Audiology
Audiology is about identifying and assessing hearing and balance function and their associated disorders.
You’d work with patients of all ages as part of a team, recommending and providing appropriate therapeutic rehabilitation and management.

Overview
Audiology is a rapidly developing field, and the need for audiological services is clear. A national study of hearing showed that approximately 16% of the population have a significant hearing loss, indicating that working in this field is an important area of the NHS.
Working life
In this area of healthcare science, you could work in areas including:
- paediatrics
- adult assessment and rehabilitation
- special needs groups
- research and development
- teaching
Healthcare science staff in audiology work in a variety of settings, including hospitals and community settings (including the independent sector), where they assess and treat patients. With appropriate further training and development, and depending on their employer, they may reach consultant level. Many operate open referral clinics and may be the only point of contact for the patient.
Some audiologists work in a university, where their job is primarily concerned with teaching and research.
Roles in audiology
There are different roles within audiology that you can consider. These include:
As a newborn hearing screener you’d work in neonatal units, postnatal wards, and in hospitals and clinics. You’d be:
- involved in identifying which newborn babies need to undergo a hearing assessment, and, after gaining consent from the parent or guardian, undertaking this assessment using screening equipment
- responsible for making sure that the equipment you’re using is working correctly
- recording all the results accurately using various computer systems, and forwarding these to appropriate healthcare staff requiring them
- working as a part of a team including healthcare scientists, neonatal nurses, GPs and health visitors
Hearing aid dispensers (HAD) are fully qualified clinicians who assess hearing and provide aftercare for hearing aids.
Find out more about the role of hearing aid dispensers
Healthcare science practitioner
At a more senior level, working as a healthcare science practitioner, you’d:
- use ways to measure and compensate for hearing loss, including offering the initial therapeutic support and advice, and diagnose audio-vestibular neurological diseases
- work directly with patients, often children or elderly people
- prescribe appropriate hearing aid equipment or arrange onward referral for further investigation
- play both a clinical role and a managerial development role
As a clinical scientist working in audiology, you’d:
- have a substantial amount of theoretical knowledge and practical skills about hearing, acoustics and balance
- be able to develop diagnostic protocols, critically interpret and report the results of these procedures
- recommend a care management strategy, for an individual patient, enabling you to solve clinical hearing and balance problems, and when necessary, develop logical alternatives
- be involved in counselling and rehabilitating hearing impaired patients
As a more experienced clinical scientist, you’d generally carry out the non-routine aspects of an audiological service, involving complex hearing and balance computer-based investigations especially where a high degree of competence and responsibility is necessary. This will require background knowledge of the scientific and technological foundation on which hearing science is based and would often involve you acting as a co-ordinator, manager and initiator of service development.
Want to learn more?
- Find out more about the entry requirements, skills and inerests required for a career in audiology
- Find out more about the training for a career in audiology