jobfacts

Nursery education teaching professionals

SOC 2020 2315

Nursery education teaching professionals care for and teach children up to the age of entry into primary school.

Also calledEarly years teacherNursery teacherMontessori teacherMasterTeacherMistressand 22 more titles
Typical full-time pay£37,6002025 Provisional
People in the job30,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month1,400↓ 20%on last year · 140th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time nursery education teaching professionals earn, 2025
£37,600 typical£29,00025%n/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less thanNot published
25%£29,000
Median£37,600
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £37,600
East Midlands!£38,700
North EastNot published by ONS–
North WestNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
LondonNot published by ONS–
South EastNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
ScotlandNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £37,600
East Midlands£38,700 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
North WestNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
LondonNot published by ONS
South EastNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
ScotlandNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £32,600
  • 2024 £31,900
  • 2025 Provisional£37,600
↑ 15% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 1,400 jobs for nursery education teaching professionals are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (4 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026861
Jul 20261,201
Jun 2026Not published
May 20261,658
Apr 20261,508
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20261,458
Jan 20261,601
Dec 2025883
Nov 20251,718
Oct 20251,609
Sept 20251,690
Aug 20251,103
Jul 2025Not published
Jun 2025Not published
May 20253,111
Apr 20251,854
Mar 20252,016
Feb 20252,001
Jan 20251,957
Dec 20241,271
Nov 20241,683
Oct 20241,664
Sept 20241,536
Aug 20241,171
Jul 20241,807
Jun 20242,196
May 20242,304
Apr 20242,152
Mar 20241,932
Feb 20241,771
Jan 20242,053
Dec 20231,632
Nov 20231,949
Oct 20231,474
Sept 20231,098
Aug 2023957
Jul 20231,283
Jun 20231,898
May 20231,973
Apr 20231,784
Mar 20232,412
Feb 20232,338
Jan 20232,334
Dec 20222,042
Nov 20222,434
Oct 20221,817
Sept 20221,521
Aug 20221,238
Jul 20221,742
Jun 20222,182
May 20222,223
Apr 20221,710
Mar 20222,462
Feb 20221,916
Jan 20222,080
Dec 20211,910
Nov 20212,040
Oct 20211,624
Sept 20211,134
Aug 2021883
Jul 20211,561
Jun 20211,767
May 20211,995
Apr 20211,672
Mar 20211,848
Feb 20211,311
Jan 20211,446
Dec 20201,541
Nov 20201,515
Oct 20201,455
Sept 20201,152
Aug 2020736
Jul 20201,192
Jun 20201,562
May 20201,691
Apr 20202,038
Mar 20202,501
Feb 20202,265
Jan 20202,280
Dec 20192,014
Nov 20192,372
Oct 20192,233
Sept 20191,814
Aug 20191,687
Jul 20192,957
Jun 20194,088
May 20193,558
Apr 20191,865
Mar 20192,427
Feb 20192,089
Jan 20192,124
Dec 20181,601
Nov 20182,608
Oct 20182,072
Sept 20181,711
Aug 20181,147
Jul 20181,836
Jun 20182,710
May 20182,293
Apr 20181,952
Mar 20182,622
Feb 20182,349
Jan 20183,160
Dec 20171,667
Nov 20172,553
Oct 20171,969
Sept 20171,857
Aug 20171,167
Jul 20171,443
Jun 20172,722
May 20172,372
Apr 20172,203
Mar 20172,705
Feb 20172,470
Jan 20172,755
Is there a shortage of nursery education teaching professionals?
Elevated

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

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsWell above usual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
39%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for teaching professionals, which includes nursery education teaching professionals. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London1,210
Birmingham105
Buckinghamshire77
Manchester77
Leeds58
Liverpool46
Oxford44
Bristol, City of40
North Yorkshire37
West Northamptonshire37
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where nursery education teaching professionals are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 46 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from Zimbabwe, Spain, Germany, ranking it 144th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of nursery education teaching professionals
n/p
35%!
20%!
15%!
8.4%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3435% (small sample)
35–4420% (small sample)
45–5415% (small sample)
55–648.4% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent65%
Higher education below degree!9.5%
A levels or equivalent!13%
GCSEs or equivalent!11%
Other qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent65%
Higher education below degree9.5% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent13% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent11% (small sample)
Other qualificationsNot published

Main employers: pre-primary education (56%), primary education (25%), child day-care activities (3.7%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
65%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
1
from level 6, a degree apprenticeship
Apprenticeships take
2½ years
typically

Routes in

Early years teacher

You can get into this job through:

University

You'll need to get early years teacher status (EYTS) and meet the teachers' standards by completing a course in early years initial teacher training (EYITT).

