Work as a podiatrist in the UK: HCPC registration (2026)

• Your chiropody or podiatry qualification was gained outside the UK and is the one that first let you practise.
• You have not been on the HCPC Register before; former registrants use readmission instead.
• Your course covered, or your later practice shows, local anaesthesia, nail and skin surgery, and debridement of intact and ulcerated skin under standard 13.17.
• You can evidence neurological, vascular, biomechanical and dermatological assessment of the foot and lower limb (standard 13.13), not only gait or orthotic work.
• You can show you manage high-risk feet, including people with diabetes, and can recognise systemic disease in the lower limb (standard 13.16).
• You have basic life support training and can handle clinical emergencies in a podiatry clinic (standard 13.15).
• Your university can fill in the HCPC course information form with the clinical hours for each podiatry module.
• You hold IELTS 7.0 with no band under 6.5, OET Podiatry 1400 with each sub-test at 300 or more, or the HCPC TOEFL iBT scores, unless your podiatry degree came from a listed English-speaking country.
• A referee who supervised your podiatry practice can confirm your work from an official employer email address.

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• HCPCHealth and Care Professions Council

  Physiotherapists, radiographers, paramedics and other allied health professions

  How to register with the HCPC

1. 1

   Audit your course against standard 13.17

   Put the list from standard 13.17 next to your transcript: prescription-only medicines, local anaesthesia, debridement, nail and skin surgery, chair-side orthoses and orthotic prescription. Mark each one as taught and assessed, practised at work, or missing. A missing local anaesthetic or nail surgery element is the most common reason a podiatry file goes to a test of competence.
2. 2

   Close clinical gaps before you apply

   If anaesthesia or nail surgery is missing, consider getting supervised experience or postgraduate training first, because the HCPC no longer asks for more information after submission. Keep logs of procedures with dates and the supervising clinician's name. Assessors want to see the skill was assessed, not only observed.
3. 3

   Sit OET Podiatry or IELTS

   OET has a podiatry version, and only that version is valid for this register. Its scenarios suit clinicians who talk to patients about foot care and footwear every day. If you also want the same result to cover the visa, IELTS for UKVI is the one to choose.
4. 4

   Get the course information form from your university

   Ask the podiatry school to list each module's learning outcomes, assessments and theory and clinical hours, with the clinic or hospital where placements took place. Ask them to name surgical and anaesthesia modules explicitly. Podiatry schools abroad are often small departments, so give them plenty of notice.
5. 5

   Write your podiatry experience section

   In your own words, describe your caseload most recent first: diabetic foot screening and ulcer care, nail surgery under local anaesthetic, biomechanical assessment and orthoses, paediatrics or sports injuries. Map each piece of evidence to the numbered podiatry standards. Do not use AI or copied text; the HCPC checks.
6. 6

   Line up podiatry referees

   The best referee is the lead podiatrist or consultant who supervised your clinical work, ideally someone who saw you perform nail surgery or manage high-risk feet. They must reply from an official work email. Ask before you leave the post.
7. 7

   Submit and pay

   Apply online and pay the scrutiny fee by card; the shared submission mechanics are on our HCPC regulator page. Two podiatry assessors then review your file and email a decision with a record of assessment.
8. 8

   Prepare for a possible test of competence

   If you are referred, expect to discuss the podiatry standards you did not evidence, such as anaesthetic choice and dosage, sterile nail surgery technique, ulcer debridement and when to refer a foot to vascular or diabetes teams. Prepare case examples you have handled yourself.
9. 9

   Register, then look for podiatry posts

   After verification you pay the registration fee and receive your number. Search NHS Jobs for Band 5 community podiatry posts or Band 6 roles in diabetes, musculoskeletal or high-risk foot teams, then apply for the visa with your certificate of sponsorship.

• HCPC test of competence for podiatrists

  There is no written podiatry exam. A referral means a structured professional discussion with two registered podiatrists, focused on the standards your file did not cover. For overseas podiatrists that tends to mean local anaesthesia, nail and skin surgery, wound debridement, prescription-only medicines and vascular or neurological foot assessment. You have 12 months to take it, and a fail means the application is refused.

• OET Podiatry, IELTS or TOEFL iBT

  OET Podiatry uses foot health scenarios in its speaking role-plays and referral-letter writing task. A nursing or physiotherapy OET certificate does not count for podiatry. IELTS must be taken at a test centre, and TOEFL iBT must be taken outside the UK.

