Early years practitioner jobs

Early years practitioners look after and teach babies and children up to the age of five, mostly in private and voluntary nurseries, pre-schools and the nursery and reception classes of schools. The job is built around the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), and most employers ask for a full and relevant Level 3 qualification because it lets you count towards qualified staff ratios. Pay depends heavily on the setting. Many private nurseries pay at or near the National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour, while school-based posts usually follow the council pay spine.

What the work involves

The EYFS framework sets out what children should learn and how they must be kept safe in England. In practice an early years practitioner plans play-based activities, observes children and records their progress, supports early language, physical development and social skills, and looks after care routines such as feeding, nappy changing, toileting and sleep.

Most practitioners are also a key person for a small group of children, which means building a close relationship with each child and their family and being the main point of contact. Parents hand over at the door, ask questions at pick-up and want to know how their child’s day went. The work is physical, involves a lot of floor-level time and can be noisy, and illnesses pass round nurseries quickly in the first year.

Why Level 3 matters

You can start without qualifications as an assistant or apprentice. To count as qualified staff in the ratios that the EYFS sets for each age group, you need a full and relevant qualification, and Level 3 is the one most job adverts mean when they say “qualified”. The government keeps a list of approved qualifications on its early years qualifications finder, and employers check your certificate against it.

Common routes are:

• an early years educator apprenticeship at Level 3, earning while you study
• a Level 3 college course, often with placements
• a Level 2 qualification first, then progressing to Level 3 in work

Level 3 also opens room leader and deputy manager roles. Above that, some practitioners take a degree in early childhood studies or early years teacher status. Every role needs an enhanced DBS check with a children’s barred list check, which costs £41.00 in England and Wales from 5 October 2026, plus paediatric first aid training.

Nurseries compared with school reception classes

The EYFS applies in both, but the jobs feel different.

In a private or voluntary nursery you may work long days, often across an early and a late shift, all year round with holiday taken in agreed weeks. Children range from babies to pre-schoolers. Expansion of funded childcare for working parents in England, now 30 hours a week for 38 weeks for eligible children from 9 months to school age, has increased demand for staff in many areas. See funded childcare hours for how that scheme works.

In a school, practitioners work in nursery or reception classes alongside a qualified teacher. The job title might be early years practitioner, nursery nurse or early years teaching assistant. Hours follow the school day and the school year, and the work leans more towards preparing children for key stage 1, with phonics and early maths alongside play.

How the pay differs

Private nurseries set their own pay, and many pay at or just above the legal minimum. From 1 April 2026 the rates are:

Age or status	Hourly rate from 1 April 2026
21 and over (National Living Wage)	£12.71
18 to 20	£10.85
Under 18	£8.00
Apprentice (under 19, or 19+ in the first year)	£8.00

Some nurseries are accredited Real Living Wage employers, which means at least £14.10 an hour, or £15.45 in London, on the 2026/27 rates announced on 15 October 2026; accredited employers have up to six months to bring them in. See the Real Living Wage vs the National Living Wage.

School-based early years staff in maintained schools in England and Wales are normally paid on the NJC pay spine, which rose 3.3% from 1 April 2026. The bottom point, SCP 3, is £25,614 full-time, or about £13.28 an hour. Most school posts are term-time only, so the annual salary is a percentage of the full-time figure; see term-time-only pay. Run your figures through the take-home pay calculator before comparing offers.

Holiday, pension and conditions

Nursery staff get at least the statutory 5.6 weeks of paid holiday, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week and can include bank holidays. Private nurseries enrol eligible staff in a workplace pension under auto-enrolment, with minimum contributions of 8% of qualifying earnings, at least 3% from the employer. School staff join the Local Government Pension Scheme instead.

Finding work

Nursery jobs are advertised on general job boards and nursery group websites. School-based early years posts appear on council job sites and the DfE Teaching Vacancies service, and you can browse them under teaching assistant jobs. If you want to move from a nursery into a school, our guide to the teaching assistant role explains what changes.