What is take-home on a £23,717 early years salary?

About £19,495 a year, or £1,625 a month. That is after £1,954 Income Tax, £892 National Insurance and a £1,376 pension contribution at 5.8%, the rate a council-employed practitioner would pay into the LGPS at that salary. In a private nursery the pension is usually auto-enrolment instead, where the employee minimum is 5% of qualifying earnings - the slice between £6,240 and £50,270, not the whole salary - so the deduction is smaller and so is the eventual pension.

Why is nursery pay so close to the minimum wage?

Because staffing ratios fix how many practitioners a room needs and funded-hours rates cap what settings can charge, so wages are the main cost lever a private nursery has. The measured full-time median of £23,717 is below the bottom of the council pay spine for the same year, 2025/26 - £24,413 at SCP 2, the point deleted in April 2026 - and below what a 37.5-hour week at the £12.71 National Living Wage from April 2026 pays over a year. ASHE measured April 2025 pay, so that median predates the current rate.

Do early years staff in schools get the teachers' pension?

Only if they are employed as teachers. Nursery nurses and early years practitioners on support staff contracts are in the Local Government Pension Scheme, not the Teachers' Pension Scheme, even when they work in a maintained school.

Early Years Practitioner Salary 2026/27: Pay and Take-Home

Early education and childcare practitioners had a full-time median gross pay of £23,717 in ONS ASHE 2025, with the middle half between £20,610 and £26,521. That median is below the bottom of the NJC local government pay spine for the same year, 2025/26, which was £24,413 at SCP 2 before that point was deleted in April 2026. That is the clearest measure of how much of the sector is private and voluntary rather than council-employed.

Typical pay & take-home

Median gross: £23,717
ASHE 2025, 10th to 75th percentile: £16,583–£26,521
Take-home at median: £19,495 England, after the 5.8% LGPS pension contribution, Income Tax and NI.

At the median for this profession, you earn 39% below the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you below the 10th percentile (£23,990) of UK full-time earnings, the lowest point ONS publishes.

See exact take-home for £23,717 →

Council posts are graded on the national pay spine: NJC pay scales 2026/27 →

What influences early years practitioner (nursery) pay

Private nursery or maintained setting. Private and voluntary nurseries pay at or a little above the National Living Wage for room staff, and they employ most of the workforce, which is why the measured median sits below the bottom of the council pay spine. Local authority and maintained nursery posts are graded on that spine with the Local Government Pension Scheme behind them.

Qualification level. Level 2 to Level 3 is the step that unlocks a practitioner post and counts towards staffing ratios; Early Years Teacher status or an equivalent degree moves you into the graded professional posts, and a qualified teacher in a maintained nursery is on the STPCD teacher scale instead. Council-employed early years officers doing family support and attendance work are a different occupation again, coded by ONS to SOC 2020 3222 (child and early years officers) rather than 3232.

Room leadership and SEND. Room leader, deputy and manager posts add several thousand pounds, and settings with high special educational needs pay more for staff with the relevant experience. The Green Book carries a special educational needs allowance for nursery staff in educational establishments (£1,590) on top of the spine point, but only for staff on council terms.

Career progression

Indicative rungs, not published pay points: private and voluntary nurseries set their own pay and councils grade their own posts, so no national table sets what each job pays.
Apprentice or Level 2 nursery assistant: at least the statutory minimum for their age - from 1 April 2026 £12.71 an hour at 21 and over, with lower rates for younger workers and for apprentices under 19 or in their first year.
Level 3 early years practitioner: £23,000 to £26,000.
Room leader: £26,000 to £29,000.
Deputy nursery manager: £28,000 to £33,000.
Nursery manager or early years lead: £33,000 to £42,000.

Frequently asked questions

What is take-home on a £23,717 early years salary?: About £19,495 a year, or £1,625 a month. That is after £1,954 Income Tax, £892 National Insurance and a £1,376 pension contribution at 5.8%, the rate a council-employed practitioner would pay into the LGPS at that salary. In a private nursery the pension is usually auto-enrolment instead, where the employee minimum is 5% of qualifying earnings - the slice between £6,240 and £50,270, not the whole salary - so the deduction is smaller and so is the eventual pension.
Why is nursery pay so close to the minimum wage?: Because staffing ratios fix how many practitioners a room needs and funded-hours rates cap what settings can charge, so wages are the main cost lever a private nursery has. The measured full-time median of £23,717 is below the bottom of the council pay spine for the same year, 2025/26 - £24,413 at SCP 2, the point deleted in April 2026 - and below what a 37.5-hour week at the £12.71 National Living Wage from April 2026 pays over a year. ASHE measured April 2025 pay, so that median predates the current rate.
Do early years staff in schools get the teachers' pension?: Only if they are employed as teachers. Nursery nurses and early years practitioners on support staff contracts are in the Local Government Pension Scheme, not the Teachers' Pension Scheme, even when they work in a maintained school.

All UK professions →

Sources

NJC for Local Government Services - pay circular, 24 August 2026
LGPS - employee contribution bands from April 2026
ONS - ASHE 2025 Table 14.7a, annual pay by SOC 2020 occupation (occupational pay)
ONS — Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025 (UK full-time median and percentiles)
HMRC — Rates and thresholds 2026/27
Our full methodology & calculation sources →