How to Price a Nutrition Consultation in the UK: A Practical Worksheet

A nutrition consultation fee has to cover more than the time spent in the appointment. Preparation, reviewing intake, writing the plan, answering agreed follow-up questions and running the practice all consume capacity. Start by defining the service, then work out the cost of delivering it.

This guide offers a practical worksheet for UK nutrition practitioners. The numbers below are illustrative calculations, not a survey of UK fees or a recommended market rate.

Define exactly what the client is buying

Write a short scope for the service before choosing a price. Separate an initial assessment from a follow-up, and distinguish a single consultation from a programme. Specify the appointment length, preparation, written deliverables, follow-up contact and what is outside the service.

• How long is the appointment?
• Will you review questionnaires, food records or other information beforehand?
• Does the fee include a written plan or summary?
• Is between-session messaging included, and within what limits?
• Are follow-ups booked separately or included in a defined programme?

A client should be able to understand those boundaries before booking. A clear scope also gives you something concrete to time and improve.

Count the total delivery time

For a worked example, imagine a service with 20 minutes of preparation, a 60-minute consultation, 25 minutes of documentation and 15 minutes of agreed follow-up. The total is 120 minutes, or two hours. A fee of £120 would therefore produce £60 of revenue per delivery hour before practice costs. It would not produce £120 per working hour.

Example activity	Time
Review intake	20 minutes
Consultation	60 minutes
Write the summary or plan	25 minutes
Agreed follow-up	15 minutes
Total	120 minutes

Use measured timings from your own workflow. A service that routinely takes three hours needs a different calculation from one that takes ninety minutes, even if both include a one-hour appointment.

Account for the rest of the practice

List recurring operating costs, such as software, room hire, insurance, payment processing and administrative support. Account for working time that cannot be sold as appointments: bookkeeping, training, planning, marketing and leave. Avoid assuming that every hour in the week is billable.

As a general business principle, costing and pricing are different decisions: a fee needs to account for costs while also fitting the service and the market. The Costing and Pricing a Product or Service factsheet explains this distinction.

Use a simple capacity worksheet

Start with the monthly amount the practice needs to bring in for practitioner compensation and operating costs. Divide that by the number of consultations you realistically expect to deliver and be paid for.

Illustrative calculation: £4,000 of required monthly revenue divided by 40 paid consultations equals £100 per consultation. This is a planning average, not an instruction to charge £100. It does not automatically account for tax, variable costs, discounts, different service lengths or cancellations. Replace every input with your own figures and review the result with your accountant where appropriate.

If your expected paid bookings fall from 40 to 32, the same £4,000 target requires an average of £125 per booking. This is why utilisation matters as much as the headline appointment fee.

Compare genuinely comparable services

When reviewing other practitioners’ publicly listed fees, note the location, qualifications, specialist scope, appointment length, preparation and included follow-up. A short follow-up and a full assessment with a written plan are different services. Record what is included rather than copying a number from another website.

Be equally clear about your own qualifications and scope. For context on the different settings and services offered by freelance dietitians, see the British Dietetic Association’s overview of freelance practice.

Price programmes from their actual workload

If a programme includes an assessment, three follow-ups, a written plan and messaging, cost those components together. Decide the length of the programme, the number of contacts and the response boundaries. Explain payment timing and cancellation terms before the client commits.

A programme can make the service easier to understand, but it does not make its workload disappear. Check the time spent supporting a typical client across the entire programme, including the weeks without an appointment.

Improve the workflow before promising more capacity

Structured intake, reusable resources and a consistent follow-up process can help reduce repeated administrative work. Measure that change rather than assuming a tool automatically creates more paid appointments.

CalorieScience brings nutrition practice workflows, AI-assisted meal-plan drafting and client follow-up into one workspace. Practitioner review remains part of delivery time. Subscription information belongs in your operating-cost calculation; see CalorieScience pricing for published options.

Review the fee against actual delivery

Track the average time per service, the number of paid bookings, client questions about the scope and how often follow-up exceeds the allowance. Review those figures periodically. If you change your service or pricing, explain the new scope and timing clearly to affected clients.

Frequently asked questions

Should a nutrition consultation fee include preparation?

Your costing should include preparation and other work required to deliver the service. Explain what the client receives within the published fee.

Is there one correct UK nutrition consultation price?

No single figure fits every service. Qualifications, scope, appointment length, follow-up, operating costs and local demand differ. Use your own costs and comparable service information.

How do I calculate the revenue per delivery hour?

Divide the service fee by the total hours spent delivering it, including preparation and agreed follow-up. This gives revenue per delivery hour before costs, not take-home pay.

Should I charge separately for a follow-up?

Either a separate follow-up fee or a defined programme can work. State the appointment length, included work and payment terms clearly, and cost the whole service before deciding.