Locum speech and language therapist
Low £25.00Typical £42.00High £70.00
Rate benchmark
Locum speech and language therapist rates in the UK, 2026
£42.00typical per hour
Indicative pay ranges for UK locum speech and language therapists in the 2026/27 tax year. What’s typical, what drives variance, and how to benchmark your own rate against the market.
Ledger | Indicative 2026 range
Low, typical, and high.
NHS Band 6 sits £25 to £30/hr, agency Band 7 £36 to £48/hr. School commissioning pays £45 to £70/hr contact time, often with a planning uplift. EHCP assessment reports price at £750 to £1,500 each. Private paediatric 1:1 sessions reach £75 to £130/hr. Tribunal expert witness work pays £1,500 to £3,500 per report plus court days. Paediatric SEN and dysphagia are the premium niches.
| Rangeper hour | LowIndicative | TypicalIndicative | HighIndicative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative 2026 range (per hour) | £25.00 | £42.00 | £70.00 |
Indicative 2026 range (per hour)
Figures are educated estimates. Sources include: RCSLT member guidance; Published AHP agency rate cards; SENsible SENCO and SEN legal firm published expert rates. Real rates vary by individual contract and market conditions. Sessional doesn't guarantee any specific rate and your individual outcome depends on your negotiation and the organisations you work with.
01 | Market context
05Rate driversWhat drives the variance
For speech and language therapists, school commissioning and EHCP assessment work consistently pay above standard NHS agency banding.
Geography: London and the South East run 10% to 20% above the national average. Scotland and Wales typically mirror the national mean; Northern Ireland is often lower.
Urgency: last-minute cover pays more. Organisations covering a sudden gap often pay 20% to 30% above their standard rate.
Specialty: out-of-hours, unplanned care, specialist wards, and complex caseload all uplift the base rate.
Volume: regular weekly bookings are usually offered at a lower rate than ad-hoc shifts in exchange for certainty.
Route to market: direct bookings pay more than agency routes because no one takes a cut.
02 | Your ledger
04Benchmarking stepsHow to benchmark your own rate
Write down the last ten bookings you accepted and the rate you charged or received.
Break them down by region, urgency, and duration.
Compare each against the typical range above. If you are consistently at or below the low end on standard bookings, you are probably underpriced.
Next time you are asked for your rate on a standard booking in a London or South East organisation, quote the typical figure from the headline above and see what happens. A refusal tells you about the booking, not your rate.
03 | 34 cities
Look up your city
01Locum speech and language therapist in London02Locum speech and language therapist in Manchester03Locum speech and language therapist in Birmingham04Locum speech and language therapist in Leeds05Locum speech and language therapist in Liverpool06Locum speech and language therapist in Sheffield07Locum speech and language therapist in Bristol08Locum speech and language therapist in Newcastle09Locum speech and language therapist in Nottingham10Locum speech and language therapist in Leicester11Locum speech and language therapist in Coventry12Locum speech and language therapist in Bradford13Locum speech and language therapist in Southampton14Locum speech and language therapist in Portsmouth15Locum speech and language therapist in Brighton16Locum speech and language therapist in Reading17Locum speech and language therapist in Oxford18Locum speech and language therapist in Cambridge19Locum speech and language therapist in Norwich20Locum speech and language therapist in Milton Keynes21Locum speech and language therapist in York22Locum speech and language therapist in Plymouth23Locum speech and language therapist in Derby24Locum speech and language therapist in Stoke-on-Trent25Locum speech and language therapist in Hull26Locum speech and language therapist in Sunderland27Locum speech and language therapist in Glasgow28Locum speech and language therapist in Edinburgh29Locum speech and language therapist in Aberdeen30Locum speech and language therapist in Dundee31Locum speech and language therapist in Cardiff32Locum speech and language therapist in Swansea33Locum speech and language therapist in Newport34Locum speech and language therapist in Belfast
Last revised 24 April 2026
Run your locum work like a business. Minus the accountant.
Keeps the records, does the sums. Filing and advice stay with you and your accountant.
Log every booking in Sessional and see your actual average rate by organisation, day of week, and month. No card to start.