The Scottish Government

Next »

Listen

A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication
ISBN 0 7559 2976 4 (Web only publication)
ISSN 1479-7569 (online)
This document is also available in pdf format (272k)

Statistics on staff working in pre-school education and childcare centres in Scotland in September 2005 are published today. The main points are:

• There were 30,640 staff in pre-school and childcare centres in Scotland in September 2005, virtually unchanged from 2004. Of these, 28,110 worked directly with children.
• There were 5,820 staff recruited in the year to September 2005. Many were recruited from within the childcare industry. There were 4,970 staff who left their employer in the year to September 2005. Approximately 42 per cent of staff who left their employer moved to another job within the childcare industry.
• In September 2005, there were 1,450 full-time equivalent vacancies within 870 pre-school and childcare centres. Approximately 28 per cent of all vacancies were long-term (had been vacant for at least 3 months).
• Of staff working directly with children, approximately 82 per cent had a childcare relevant qualification at any level, and 71 per cent had a childcare relevant qualification at SVQ level 2 or above.
• There were 4,990 staff (16 per cent of the workforce) who did not possess any childcare qualifications at any level. Of these, 51 per cent were training for qualifications.
• Childcare staff earned on average £6 per hour. This compares to £9 per hour for all employees in Scotland, and £8 per hour for all female employees in Scotland ¹.

STAFF AND VACANCY NUMBERS

1.1 There were 30,640 staff in pre-school and childcare centres in Scotland in September 2005. Of these, 6,110 worked directly with children and managed other staff, 22,000 worked directly with children but had no management responsibility, and 2,520 did not work directly with children.

1.2 Of the 30,640 staff, 12,130 worked in Local Authority managed pre-school and childcare centres, 10,500 worked in private centres and the rest worked in voluntary or other centres.

1.3 The vast majority of staff (27,300) were on permanent contracts. There were 1,170 temporary staff covering sick leave, 900 temporary staff covering vacancies and 1,260 other temporary staff.

1.4 There were 1,450 full-time equivalent vacancies within the pre-school and childcare sector. Of these, 360 were posts working directly with children and managing other staff, 1,030 were posts working directly with children but with no management responsibility, and 60 were posts not working directly with children.

1.5 Approximately 28 per cent of vacancies were long-term (3 months or more). Vacancies were more likely to be long-term in the most deprived areas.

1.6 Approximately 42 per cent of vacancies in privately managed centres were long-term compared to 21 per cent in both Local Authority and voluntary run centres.

1.7 There were 870 centres with at least one vacancy (18 per cent of all centres). Centres in urban areas and centres in deprived areas were both more likely to have vacancies than centres in other areas.

1.8 The most common reason reported for not being able to fill vacancies was "too few experienced applicants" (58 per cent of centres with at least one vacancy cited this as a reason). Other common reasons included "too few qualified applicants" (47 per cent) and "too few applicants" (42 per cent).

1.9 Centres in rural areas were more likely to report that "too few applicants", "too few experienced applicants" and "candidates unable to work hours needed" are problems in filling vacancies compared to centres in urban areas and small towns.

1.10 Centres in the least deprived areas were more likely to report that "can't afford wage demands" and "candidates unable to work hours needed" were problems in filling vacancies than centres in other areas.

1.11 Approximately 72 per cent of Local Authority managed centres with at least one vacancy reported that "too few experienced applicants" was a problem in filling vacancies, compared to 31 per cent of private centres and 53 per cent of voluntary run centres. Almost no privately managed centres reported that "Candidates unable to work hours needed", "Competition from other types of work" or "Cost of living in area is too high" were problems in filling vacancies.

1.12 There were 5,820 staff recruited by employers in the year to September 2005. Many of whom were recruited from within the childcare industry.

1.13 Approximately 4,970 staff left their employers in the year to September 2005. Approximately 42 per cent of staff who left their employer moved to another job within the childcare industry.

1.14 Approximately 8 per cent of staff who left a Local Authority managed centre in the year to September 2005 went to work in a privately run centre. In contrast, 30 per cent of staff who left a privately run centre went to work in a Local Authority centre.

