jobfacts

Early education and childcare assistants

SOC 2020 6111

Early education and childcare assistants assist in the care of children from birth up to seven years of age in day or residential nurseries, children’s homes, maternity units and similar establishments.

Also calledNursery nursePlaygroup helperNursery attendantNursery governessPlay schools assistantSupervisorand 47 more titles
Typical full-time pay£24,7002025 Provisional
People in the job119,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month4,000↓ 7.5%on last year · 39th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time early education and childcare assistants earn between £20,300 and £27,900 a year.

What full-time early education and childcare assistants earn, 2025
£24,700 typical£17,300lowest 10%£20,30025%£28,600top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£20,300–£27,900)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£17,300
Lowest 20% earn less than£19,500
25%£20,300
Median£24,700
75%£27,900
Top 20% earn more than£28,600
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £24,700
London£28,700
Scotland£28,200
East Midlands!£25,100
South West!£24,800
East of England!£24,700
North West!£24,500
South East£23,600
North East!£23,300
Yorkshire and The Humber!£22,800
West Midlands!£20,200
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £24,700
London£28,700
Scotland£28,200
East Midlands£25,100 (small sample)
South West£24,800 (small sample)
East of England£24,700 (small sample)
North West£24,500 (small sample)
South East£23,600
North East£23,300 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£22,800 (small sample)
West Midlands£20,200 (small sample)
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £21,100
  • 2024 £22,800
  • 2025 Provisional£24,700
↑ 17% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 4,000 jobs for early education and childcare assistants 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 (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20263,130
Jul 20263,685
Jun 2026Not published
May 20264,494
Apr 20264,331
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20264,100
Jan 20264,289
Dec 20252,156
Nov 20254,369
Oct 20254,402
Sept 20254,794
Aug 20253,707
Jul 20254,086
Jun 20254,296
May 20255,743
Apr 20254,212
Mar 20254,935
Feb 20254,736
Jan 20254,827
Dec 20243,120
Nov 20243,880
Oct 20244,396
Sept 20244,267
Aug 20243,990
Jul 20245,233
Jun 20245,355
May 20246,085
Apr 20245,440
Mar 20244,523
Feb 20244,432
Jan 20244,566
Dec 20233,460
Nov 20233,430
Oct 20232,855
Sept 20232,667
Aug 20233,059
Jul 20233,119
Jun 20234,650
May 20234,858
Apr 20234,182
Mar 20235,063
Feb 20234,880
Jan 20235,990
Dec 20224,579
Nov 20225,883
Oct 20225,581
Sept 20224,981
Aug 20224,640
Jul 20224,910
Jun 20225,135
May 20225,271
Apr 20224,597
Mar 20225,967
Feb 20224,869
Jan 20225,545
Dec 20214,559
Nov 20214,912
Oct 20214,383
Sept 20214,078
Aug 20213,316
Jul 20214,378
Jun 20214,125
May 20214,599
Apr 20214,104
Mar 20214,727
Feb 20212,821
Jan 20212,959
Dec 20202,982
Nov 20202,884
Oct 20203,290
Sept 20202,888
Aug 20202,272
Jul 20202,116
Jun 20201,999
May 20202,069
Apr 20202,784
Mar 20204,934
Feb 20205,523
Jan 20205,653
Dec 20194,185
Nov 20195,151
Oct 20195,167
Sept 20194,646
Aug 20194,575
Jul 20195,957
Jun 20196,839
May 20197,181
Apr 20194,344
Mar 20195,451
Feb 20194,619
Jan 20195,208
Dec 20183,284
Nov 20184,962
Oct 20185,115
Sept 20184,639
Aug 20183,977
Jul 20184,638
Jun 20185,085
May 20185,122
Apr 20184,687
Mar 20185,372
Feb 20184,884
Jan 20185,789
Dec 20173,288
Nov 20174,376
Oct 20174,424
Sept 20174,025
Aug 20173,870
Jul 20173,780
Jun 20175,747
May 20175,707
Apr 20175,603
Mar 20176,653
Feb 20175,344
Jan 20175,245
Is there a shortage of early education and childcare assistants?
Elevated

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 workedUsual
Note: uncertainty in change in hourly wage.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
40%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London2,476
Buckinghamshire216
Birmingham186
Bristol, City of177
Leeds156
Liverpool113
Reading107
Manchester104
Wiltshire95
Elmbridge89
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where early education and childcare assistants 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 assistants
33%
24%
19%
14%!
9.1%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–2433%
25–3424%
35–4419%
45–5414% (small sample)
55–649.1% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent15%
Higher education below degree10%
A levels or equivalent44%
GCSEs or equivalent24%
Other qualifications!2.1%
No qualifications!2%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent15%
Higher education below degree10%
A levels or equivalent44%
GCSEs or equivalent24%
Other qualifications2.1% (small sample)
No qualifications2% (small sample)

Main employers: pre-primary education (44%), child day-care activities (39%), primary education (6.5%), regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security (2.7%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
15%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
A levels or equivalent
held by 44%
Apprenticeships
2
from level 2
Apprenticeships take
1 to 18 months
typically
T Levels
1
college courses for 16 to 19 year olds

Apprenticeships

2 for this job
Level 3About 18 months

Early years educator

You gain
Paediatric First Aid or Emergency Paediatric First Aid
Leads to
Department for Education
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/

Other qualifications

QualificationTypeLevel
Education and early yearsT Level3

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • may work under the supervision of more experienced practitioners
  • baths, dresses, prepares feed for and feeds babies, changes babies clothing whenever necessary
  • supervises young children at mealtimes
  • plans and organises games and other activities and supervises children’s play
  • reads stories, organises counting games to help develop language and number skills
  • communicates with parents and colleagues on children’s development and well-being

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 caring personal service occupations, a group of 16 jobs that includes early education and childcare assistants.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 20%about 466,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.9 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.