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Nursery managers run early years childcare centres, providing day care for babies and young children from birth to 5 years.
You could work: early mornings; on a rota
In your day-to-day tasks you could:
You’ll also have business responsibilities. You could:
You could work in a nursery.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
You can get into this job through:
You can do a foundation degree or degree in child development or a related subject, for example:
Some nurseries may prefer you to have early years teacher status (EYTS).
You'll usually need:
You could start by doing a Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce.
You can also do other childcare qualifications but they must be at least level 3 if you want to become a manager.
You'll usually need:
You could complete an advanced early years practitioner apprenticeship or an early years lead practitioner higher apprenticeship.
Once you have experience as a nursery worker you could apply for a job as a deputy manager or manager.
You'll usually need:
Many people start as a nursery worker. With experience and further training, you can apply for supervisor jobs then move into nursery management. You'll usually need at least 2 years' work experience with children in a nursery to apply to become a manager.
You'll need to:
You can get more advice about careers in early years education and training from the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years and the National Day Nurseries Association
You can also find out more about working in childcare through the early years career progression map.
With experience, you could become an area manager and look after the work of a number of nurseries. You might also think about setting up your own private nursery. Ofsted has information on how to do this.
You could become a trainer or training assessor for people studying for childcare qualifications. You could also move into nursery inspection.
Find out more about teaching in further education from Teach in further education.
Taking a higher education qualification in early years or child development could help you move into teaching, children's nursing or social work.