underwhelming that most nursing unions are threatening to withdraw from talks. 

17. Registrar: 26.8%

If you pictured a civil wedding officiant, that's understandable. But no. At number 17, we’re talking medical registrars: senior doctors-in-training tackle complex on-calls and supervise juniors. So why the pay jump? Two back-to-back national uplifts for trainees set a higher baseline. Add on weekend/on-call premiums, not to mention the London pay weighting, and the rate rockets.

16. Supply teacher (long term): 26.95%

Someone says "supply teacher" and most pupils loosen up: mouths open, shoulders drop, chairs tip back. So supply teaching is anything but easy. The silver lining comes after 13 weeks when they move onto the official school teachers' pay and conditions document (STPCD) scale instead of an agency flat rate.

The climb from £35,994 to £48,685 has taken the demanding role to a respectable 16th place. 

15. Engineering technician: 27.42%

14. Real estate assistant: 27.59%

Rents hit new records through mid-2025, according to recent Rightmove data, so it's no surprise administrators in the real estate industry have seen their pay rise from £31,350 to £40,000. Lettings teams are also busier than ever, juggling listings, viewings, contracts, and renewals. 

And while the housing market is cooling slightly, 2025 has brought stricter rules around regulation and compliance for estate agents to adhere to.

13. Outreach teacher: 29.33%

Unlike supply teachers, outreach teachers deliver education beyond the classroom. The smart specialists support pupils who can’t attend mainstream school, often travelling to homes, hospital wards, and community centres to keep learning on track. 

The role carries sensitive, complex duties, and demand is climbing fast as the number of children and young people with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans increased by 10.8% from 2024 to 2025. Hence employees have received a mouth-watering rise of £11,350 in the same period.

Liking this? Click the Like button above. And click the Follow button above for more great stories from loveMONEY

12. IT consultant: 29.83%

We knew we'd have to mention AI eventually. The role of IT consultant is booming as UK firms unleash fortunes to usher in a new age of technology. It's a clear factor in why some IT employees have had their paycheques fattened over the past year. From £36,200 to £47,000, the 29.83% rise is certainly a pull for workers looking to upskill or 'job hop' to a new career. 

=10. Online instructor: 30%

Almost cracking the top 10, online instructors – often delivering what is called remote or distant teaching – have seen an eye-watering pay rise of 30% from 2024 to 2025. A modern phenomenon that caught wind after the COVID-19 pandemic, demand seemingly hasn't slowed down when you look at wage trends. 

Whether you've been hired to deliver lessons to students, onboard corporate employees, or run an online course for the average Joe looking to upskill, the paycheque has never been higher. According to TotalJobs, an online instructor takes home a typical salary of £52,000.

=10. Social worker: 30%

The UK has long been dealing with the increased demand across sectors like adult social care, mental health, and children's services. But there has been an attempt to increase pay to meet it. Along with a 2% adult social care (ASC) precept levied by councils, a flat £1,290 was added to all national joint council (NJC) pay points from April 2024, and a +3.2% deal was agreed on by workers' unions GMB and Unison amidst strike action. 

Social workers safeguard children and adults, help people live independently, and redirect those in need to the appropriate services. But despite the handsome pay hikes over the last year, with wages going from £52,000 to £67,600, councils still report major difficulties getting workers in the demanding and sometimes high-stress line of work. 

9. Blinds and curtain installer: 30.77%

Bet this wasn't what you expected to see higher on the list than social worker, but here we are. Many homes around the UK are opting to install new thermal/energy-saving and smart blinds to help overall costs, while many businesses are looking for ways to dress their brick-and-mortar stores. From office towers and luxury hotels to museums and art centres, it turns out there's a big demand for blinds and curtain installers and a scarcity of skilled fitters to deliver the job. 

8. Data architect: 31.02%

The crème de la crème of computer jobs on this list, data architects have a mid-point salary on par with a GP and a typical wage rise that clears that of a nurse. As mentioned before, the AI boom has accelerated the demand for senior data leaders and with companies wanting to get ahead of the competition now, inter-sector bidding has continued to push pay well up to triple figures.

With a typical salary of £95,000, representing a £22,490 jump from 2024, the braniac business opening is easily one of the highest-paying roles on this list. 

