Radiography assistant and imaging support worker jobs

Radiography assistants, also called imaging support workers or imaging assistants, help radiographers run X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound and other imaging services. You prepare patients and rooms, help with positioning and moving, and help keep the lists running to time. No degree is needed. Most entry posts are band 2 or band 3, and assistant practitioners who carry out some examinations themselves are usually band 4. In England from 1 April 2026, band 2 pays £25,272, band 3 £25,760 to £27,476 and band 4 £28,392 to £31,157.

Duties in the imaging department

Your day revolves around the patient list. Typical tasks include:

• greeting patients, checking their identity and explaining what will happen
• helping patients change, and acting as a chaperone
• moving and positioning patients safely, including from trolleys and wheelchairs
• going through safety questionnaires, such as MRI screening forms and pregnancy checks, for the radiographer to confirm
• preparing rooms, cleaning equipment and restocking between patients
• helping with fluoroscopy, interventional and theatre imaging
• booking appointments and handling the reception or admin side in some posts

At band 3 and above you may take on clinical tasks such as inserting cannulas for contrast injections, taking blood, recording observations or setting up equipment for specialist procedures. These depend on training and local policy.

What an assistant practitioner can do

Band 4 assistant practitioners in imaging work to defined protocols and, in many trusts, carry out a limited range of plain X-ray examinations themselves, such as chest and limb images, once trained and assessed. Radiation exposure is strictly regulated, so the scope of practice is written down by each employer and anything outside it goes to a registered radiographer. Some assistant practitioners specialise in mammography, CT or MRI support. Posts usually ask for a Level 5 qualification such as a foundation degree, or a commitment to complete one.

Pay across the bands

Band	Typical role	England, from 1 April 2026
2	Imaging support worker, imaging department assistant	£25,272
3	Senior imaging support worker with clinical tasks	£25,760 to £27,476
4	Assistant practitioner	£28,392 to £31,157

Scotland’s 2026/27 rates are £26,658 to £28,947 at band 2, £29,061 to £31,364 at band 3 and £31,492 to £34,254 at band 4. Wales is reported to have followed the 3.3% England award, and Northern Ireland’s award had not been confirmed by 16 October 2026. In London, a high cost area supplement is added. Band 4 pay covers progression between pay points.

Emergency imaging runs around the clock in most hospitals, so some posts include evenings, nights and weekends, which carry unsocial hours payments. Outpatient and community imaging is mainly daytime. NHS Pension Scheme contributions are 6.5% on pay from £13,260 to £28,854 and 8.3% from £28,855 to £35,155. The take-home pay calculator works out monthly pay after deductions.

Getting the job

Employers usually ask for good literacy and numeracy, often GCSEs or an equivalent, and some experience of working with the public or in care. Customer service, reception and healthcare assistant experience all transfer well. Because the job involves lifting and moving patients and standing for much of the day, an occupational health check is part of the process, along with an enhanced DBS check and references.

Training is mostly on the job. You complete the Care Certificate, manual handling, radiation and MRI safety training, and departmental competencies. Some trusts recruit imaging support workers as apprentices on a Level 2 or Level 3 healthcare support programme; NHS apprenticeships explains how those posts are advertised.

Applications go through NHS Jobs with a supporting statement scored against the person specification. Show that you understand patient dignity and safety, and that you can stay organised when the list is running late.

Pace, lifting and patients

Imaging departments are busy and run to tight appointment lists, especially in emergency X-ray and CT, where patients arrive from A&E and the wards all day. You spend much of the shift on your feet, moving patients who may be frail, injured or in pain, so manual handling training matters and you will use hoists and slide sheets. Infection control is constant, because the same rooms and equipment serve patient after patient.

Some of what you see is hard: trauma patients, people waiting for cancer scans, and children who are frightened. Reassuring patients is a large part of the job. In return, the hours in outpatient imaging are often more regular than ward work. Annual leave under Agenda for Change is 27 days on appointment, rising to 29 after five years and 33 after ten years of NHS service, plus eight public holidays.

From assistant to radiographer

Many radiographers started as imaging support workers. To become a diagnostic radiographer you need an approved degree in diagnostic radiography, either full-time at university or through a degree apprenticeship with an employer, and then registration with the Health and Care Professions Council. Registered radiographers start at band 5. Our guide to HCPC registration explains what that involves.

Other routes lead from imaging support into sonography, which has its own training routes, or into therapeutic radiography in cancer centres. Some assistants move into imaging admin and booking, or into PACS and imaging IT roles.

Vacancies are listed on NHS Jobs and the devolved health service sites, and current openings are in healthcare support jobs.