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Medical

Ambulance care assistant

Ambulance care assistants take patients to and from hospital for appointments.

Annual Salary

£22,000 to £24,000

Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

43 to 45 a week

You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; on shifts

5.4%
Future employment

There will be 5.4% more Ambulance care assistant jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

In this role you could:

  • lift and help patients in and out of the ambulance
  • settle patients back at home after their appointments
  • use a radio to keep in touch with the ambulance control room
  • check and maintain the ambulance and its equipment
  • keep accurate records of journeys

Working environment

You may need to wear a uniform.

You could work on an ambulance.

Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.

You can get into this job through:

  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • applying directly
College

A college course might give you some of the knowledge and skills required to be an ambulance care assistant.

You could take a level 2 certificate in health and social care or a T Level in health.

Entry requirements

You may need:

  • 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T Level
For more information
Apprenticeship

You could also become an ambulance care assistant by taking an ambulance support worker advanced apprenticeship.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
For more information
Volunteering and work experience

You might find it useful to have some health or social care experience before applying for a job. For example, you could volunteer with:

Direct application

You can apply directly for jobs. You'll need to:

  • have driving experience
  • use a sat nav, map or know the local area
  • have experience working with disabled or elderly people

Some ambulance services may ask you for 4 GCSEs, including English, maths and a science at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent.

You might need an extra driving qualification for larger vehicles and carrying passengers if you passed your test after 1996.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Further information

You can find out about becoming an ambulance care assistant from Health Careers.

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With experience, you could:become a team leader or supervisor; become an emergency care assistant or apply to be a student paramedic; move into personnel, training, health and safety or operations management

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • sensitivity and understanding
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • customer service skills
  • the ability to work well with others
  • the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • knowledge of English language
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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