7. Private finance initiative manager: 31.12%

But not every pay rise came from code; some were negotiated across contracts and compliance. Private finance initiative (PFI) managers saw their pay increase from £59,400 to £78,000 from 2024 to 2025, a jaw-dropping sum for a job that was technically sunsetted seven years ago.  

In 2018, government ministers vowed no new PFIs, a scheme that enabled private sector bodies to finance public sector projects but which fell out of favour due to controversy. This created a tsunami of expiring deals from 2025 onward, unleashing a fleet of complex handbacks and project closures, with a thinning talent pool and 'brain drain' adding to the stress. That is, unless organisations win PFI managers over with premium pay packets. 

6. Stock condition surveyor: 33.62%

England has some of Europe’s oldest housing stock; the latest valuation office agency (VOA) data shows about 21% of homes were built pre-1919, and large shares of private rentals are pre-1919 too. Recent high-profile tragedies, such as the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from mould in his Rochdale home, have exposed serious failings in how such housing is maintained; meanwhile, the horrors of Grenfell Tower mean surveyors now collect more safety-critical details. 

All of this taken into account, the demand for more seasoned surveyors – especially those specialising in compliance or damp and mould – has skyrocketed. And pay has followed. Up by £14,191, a typical salary now stands at £57,200, as per TotalJobs. 

5. Hotel general manager: 35.11%

Sneaking into the top five are hotel general managers with a striking 35.11% year-on-year pay rise. The UK hospitality sector is still facing a significant staff shortage crisis; UK Hospitality data shows the number of vacancies is 48% above pre-pandemic levels. This has piled pressure on thinning teams, with most firms in need of a captain who can run a tight ship and deliver quality service. 

If you thrive in a fast, high-stress environment, hotel management is currently delivering seriously attractive rewards – at least until the sector’s staffing gap finally closes.

4. General practitioner: 35.48%

Across 2024 and 2025, GP pay was lifted twice by national awards. Unlike nurses, GPs didn’t strike with a walkout. Instead, they backed collective action: a 'work to rule' approach that pushed back against unsafe workload, growing waiting lists, and the notorious 8am appointment scramble.

According to TotalJobs, typical GP salaries have jumped by 35.48%. An enviable annual pay bracket of £76,038 to £114,743 signals how intensely valuable (and stretched) these frontline clinicians are.

3. Personal private assistant: 40%

Time might be today’s ultimate currency. High-net-worth families and hard-charging executives want 24/7 cover for travel, estate, and diary management, plus flawless discretion along the way. A top-tier personal assistant (PA) frees hours and keeps life and business ticking along.

The broader a PA's toolkit, from tech fluency to a sprawling contact diary, the more valuable they are. With a whopping 40% rise from £50,000 to £70,000 over the last year, there's a lot to be made in personal and professional administration. 

2. Barrister: 48.91%

Just missing out on the top spot are barristers. These professionals know the law like the back of their hand and have unsurprisingly bagged one of the year’s fattest pay bumps. The eye-catching 48.91% cash uplift, worth over £16,000, comes from a combination of healthy city law salaries bulking out the average and a slew of recent fee scheme hikes. 

The Attorney General’s civil panel rates jumped 25%, civil legal-aid fees were strengthened earlier this year, and CPS prosecution payments were boosted at the start of 2024. It shows the legal industry is still a massive bank balance booster. 

1. Intervention tutor: 81.39%

Taking first place with almost double the pay rise seen by barristers, these school-based specialists deliver targeted one-on-one or small-group tutoring, mainly outside of classroom hours. 

It's not clear exactly why the rate skyrocketed as much as it has, but here's one theory. In the 2023/24 academic year, schools could use their National Tutoring Programme (NTP) funding to cover up to 50% of the cost of high-quality tutoring, with the remaining 50% coming from their school budget. However, from September 2024, schools stopped receiving any additional ring-fenced funding. This forced schools to bid through the roof to retain qualified tutors – especially when OFSTED inspections loomed. 

Liked this? Click the Like button above. And click the Follow button above for more great stories from loveMONEY

Now discover 10 countries that will pay you to move there