PROFILE OF STAFF

2.1 The vast majority of staff working in pre-school education and childcare were female (98 per cent) and White (98 per cent). Approximately 15 per cent of the workforce were aged 50 years or older. In the Scottish workforce as a whole, 47 percent of staff were female, 98 percent were White and 26 per cent were aged 50 years or older.

2.2 Approximately 3,030 staff (10 per cent) reported having a disability or health problem lasting one year or more. 1 per cent of staff reported that they had a disability or health problem which affects the type and amount of work they can do. This compares to 7 per cent of staff in the whole Scottish workforce who have a disability or health problem that affects the type of work they do, and 5 per cent with a disability or health problem that affects the amount of work they do.

2.3 Forty-one per cent of staff reported that they have worked within the childcare industry for 10 years or more. A further 19 per cent had worked within the industry for more than 5 years.

2.4 Amongst those staff who have worked for their current employer for one year or less, 35 per cent previously worked for another childcare provider, 12 per cent worked outside of the childcare industry, 23 per cent were students and 14 per cent were previously looking after their family.

2.5 Eight per cent of staff who responded to the survey reported that they have other childcare work, 12 per cent report that they have other non-childcare work.

2.6 Approximately 45 per cent of staff work full-time, 51 per cent work part-time and 4 per cent unknown.

QUALIFICATIONS AND PAY

3.1 Approximately 80 per cent of the pre-school education and childcare workforce had a childcare relevant qualification. 68 per cent had a qualification at SVQ level 2 or higher, and 59 per cent had a qualification at SVQ level 3 or higher.

3.2 Of staff working directly with children only, 82 per cent had a childcare relevant qualification, 71 per cent had a qualification at SVQ level 2 or above, and 61 per cent had a qualification at SVQ level 3 or above.

3.3 Approximately 75 per cent of all staff working in voluntary centres had childcare relevant qualifications compared to 78 per cent in Local Authority centres and 80 per cent in private centres.

3.4 Of the 4,990 staff without any qualifications, 51 per cent were undertaking them. Of the 12,580 staff without qualifications at SVQ level 3 or above, 48 per cent were undertaking further training.

3.5 The median hourly pay of all staff was £6. There was a strong relationship between pay and length of time in the childcare industry with those who have worked for longer earning more.

3.6 There was also a strong relationship between childcare qualifications and hourly pay with staff qualified at SVQ level 1 or 2 earning on average £6 per hour, compared to £13 for those with a childcare relevant degree.

3.7 Staff who did not work directly with children earned more than staff who worked directly with children, and staff with management responsibility earned more than staff without management responsibility.

REVISED 2003 AND 2004 FIGURES

4.1 A methodological error was found to have occurred in the production of both the Pre-school and Childcare Workforce Bulletins 2003 and 2004 and those publications have since been withdrawn. Full details of the error are provided in background notes 11 to 13. Revised key estimates are presented in tables 2.1 to 2.5.

4.2 It was previously reported that there were 26,700 staff working in pre-school and childcare in 2003 and 28,150 in 2004. Revised estimates are slightly higher: in 2003 there were actually 29,270 staff working within pre-school and childcare, in 2004 there were 30,660.

4.3 It was previously estimated that there were 1,100 vacancies within the pre-school and childcare sector in 2003, and 1,240 in 2004. Revised estimates are slightly higher: in 2003 there were 1,350 full-time equivalent vacancies of which 45 per cent were long-term. In 2004 there were 1,250 full-time equivalent vacancies of which 41 per cent were long-term.

4.4 It was previously estimated that 67 per cent of staff had a childcare relevant qualification in 2003. The revised estimate is slightly higher at 68 per cent. The previous estimate for number of qualified staff in 2004 was 74 per cent, the revised estimate is exactly the same, 74 per cent.