There are several ways to do this:

  • study an undergraduate degree in a subject related to early childhood studies or child development, along with course placements
  • take an EYITT course after you finish your first degree
  • complete part-time teacher training, if you already have a degree and are working in an early years setting

You can also have your teaching skills assessed over 3 months to make sure you meet the teachers' standards. For this route, you must be a graduate with a lot of work experience across the 0 to 5 age range, and have knowledge of key stages 1 and 2 in schools.

Early years teacher status qualifies you to teach children up to age 5. If you want to teach older children, or teach in a primary school, you'll usually need to get qualified teacher status (QTS). Find out about getting QTS from Get Into Teaching.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English, maths and science
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

Apprenticeship

You may be able to apply to do an Early Years Teacher Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship, with a nursey or other organisation that offers education provision from birth to 5 years.

This apprenticeship can take up to 3 years to complete. It combines on-the-job training with academic study and leads to the award of Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS).

You'll need the support of your employer to do a degree apprenticeship.

Entry requirements

Employers will set their own entry requirements.

Other ways in

Work your way up

You could work your way into this role by starting as nursery worker or teaching assistant and doing a part-time degree in childhood studies or child development.

Volunteering

You'll usually need experience of working with children and young people.

You can get this through:

  • paid work
  • volunteering at a school
  • youth work
  • a holiday scheme

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks as you may work with children and vulnerable adults

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

You can search for jobs in schools through the Teaching Vacancies service.

Further information

You can find out more about teaching in early years from Get Into Teaching and Early Years Careers.

You can contact Early Years Careers by phone or email to get answers to questions about starting a career in early years education.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for early years teacher. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Montessori teacher

You can get into this job through:

University

You could do a degree in any subject and then complete a Montessori teaching diploma.

You could also study for a foundation degree or degree in Montessori early childhood studies or Montessori pedagogy. These would include theory and practical work-based placements.

University courses can be done full time or part time and usually take 2 to 3 years.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

Work your way up

You could train as a Montessori classroom assistant then move on to a teacher training course. You would need to study for a Montessori qualification with a recognised training provider.

You would normally need a good general standard of education, along with passes in English and maths.

Some employers may prefer you to have a level 3 qualification in early years to take you on as an assistant.

Volunteering

You'll find it useful to get as much work experience with children as possible. This will help you get a better understanding of the career, and you'll make contacts who may be able to help when you're looking for paid work.

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

Many people come into Montessori teaching after moving from other careers.

A working week can vary from a few hours up to full time. Advertised pay rates may be listed as full-time equivalent (FTE). Actual pay will depend on the number of hours worked.

Further information

You can find out more about Montessori teaching careers from:

  • Maria Montessori Institute
  • Montessori Society AMI UK
  • Montessori Global Education

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for montessori teacher. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

1 for this job
Level 6About 2½ yearsDegree

Early years teacher (with EYTS)

You gain
a BA (Hons) or BSc (Hons) that fully aligns to the KSBs and QAA benchmark statement for…
Leads to
Department for Education
Employers may ask for
Apprentices must meet the DfE's entry requirements for early years initial teacher training. This includes: have achieved GCSEs, grade 4 (or equivalent) in…
Details on Skills England

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

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • prepares and delivers lessons in accordance with early years foundation stages curriculum and encourages and stimulates children's learning
  • teaches simple songs and rhymes, reads stories and organises various activities to promote language, social and physical development
  • supervises and cares for children, provides a secure learning environment and ensures their health and safety is maintained during all activities
  • undertakes pastoral duties
  • supervises teaching assistants and trainees
  • observes and assesses students and discusses their progress with parents and/or other education professionals
  • assists with or plans and develops curriculum and rota of teaching duties

Skills

  • adapt teaching to student's capabilities
  • apply intercultural teaching strategies
  • apply teaching strategies
  • assess students
  • assess the development of youth
  • assist in children's development of basic personal skills
  • assist students in their learning
  • assist students with equipment
  • demonstrate when teaching
  • encourage students to acknowledge their achievements
  • facilitate teamwork between students
  • give constructive feedback
  • guarantee students' safety
  • implement care programmes for children

Knowledge

  • assessment processes
  • children's physical development
  • curriculum objectives
  • learning difficulties
  • teamwork principles
  • common children's diseases
  • first aid
  • workplace sanitation

Suits people who like

  • Helping and caring for people
  • Creating and designing

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for teaching and other educational professionals, a group of 13 jobs that includes nursery education teaching professionals.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 15%about 268,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.3 millionincluding 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.