Teaching professionals

How to become a nursery education teaching professional

Official title: Nursery education teaching professionals

Also called: Nursery teacher, Nursery school teacher, Deputy head, House master, School master, Assistant head, House mistress, School mistress, Deputy headteacher, Deputy head master, Montessori teacher, Pre-school teacher

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

Main 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

How to become one

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.

Ways in

Apprenticeship (England): Early years lead practitioner (level 5). England. Typically 24 months. Skills England standard ST0551.
University: Arts & Humanities degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK
University: Education & Teaching degrees, Offered by 25 universities in the UK

Pay · Outlook

Median full-time pay: £37,593 a year The middle half earn £29,040 to null.
About 27,000 people work in this job now, and about 29,500 are projected by 2035. (+9%)

Questions people ask

How do I become a nursery education teaching professional?

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.

How much does a nursery education teaching professional earn in the UK?

Median full-time pay is £37,593 a year (Office for National Statistics).

Is a nursery education teaching professional a growing career in the UK?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 9% by 2035, from about 27,000 to about 29,500 people (Department for Education).

Do you need a degree to become a nursery education teaching professional?

Usually. 67% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Sources

Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.