Nursery Worker careers guide and job profile

Babies and children up to five years old are learning some of the biggest lessons in their life – like how to play together and share, and how to learn language and numbers through storytelling and counting games. Nursey Workers help them to develop their body and mind in a safe and supportive environment.

Some key things to know:

• You’ll be working under supervision
• Nurseries can stay open to fit in with the working routines of parents, so they may be open from 8am to 6pm.

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Useful skills to put in your CV:

• Excellent communication skills (you’ll need to be able to build good relationships with very young children, parents and other teachers)
• Organisational and planning skills (known as self-management skills) because you’ll help manage many children and activities
• Teamwork skills to take instruction from your team and fit into the playroom culture in a positive way
• Creativity to help you design activities that are fun, educational, and support development and learning
• A cool, calm head to manage children and cope with any challenging behaviour (very young children often have trouble controlling their emotions)
• Sensitivity and understanding (learning can be hard for some more than others and they’ll need the right support)

Top Skills-boosting Tip

A paediatric first aid certificate will be useful and an advantage when applying for jobs, but is not essential.

How Do You Get These Skills?

Vocational qualifications and work experience will help you build these skills over time.

Build Your Skills With the FREE Young Professional Programme

School and training

You’ll find it handy to have a Level 2 qualification in English and maths, because you’ll be helping very young children to use words and numbers. GCSEs (or the equivalent) at grades 9-4 (A*-C) in English and maths will be very useful on your CV.

You will also need clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to prove you are safe to work with children and safeguard them.

You can take a college course before looking for work in a nursery. Courses include:

• Level 2 Certificate in Childcare
• Level 3 Diploma in Early Years Education and Care – Early Years Educator

You may need:

• 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course

BTECs

As an alternative to A-Levels, you can do BTECs from the age of 16. There are a number of BTEC subjects you might want to consider if you are interested in becoming a Nursery Worker.

• BTEC National Diploma in Children’s Care, Learning and Development

You’ll normally need 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9-3 (A*-D) or equivalent for a Level 2 or 3 course. If your qualifications are lower than this, you’ll most likely start on a Level 1 course.

A-Levels

A Levels are academic qualifications that come after GCSEs. A Levels can be an ideal stepping stone to an advanced apprenticeship, a degree, a job, or going straight into a freelance career.

You’ll normally need GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above in English and Maths (and science if you want to help teach in primary as this is a core subject, but it is not essential).

2 to 3 relevant A levels, or equivalent, are usually required to complete a degree.

University degrees and graduates

Although you don’t need a degree to become a Nursery Worker, having one can be an advantage as it shows you have the right knowledge and skills for a career in childcare.

Degrees surrounding education would be useful, including psychology which may be useful for working with children.

UCAS has more information on degree courses and entry requirements.

Apprenticeships

An apprenticeship is a scheme where you train while earning a starting salary. With an apprenticeship (or advanced apprenticeship) you’ll have a paid job with an employer that includes structured training and learning. This training leads to an official qualification that’s recognised by employers as an industry standard.

You could get into this career by doing an Early Years Practitioner Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship or Early Years Educator Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship. These take from 12 to 18 months to complete.

Anyone over 16 can study for an apprenticeship. You will normally need at least 5 GCSEs at grades 4-9 (A*-C) to study for an apprenticeship, including English and Maths.

T-Levels

T-Levels are a choice for learners after GCSEs alongside apprenticeships and A-levels.

T Levels, an alternative to A-Levels, are qualifications in vocational, technical and hands-on subjects that you can choose to do after GCSEs instead of traditional academic qualifications.

They include a mixture of classroom-based learning and industry placements where you can put your new skills into practice in real-world scenarios.

A T-Level in Education and Early Years could be a good choice for a prospective Nursery Worker.

You may need 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for T Levels.

As an experienced nursery worker you could specialise in working with children who have difficulties with learning, physical disabilities, or need support with their mental health.

With further training, you could:

• apply to be a room leader or senior nursery worker
• move into nursery centre management
• become an early years teacher

Work Experience Tips

It can help you decide if this is the right career for you if you have previously done work experience in a childcare environment, especially around younger children. Work experience in an early years education environment can also help you build useful skills.

Examples of relevant work experience include:

• Work shadowing (even if it’s just for a day)
• Work placements in a company
• Work experience placements on a college or university course

Your application for this role is more likely to be successful if you already have experience of working with children and young people. As well as gaining work experience through childminding and similar roles, you could explore summer jobs where you might work with younger/older children, such as crewing at a holiday camp.

When applying for jobs, you’ll need to show that you can work well with children, teachers and parents through some kind of life or work experience. A qualification in nursery work, childcare, playwork or youth work will give you an advantage.

Work experience tips

Volunteering Tips

Volunteering is a fantastic way to gain experience of working with children, as so many volunteering opportunities can involve early youth community work. When you volunteer with children you’ll need to get a DBS check to prove you can safeguard children appropriately. You’ll find it helpful to get some experience of working with children as it will give you an advantage when applying for jobs, though this is not essential.

You could volunteer at a school, help at an after school club or work on a holiday scheme. Check with local schools in your area for opportunities. Volunteering can also sometimes lead to paid work or a chance to get a qualification.

Volunteering tips

Some example daily responsibilities include:

• Planning and conducting fun activities that help young children develop, like cooking, music and arts and crafts
• Helping children build language and number skills through educational games and storytelling
• Feeding and changing babies

• Writing up reports on how the children are doing (so you’ll be observing them during the day)
• Safeguarding children to make sure they are safe and well
• Helping children learn important life skills like using cutlery and going to the bathroom
• Taking children into the outside world on outings

To find jobs for young people in this role, search on jobs boards for early career roles and opportunities with keywords such as:

• Nursery practitioner
• Childcare practitioner
• Nursery worker
• Early years nursery support worker
• Nursery assistant
• Nursery apprentice
• Nursery trainee

You can take a look at our database of local opportunities to see if there are any relevant jobs, work placements, or careers events and workshops to help you get started. Create Your Future!

Local Opportunities

Nurseries can be owned by private organisations or by local government, so many local councils recruit for Nursery Workers for schools in the county themselves.

You can use the government website to find education and childcare opportunities near you.

The Department for Education also provide information on the many routes you could take and hold events across the UK so that you can talk to those who work in education or training providers. It’s a great opportunity to explore the ways you can get a job in childcare careers.

Get Into Teaching

These employers all carry our Youth Friendly Employer Mark. We work with them to make sure that they are providing great support and opportunities to young people.

Click on an employer to find out more about them and the youth-friendly opportunities they offer, from work experience and apprenticeships through to graduate schemes.