How much do paid research studies pay in the UK?

There is no national rate for research payment, so the honest answer is a range with reasons attached. Here is what to actually expect in the UK.

Key points

• Payment varies with time, effort, sensitivity and rarity.
• Compare the total reward with the real time commitment.
• A prize draw is not the same as guaranteed payment.

Typical ranges by study type

Online surveys. Most run ten to thirty minutes and pay roughly two to eight pounds. A useful benchmark is the independently calculated real Living Wage, though research payment is not legally tied to it. [1]

Interviews and focus groups. Usually thirty to ninety minutes, commonly twenty five to eighty pounds. Video interviews on a specific condition sit at the higher end because the pool of eligible people is small.

Diary studies. You record something over days or weeks. Payment is normally a lump sum on completion, often thirty to a hundred and fifty pounds, and the hourly rate is often worse than it looks, so check the total time asked of you.

Product testing. Often the product plus a modest fee. Where you keep something valuable, the cash element is usually smaller.

Clinical trials. A different world. Clinical-trial payment should compensate time, expenses and inconvenience without becoming an improper influence on consent. [2]

What sets the number

Time. The main driver. Most serious teams calculate the real completion time and pay pro rata against an hourly benchmark.

Rarity. If a study needs women who are six months postpartum and breastfeeding, or on a specific HRT regime, there simply are not many, and the reward rises to reflect it.

Difficulty of subject. Studies about miscarriage, infertility, chronic pain, incontinence or sexual function carry a real emotional cost. Good research teams pay above the base rate for that, and it is a signal of quality when they do.

Who is funding it. Commercial insight work usually pays more than academic work, because academic budgets are grant-limited. That does not make academic studies less worth doing.

Cash, vouchers and prize draws

Cash or bank transfer is the fairest form. Vouchers are common in university research and are worth less to you than cash, so treat a fifteen pound voucher as less than fifteen pounds.

Prize draws are not payment. A one in five hundred chance of a hundred pounds is worth twenty pence. It is fine as an extra, but if it is the only compensation offered for real work, that is your answer.

Watch the effective hourly rate

The number that matters is not the reward, it is the reward divided by the total time, including the screening questions and reading the information sheet. A five pound survey that takes fifteen minutes beats a twelve pound one that takes an hour and a half.

Also count the screen-outs. On panels with no health screening you can spend twenty minutes a day being turned away from studies you were never eligible for. That unpaid time is the real cost of general panels for anyone with a specific condition.

On FeFe

Rewards are set by the researcher before launch, shown in full before you start, and held in advance so the money exists before anyone takes part. Participants keep one hundred percent of the reward. FeFe's fee is charged to the researcher on top, never taken out of what you are paid.

Next: how to tell if a paid research study is legitimate, or the full participant guide.

References

1. Living Wage Foundation. What is the real Living Wage?
2. Health Research Authority. Payment and incentives in research.