Nursery Assistant Salary in Scotland
Official ONS earnings for Scotland, covering 11,000 jobs.
Median salary — Scotland
£20,923
gross, per year, all employees
▼ 10.5% change on the previous year
Mean
£21,185
Jobs measured
11,000
What a typical nursery assistant takes home
On the median of £20,923, 2026/27 tax year, Scottish rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£1,552
Take-home a year
£18,624
Income Tax
£1,631
National Insurance
£668
What most nursery assistants actually earn
Half of nursery assistants in Scotland earn between £12,700 and £22,035. Earning above £22,035 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
ONS suppresses the detailed spread for this occupation at regional level, so this range describes the wider “Teaching and Childcare Support Occupations” group in Scotland.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of nursery assistants earn less than this.
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Early education and childcare assistants
- SOC 2020 code
- 6111
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2026 provisional
ONS publishes a sampling error of 13.5% for this figure and asks that anything above 10% is treated as imprecise — too few people in this region answered the survey for this occupation. The figure is shown because it is the one ONS published, but it is not firm enough to rank Scotland against anywhere else, so this page doesn't.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Nursery Assistant salary FAQs
What is the average Nursery Assistant salary in Scotland?
The median is £20,923 a year and the mean is £21,185, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; ASHE publishes no full-time split at regional level.
How much does a nursery assistant earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £14.23 excluding overtime. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only, so there is no separate rate for Scotland.
What is a good Nursery Assistant salary?
Half of nursery assistants earn between £12,700 and £22,035. Anything above £22,035 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a nursery assistant?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of nursery assistants earn under £9,118 and the lowest quarter under £12,700 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
Do nursery assistants in Scotland earn more than the UK average?
The median in Scotland is £20,923 against £20,329 across the UK, 2.9% higher. ONS marks the Scotland figure as imprecise, so treat the gap as indicative.
Has nursery assistant pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at -10.5% for this occupation in Scotland. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
How many nursery assistants are there in Scotland?
ASHE counts around 11,000 employee jobs in “Early education and childcare assistants” (SOC 6111) in Scotland. Self-employed work is not included.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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