Nursery education teaching professionals: pay and what the work involves

Occupation 2315 · Professional occupations

Nursery education teaching professionals

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

How people enter it

Entrants will usually possess a relevant degree or postgraduate qualification or relevant experience. Early years teacher status or equivalent is required. A DBS check is mandatory.

What the work involves

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

Also called

Kindergarten teacher (professional) · Nursery school teacher · Pre-school teacher

What it pays

Measure	Hours	Basis	Period	Value	Source
2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	None	2026-03	23,300.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	None	2026-03	24,700.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	None	2026-03	29,400.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	None	2026-03	—	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020) Not published: Estimate is less than 500
2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	None	2026-03	4,800.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	None	2026-03	29,700.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	None	2026-03	1,400.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Region	Measure	Hours	Value	Period
East	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	2,400.00	2026-03
East Midlands	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	800.00	2026-03
London	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	5,300.00	2026-03
North East	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	1,300.00	2026-03
North West	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	1,500.00	2026-03
Northern Ireland	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	withheld	2026-03
Scotland	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	4,800.00	2026-03
South East	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	5,300.00	2026-03
South West	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	1,900.00	2026-03
Wales	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	1,400.00	2026-03
West Midlands	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	2,500.00	2026-03
Yorkshire and The Humber	2315 : Nursery education teaching professionals	None	2,300.00	2026-03

Common questions

Does pay for nursery education teaching professionals vary by region?

ONS publishes regional pay for this occupation where the survey sample supports it — 11 of 12 cells on this page. The rest are withheld by ONS, and are shown as withheld with the reason, rather than left out.

Where do these pay figures come from?

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office for National Statistics. Figures are shown exactly as ONS publishes them — we do not adjust, model or fill them in, and every number on this page carries the series and period it came from.

Classified alongside this

Further education teaching professionals · Higher education teaching professionals · Primary education teaching professionals · Secondary education teaching professionals · Special and additional needs education teaching professionals · Teachers of english as a foreign language · Teaching professionals n.e.c.