physiotherapy assistant
Physiotherapy assistants work under supervision, within defined contexts using agreed treatment protocols and procedures such as collecting client data and maintaining the equipment required in physiotherapy interventions. The overall responsibility is retained by the delegating professional.
physiotherapy assistant physiotherapy assistants work under supervision, within defined contexts using agreed treatment protocols and procedures such as collecting client data and maintaining the equipment required in physiotherapy interventions. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include contribute to quality physiotherapy services, respond to changing situations in health care, educate on the prevention of illness, inform policy makers on health-related challenges, contribute to continuity of health care.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £27,888 a year for Complementary health associate professionals (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3214). ONS publishes this estimate without a precision measure. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Technicians and associate professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only physiotherapy assistant, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 3. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Therapy and Counseling
- Psychology
- Public Safety and Security
- Administrative
- Education and Training
What you'd actually do
- Clean and organize work area and disinfect equipment after treatment.
- Secure patients into or onto therapy equipment.
- Instruct, motivate, safeguard, or assist patients practicing exercises or functional activities, under direction of medical staff.
- Confer with physical therapy staff or others to discuss and evaluate patient information for planning, modifying, or coordinating treatment.
- Observe patients during treatment to compile and evaluate data on patients' responses and progress and report to physical therapist.
- Change linens, such as bed sheets and pillow cases.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does physiotherapy assistant do?
Physiotherapy assistants work under supervision, within defined contexts using agreed treatment protocols and procedures such as collecting client data and maintaining the equipment required in physiotherapy interventions. The overall responsibility is retained by the delegating professional.
What skills does physiotherapy assistant need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include contribute to quality physiotherapy services, respond to changing situations in health care, educate on the prevention of illness, inform policy makers on health-related challenges, contribute to continuity of health care, promote health and safety policies in health services. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace physiotherapy assistant?
Our AI-durability model gives physiotherapy assistant a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.