They earn a more than reasonable salary.
We will expand. The average salary is about £50,000 per year. But the range is £29,384 to £58,398, depending on experience. However these figures do not incorporate bonus pay for out-of-hours working, and for oncall commitments.
What is a junior doctor?
All ‘junior doctors’ are qualified doctors that may treat you in hospital or at your GP surgery, and may save your life.
A junior doctor is a doctor undergoing an average of 10 years (range 8-12) further training, after 5 (range 4-6) years at medical school (university), to be a consultant – making a total of about 15 (range 12-18) years training.
They work under the supervision of a consultant. When a consultant, they are qualified to practice independently without supervision.
Ok. So, how much do junior doctors earn?
Note. GP training is different and pay scales in the three nations are different.
Senior salaries
After about 10 years as a junior doctor, many will become a hospital consultant or GP partner with a salary in the range £90,000-£120,000 per year. They can be a senior doctor for 30-35 years. Also as seniors, they can supplement their NHS salaries considerably – two to four-fold – with private practice. They will also have platinum standard pensions.
Comparison to teachers
The average starting salary for a classroom teacher is at least £28,000 per year, i.e. about the same as a junior doctor. Overall the average salary is about £39,000, compared to £57,000 for a leadership teacher (excluding headteachers), and £74,000 for a headteacher. So senior teacher salaries are far less than senior doctors.
We have explained what do junior doctors earn (and compared it to teachers). An average salary is about £50,000 per year. And later on, they can earn much higher salaries for 30+ years and retire with a very good pension.