• Podiatrists meet the standard HCPC level: IELTS 7.0 overall with each of the four bands at 6.5 or higher.
• OET Podiatry counts at 1400 overall with no sub-test below 300; OET certificates for other professions are not accepted for the podiatry register.
• For TOEFL iBT taken from 21 January 2026 the HCPC asks for Reading 4.5, Listening 5, Writing 4.5, Speaking 5 and Overall 5.
• US podiatric physicians and podiatrists from Australia, New Zealand, Canada or Ireland are exempt from a test, because those countries are on the HCPC list where English is the predominant language.
• Spanish, Portuguese and Greek podiatry graduates, a large share of overseas applicants to UK podiatry, usually need a test, because their degrees were not taught in a listed country.
• Your certificate must be under two years old when you submit, so do not sit the test long before your university returns the course information form.
• The visa's English rule is separate; see our UK country guide.

Estimate your total cost

• If you need to add local anaesthetic or nail surgery experience before applying, that preparation can take longer than the whole HCPC stage, so plan it first.
• Small podiatry schools abroad can take weeks to complete the course information form, particularly if module records are archived.
• The HCPC currently quotes about 3 months from a complete podiatry file to a first decision, then verification with your university, regulators and referees.
• A referral to a test of competence must be completed within 12 months, with results by email within two weeks.
• NHS community podiatry services recruit throughout the year, and many will interview while your application is still with the HCPC.
• GOV.UK says a Health and Care Worker visa decision usually takes about 3 weeks once you have proved your identity.

Podiatry posts in the NHS sit on Agenda for Change, and NHS Health Careers says podiatrists typically start at Band 5 on a 37.5-hour week. The rows below are NHS Employers 2026/27 annual pay points for England from 1 April 2026; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own figures, and London posts add a high cost area supplement.

• Band 5 (community podiatrist)

  £32,073 to £39,043

  Typical entry point for newly registered overseas podiatrists.

• Band 6 (diabetes, MSK or high-risk foot podiatrist)

  £39,959 to £48,117

• Band 7 (lead or highly specialist podiatrist)

  £49,387 to £56,515

  For example, lead roles in multidisciplinary diabetic foot teams.

• Band 8a (advanced podiatry practitioner or service lead)

  £57,528 to £64,750

  Podiatric surgery is a further postgraduate career; grading depends on the post.

See your NHS band and annual pay

• NHS community podiatry services, the largest employer, covering clinics, home visits and nursing homes.
• NHS hospital trusts, including diabetic foot, vascular and multidisciplinary foot protection teams.
• Musculoskeletal and biomechanics services.
• Paediatric services.
• Private podiatry clinics and sports clinics (these may not qualify for the Health and Care Worker visa unless they provide services to the NHS).

• GOV.UK lists podiatrists under occupation code 2256 as eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa.
• The shared visa rules (fees, salary threshold, maintenance funds, surcharge exemption and English) are on our UK country guide, and the HCPC application mechanics are on our HCPC regulator page.
• Your sponsor will usually be an NHS trust or community health provider running podiatry services, or a private provider that delivers podiatry under an NHS contract.
• High street private podiatry clinics that do not provide NHS services cannot sponsor you on the Health and Care Worker visa, and would need to use the Skilled Worker visa if they are licensed sponsors.
• The going rate for a podiatry offer is checked against GOV.UK's national pay scale table for the NHS band of the post, so a Band 5 community post is assessed at the Band 5 rate.
• Foot health practitioner or podiatry assistant roles are not code 2256, so check eligibility with the employer before accepting one.

1. 1

   A DHA, DOH, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP or other GCC podiatry licence does not carry over; the HCPC assesses the qualification that first let you practise, plus your experience.

2. 2

   Diabetic foot clinic work in the Gulf is strong evidence for standards 13.13 and 13.16. Describe your vascular and neurological screening, ulcer grading and debridement, and how you worked with endocrinology and vascular teams.

3. 3

   Many Gulf podiatry posts are limited to biomechanics, orthotics or screening, and some facilities reserve nail surgery and anaesthesia for doctors. If that was your scope, assessors will see a gap against standard 13.17.

4. 4

   If you did nail surgery under local anaesthetic in a Gulf hospital, keep a procedure log with dates and your supervisor's name, and ask that supervisor to be your referee from a hospital email address.

5. 5

   GCC countries are not on the HCPC English-speaking list, so you will need IELTS or OET Podiatry unless your degree came from a listed country.

6. 6

   Declare every Gulf registration and ask each authority for a letter of good standing, because the HCPC contacts regulators during verification.

• Application plan with every step, fee and deadline

• Document checklist tailored to you, and a review of each document before upload

• Timeline built around the regulator's closure windows and document validity periods

• Help completing the application forms accurately and consistently

• Support with profession-specific evidence, such as the HCPC standards of proficiency mapping

• Guidance on certificates of good standing, references and certified translations

• Preparation for identity checks and declarations on health and character

• Tracking your application and help responding to regulator requests

• Next steps after the decision: exams, adaptation, PIN or licence and your first job

Regulators make all registration decisions and set all fees. Our fee is separate from the regulator's fees, exam fees and translation costs.

What our registration and licensing support includesPackages and fees