jobfacts

Early education and childcare practitioners

SOC 2020 3232

Early education and childcare practitioners lead the learning and development of and care for children from birth up to five years of age in a school, nursery, or childcare environment.

Also calledChild care practitionerEarly years educatorNursery school practitionerNursery nurse practitionerNursery education officerPractitionerand 6 more titles
Typical full-time pay£23,7002025 Provisional
People in the job94,000across the UK
Demand for workersCritical
New adverts a month5,100↑ 8%on last year · 30th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time early education and childcare practitioners earn between £20,600 and £26,500 a year.

What full-time early education and childcare practitioners earn, 2025
£23,700 typical£16,600lowest 10%£20,60025%£27,400top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£20,600–£26,500)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£16,600
Lowest 20% earn less than£19,600
25%£20,600
Median£23,700
75%£26,500
Top 20% earn more than£27,400
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £23,700
Scotland£26,800
London!£25,400
East Midlands!£25,300
Yorkshire and The Humber£23,700
South West!£23,500
East of England!£22,900
North East!£22,900
West Midlands£22,900
North West£22,600
South East!£22,500
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £23,700
Scotland£26,800
London£25,400 (small sample)
East Midlands£25,300 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£23,700
South West£23,500 (small sample)
East of England£22,900 (small sample)
North East£22,900 (small sample)
West Midlands£22,900
North West£22,600
South East£22,500 (small sample)
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £20,600
  • 2024 £22,100
  • 2025 Provisional£23,700
↑ 15% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 5,100 jobs for early education and childcare practitioners are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as critical.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20264,334
Jul 20265,227
Jun 2026Not published
May 20265,423
Apr 20265,375
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20265,073
Jan 20266,290
Dec 20252,469
Nov 20256,012
Oct 20255,183
Sept 20255,640
Aug 20254,450
Jul 20254,970
Jun 20255,036
May 20255,685
Apr 20254,457
Mar 20255,761
Feb 20255,469
Jan 20255,029
Dec 20243,029
Nov 20244,623
Oct 20244,844
Sept 20244,702
Aug 20244,071
Jul 20244,724
Jun 20244,948
May 20245,412
Apr 20245,177
Mar 20243,664
Feb 20243,873
Jan 20243,837
Dec 20232,412
Nov 20232,394
Oct 20232,000
Sept 20231,919
Aug 20232,388
Jul 20232,283
Jun 20233,161
May 20233,382
Apr 20233,041
Mar 20233,949
Feb 20233,524
Jan 20234,173
Dec 20223,011
Nov 20224,010
Oct 20223,655
Sept 20223,418
Aug 20223,304
Jul 20223,359
Jun 20223,309
May 20223,694
Apr 20223,067
Mar 20223,747
Feb 20223,265
Jan 20223,183
Dec 20212,584
Nov 20212,984
Oct 20212,748
Sept 20212,586
Aug 20212,165
Jul 20212,506
Jun 20212,552
May 20212,844
Apr 20212,262
Mar 20213,278
Feb 20211,836
Jan 20211,779
Dec 20201,875
Nov 20201,914
Oct 20202,070
Sept 20201,757
Aug 20201,576
Jul 20201,239
Jun 20201,192
May 20201,108
Apr 20201,427
Mar 20202,335
Feb 20202,748
Jan 20202,732
Dec 20191,871
Nov 20192,357
Oct 20192,201
Sept 20192,025
Aug 20191,757
Jul 20192,246
Jun 20192,918
May 20193,200
Apr 20191,849
Mar 20192,364
Feb 20191,770
Jan 20191,942
Dec 20181,620
Nov 20182,444
Oct 20182,398
Sept 20181,901
Aug 20181,771
Jul 20181,921
Jun 20182,184
May 20182,087
Apr 20181,776
Mar 20181,980
Feb 20181,877
Jan 20182,460
Dec 20171,495
Nov 20171,941
Oct 20172,056
Sept 20171,791
Aug 20171,735
Jul 20171,698
Jun 20172,248
May 20172,306
Apr 20172,135
Mar 20172,417
Feb 20171,845
Jan 20171,628
Is there a shortage of early education and childcare practitioners?
Critical

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsWell above usual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Note: uncertainty in change in hourly wage.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
61%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London2,422
Buckinghamshire223
Leeds200
Cheshire East186
Birmingham176
North Yorkshire157
Bristol, City of151
Somerset133
Wiltshire123
West Northamptonshire105
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where early education and childcare practitioners are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of early education and childcare practitioners
17%!
30%
26%
19%!
8.1%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–2417% (small sample)
25–3430%
35–4426%
45–5419% (small sample)
55–648.1% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent25%
Higher education below degree14%
A levels or equivalent46%
GCSEs or equivalent!10%
Other qualifications!2.6%
No qualifications!1.5%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent25%
Higher education below degree14%
A levels or equivalent46%
GCSEs or equivalent10% (small sample)
Other qualifications2.6% (small sample)
No qualifications1.5% (small sample)

Main employers: pre-primary education (46%), child day-care activities (32%), primary education (15%), educational support activities (1.7%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
25%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
A levels or equivalent
held by 46%
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • plans children’s day and activities and leads on social, language and numerical development
  • coordinates observation and assessment on children’s play, development and learning
  • identifies and responds to health and safety issues
  • leads on preparing children for transitions to different settings, including school.
  • communicates with parents, colleagues and external professionals on children’s development and health and well-being
  • supervises and supports other early education and childcare workers
  • coordinates nurturing care in bathing, dressing, preparation of feeds, feeding babies, and in changing babies and toddlers clothing whenever necessary
  • provides a secure and supportive environment and supervises young children at mealtimes
  • promotes and leads physical activities and children’s games, play, creativity, and problem solving

Skills

  • communicate with youth
  • supervise children
  • provide first aid
  • adhere to organisational guidelines
  • apply conflict management
  • assist in children's development of basic personal skills
  • assist passengers
  • attend to children's basic physical needs
  • cooperate with colleagues
  • handle chemical cleaning agents
  • maintain relations with children's parents
  • monitor student's behaviour
  • play with children
  • assess the development of youth

Knowledge

  • common children's diseases
  • health and safety measures in transportation
  • passenger transport regulations
  • workplace sanitation
  • baby care
  • babysitting
  • disability care
  • pedagogy

Suits people who like

  • Helping and caring for people
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for health and social care associate professionals, a group of 13 jobs that includes early education and childcare practitioners.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 12%about 82,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 2035492,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.