Nursery education teaching professionals: salary in the UK
About £27,605 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, -9.3% on last year
£2,788 a month About £2,300 a month after tax 8 thousand full-time jobs
Gross pay before tax, including bonuses, commission and overtime. Not included: benefits in kind such as a company car. About the data
Pay range
The dark part is the middle half of full-time employees (25% to 75%); the light bar runs from 10% to 90%. ONS doesn't publish the highest or lowest salary, and x means a figure wasn't published.
Pay by year
The median went from £28,929 in 2022 to £33,452 in 2026 (+16%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +24% over the same years.
Figures by year
| P10 | P25 | Median | P75 | P90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | x | x | x | x | x |
| 2022 | x | x | £28,929 | x | x |
| 2023 | x | £27,778 | £32,559 | x | x |
| 2024 | x | £27,684 | £31,921 | x | x |
| 2025 | x | £29,049 | £36,901 | x | x |
| 2026 | x | £27,366 | £33,452 | x | x |
ONS figures for each year, not adjusted for inflation. Years before 2021 used a different occupation classification, so they can't be compared. Earlier years are ONS's revised figures; the latest is provisional.
Half of full-time employees in this occupation earn less than £33,452 a year and half earn more. That is 18% less than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
Ranked by median, it is number 231 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
The mean (£38,925) is well above the median: a minority in this job earn much more than most.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £2,300 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,300 in Scotland.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | x | x |
| 20th | £26,610 | £2,218 |
| 25th (P25) | £27,366 | £2,281 |
| 30th | £31,059 | £2,588 |
| 40th | £32,411 | £2,701 |
| Median (50th) | £33,452 | £2,788 |
| 60th | £38,869 | £3,239 |
| 70th | x | x |
| 75th (P75) | x | x |
| 80th | x | x |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | x | £54,774 | x |
| Women | £32,501 | £34,029 | x |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £27,605 | £2,300 |
| Scotland | £27,605 | £2,300 |
After Income Tax and National Insurance for 2026 to 2027, with the standard tax code and no pension or student loan. Work out your own take-home pay · Take-home pay on £33,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 27 job titles to SOC 2315 Nursery education teaching professionals. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- Assistant head
- Assistant head master
- Assistant head mistress
- Assistant head teacher
- Assistant headteacher
- Children's centre pedagogue
- Deputy head
- Deputy head master
- Deputy head mistress
- Deputy head teacher
- Deputy headteacher
- Early years teacher
- Foundation stage consultant
- Foundation stage coordinator
- House master
- House mistress
- Instructor
- Kindergarten teacher
- Master
- Mistress
- Montessori teacher
- Nursery school teacher
- Nursery teacher
- Pre-school teacher
- School master
- School mistress
- Teacher
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Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional, Table 14.7a (full-time employees, gross annual pay, UK, tax year ending 5 April 2026). Provisional figures may be revised.