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Nutritional therapist

Alternative titles for this job include

Nutritional therapists help people by giving advice on diet and nutrition.

Average salary (a year)

Variable

Typical hours (a week)

37 to 39 variable

You could work

freelance / self-employed managing your own hours

How to become

Explore the different ways to get into this role.

How to become a nutritional therapist

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course

University

You'll improve your employment prospects if you get a qualification that is recognised by one of the professional organisations for nutritional therapy.

The Nutritional Therapy Education Commission (NTEC) accredit courses in nutritional therapy. Graduates are eligible to apply for direct entry to the professional register held by the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council.

Courses are available at undergraduate degree, postgraduate diploma and Master's level.

You should make sure that you are satisfied that courses have a good reputation and you understand how they will be taught. It's also important to find out how much clinical experience you will gain as this may vary.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study

More Information

More Information

Registration

Career tips

Your prospects will be greatest as a self-employed therapist. To be successful you need to build up and maintain a sound reputation and client base which may mean working long hours at first.

Networking and training in other therapies may help to increase the number of clients that you see.

Further information

You can find more about careers in nutritional therapy from the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine and the Naturopathic Nutrition Association.

What it takes

Find out what skills you’ll use in this role.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • active listening skills
  • customer service skills
  • sensitivity and understanding
  • knowledge of biology
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work well with others
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

What you’ll do

Discover the day to day tasks you’ll do in this role.

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

As part of this role, you could:

  • take a detailed client case history focusing on diet and lifestyle
  • decide on which tests to carry out in the lab
  • encourage clients to understand the impact of diet and lifestyle on health
  • analyse and report back test results and agree on a nutritional plan
  • monitor a client's progress over a period of time
  • create and update confidential case notes
  • refer clients on to other healthcare services when necessary

Working environment

You could work at a client's home, at a GP practice or in a therapy clinic.

Career path and progression

Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities.

Career path and progression

You could specialise in working with people with specific medical conditions like arthritis or chronic fatigue.

You could grow your business and supervise or manage other staff.

With experience you could move into teaching, writing content on nutritional therapy or doing research.

Current opportunities

Find apprenticeships, courses and jobs available near you.

Current opportunities

Apprenticeships In England

We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a nutritional therapist right now.

The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.

Courses In England

Food Science and Nutrition

  • Provider: THE PRIORY SCHOOL
  • Start date: 01 September 2023
  • Location: HITCHIN

Food Science and Nutrition

  • Provider: ST. MARY'S MENSTON, A CATHOLIC VOLUNTARY ACADEMY
  • Start date: 01 September 2023
  • Location: Ilkley
Find courses near you

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