Paramedic
As the first responders to medical emergency situations, paramedics head into the unknown to save lives and help those in need of urgent medical care.
What's on this page?
What's it like to be a paramedic?
You’ll find that no two shifts are ever the same for a qualified paramedic. From making life-saving decisions, to using your judgement and skills to quickly assess patients’ conditions, you’ll be the nation’s lifeline.
You’ll be trained to resuscitate and stabilise patients using sophisticated techniques, equipment, and drugs. In an emergency, you may use high-tech equipment such as defibrillators, spinal and traction splints, as well as administering oxygen and drugs.
You’ll work in a range of emergency and non-emergency situations, and will also often work alongside the police and fire and rescue services. Paramedics also work closely with other healthcare teams, such as: GPs, Nurses, Mental Health Crisis Teams and Pharmacists to manage patients in the community or closer to their home. As well as your patients, you’ll also support their relatives, friends, and other members of the public.
About the job
What does a paramedic do?
As a paramedic, you’ll be the senior member of a two-person team, with an emergency care assistant or technician to support you. Alternatively, you may work on your own using a motorbike or bicycle. You could also provide advice over the telephone from a control room or clinical hub.
You’ll work closely with other healthcare teams in the community, such as GPs, occupational therapists, mental health teams, diabetes specialists, and doctors and nurses in hospital emergency departments.
What are the pay and conditions like?
Your standard working week will be around 37.5 hours on a shift pattern that can include nights, early starts, evenings, weekends, and bank holidays.
If you work in the NHS, you’ll be paid on the Agenda for Change (AFC) pay system, typically starting on band 5.
You will be able to claim £2,000 a year towards childcare costs through the NHS Learning Support Fund, and there’s funding available for adult dependants and some placement travel costs too. If you have a disability, there are grants to help with essential costs while studying via the Disabled Students’ Allowance.
If working on the NHS you will have access to one of the best pension schemes in the UK, as well as access to exclusive health service discounts and benefits at some of the most popular brands.
Where could you be working?
You will be based at a local ambulance station, usually attached to a hospital. Paramedics work shifts to provide a crucial service day and night, and no matter what the weather throws at you.
What are your career development opportunities?
Once you’ve qualified, you could progress to become a team leader who supervises other paramedics and emergency care assistants. Or you might specialise in a specific area like strokes. You may even work for the air ambulance service. With additional training, you could progress to more senior roles with more responsibilities, such as experienced paramedic.
We are the NHS - we are one team
Is it for you?
Are you a good communicator?
As a paramedic, you’ll be thrown into unknown or unpredictable situations, working with patients who may be in distress. To help your patients you’ll need to be able to reassure them and explain the steps you will be taking to help them while you work.
Are you able to remain calm in stressful situations?
The ability to handle stressful situations calmly and make critical decisions in the middle of chaos is crucial. You will need to be able to stay focused on treating the injured without being overwhelmed by the pressure of the scenario you’re in. The lives of those injured depend on your ability to make quick and accurate decisions.
Are you a critical thinker with problem-solving skills?
Excellent critical thinking skills are essential for a paramedic. You’ll need to make rational and accurate decisions as you assess and diagnose patients. Using your best judgement, you’ll need to identify and evaluate problems quickly and find the best solution for the situation.
Do you have a good level of fitness?
You’ll need a good level of physical fitness and two years' driving experience. The recruitment process often involves several stages of interviews, tests, fitness assessments, and driving tasks.
Do you have excellent driving skills?
Most NHS ambulance trusts will require you to be able to drive an ambulance under emergency conditions.
How can I apply?
Applying with a degree
To practise as a paramedic, you’ll first need to successfully complete an approved qualification in paramedic science, usually to degree level. You’ll then need to apply to an ambulance service as a qualified paramedic and register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Paramedic science courses usually take between two to four years full-time, and include a mixture of theory and practical work including placements with the ambulance services.
Entry requirements for an undergraduate degree include:
- two or three A levels, including a science, along with five GCSEs (grades A – C), including English language, maths, and science
or equivalent qualifications include:
- a BTEC, HND or HNC, including science
- a relevant NVQ
- a science- or health-based Access course
- equivalent Scottish or Irish qualifications
Every university sets its own entry requirements, so it’s important to check with them directly.
Driving licence
When applying to an ambulance service trust – as a student paramedic or once you’re fully qualified – you'll need to have a full, manual driving licence.
If you passed your test after 1996, you may also need an extra driving qualification to drive larger vehicles and carry passengers. Ambulance service trusts use vehicles of different sizes, so check which classifications you need on your licence.
Applying with a degree apprenticeship
Only a few ambulance trusts now offer the option of studying while you work. Each will set out its own entry requirements. They usually ask for:
- at least five GCSEs, grade C or above, including English, maths, and science
or
- equivalent academic qualification with a high level of health or science content
To get onto a degree apprenticeship, you'll need to apply for an apprentice position with an ambulance service trust. You can search for vacancies on the NHS Jobs website and Find an Apprenticeship website.
You are likely to need relevant experience, either voluntary or paid. For example, working as an emergency care assistant or volunteering with St John Ambulance or the British Red Cross.
Driving licence
When applying to an ambulance service trust – as a student paramedic or once you’re fully qualified – you'll need to have a full, manual driving licence.
If you passed your test after 1996, you may also need an extra driving qualification to drive larger vehicles and carry passengers. Ambulance service trusts use vehicles of different sizes, so check which classifications you need on your licence.