4.5 Median hourly pay in both 2003 and 2004 was £6.

PUBLISHED STATISTICAL TABLES

Table 1.1 - Total number of staff in pre-school education and childcare centres, 2005
Table 1.2 - Total staff numbers by contract type and characteristics of centre, 2005
Table 1.3 - Full-time equivalent vacancies by contract type and characteristics of centre, 2005
Table 1.4 - Number of centres with vacancies, 2005
Table 1.5 - Reasons centres are finding vacancies hard to fill, by centre characteristic, as a percentage of centres with at least one vacancy, 2005
Table 1.6 - Staff turnover and reasons for leaving, 2005
Table 1.7 - Staff turnover and reasons for leaving by management arrangement of centre, 2005
Table 1.8 - Profile of pre-school education and childcare staff, 2005
Table 1.9 - Length of time in childcare industry and other work, 2005
Table 1.10 - Previous employment of staff who have worked with their current employer for 1 year or less, 2005
Table 1.11 - Highest childcare qualification by employment characteristics, 2005
Table 1.12 - Number of staff currently working towards childcare qualifications, 2005
Table 1.13 - Hourly pay by employment characteristics, 2005
Table 2.1 - Total number of staff in pre-school education and childcare centres, 2003-2004 revised
Table 2.2 - Full-time equivalent vacancies, 2003-2004 revised
Table 2.3 - Staff turnover, 2003-2004 revised
Table 2.4 - Highest childcare qualification, 2003-2004 revised
Table 2.5 - Hourly pay by management of centre, 2003-2004 revised

BACKGROUND NOTES: 2005 SURVEY RESULTS

1. The statistics presented in this bulletin are the results of a two-part survey of pre-school and childcare centres and their staff. The sample of centres was selected from those who responded to the Pre-school and Childcare Census 2005 and who were not sampled for the 2004 Workforce Survey. The sample was stratified by urban-rural and area deprivation categories. The sample consisted of 645 centres of which 499 (77 per cent) responded. Results were weighted according to sampling probability and non-response. Different grossing factors were used for separate questions in the survey form. Results concerning number of staff were grossed up so that the total number of staff working with children equalled the total number of staff reported in the 2005 Pre-school and Childcare Census. Results concerning number of centres were grossed up so that the total number of centres equalled the total number of centres reported in the 2005 Pre-school and Childcare Census results.

2. The second part of the survey involved multiple forms being sent to each selected centre to be completed by individual members of staff. It should be recognised that this form of sampling (cluster sampling) does not necessarily produce results that are representative of the overall population. 2,517 individual staff forms were received and the results were weighted according to sampling probability estimated from the Pre-school and Childcare Census 2005 and grossed up to equal the total number of staff estimated from the centre return.

3. Because all results reported here are based on a sample, they are best understood as estimates with some level of statistical error surrounding them. For this reason all frequencies have been rounded to the nearest 10 and all percentages to the nearest integer. Estimates based on samples of 1 to 4 inclusive are suppressed to protect confidentiality.

4. The survey week began 5th September 2005. Survey forms can be accessed through the Children's Statistics Gateway: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/16135/PredayWSurvey

5. The categories of urban-rural were derived from the Scottish Executive classifications published in June 2004. This provides a mapping from individual postcodes to six categories of urban-rural. Individual pre-school and childcare service providers were assigned to one of these categories based upon the category in which they are located. Urban areas are settlements over 10,000 population. Small towns are settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people. Rural areas are settlements of less than 3,000 people.

6. The categories of deprivation were derived from the Scottish Executive classifications published in July 2005. This provides an indicator of deprivation for each of the 6,500 data zone areas of Scotland. The category "least deprived" included the 33.33 per cent least deprived data zones, "most deprived" was the 33.33 per cent most deprived data zones and "intermediate" made up the remaining 33.33 per cent. Individual pre-school and childcare service providers were then assigned to one of these categories based upon the data zone in which they are located. The staff working at centres may live in data zones with different urban-rural and area deprivation characteristics.

7. Pay data are presented as percentiles in order to show the distribution of the data. The 50th percentile (or median) is a more robust measure of the 'average' value than the mean. Percentiles are values that divide sorted (in ascending order) data into 100 equal groups. The 50th percentile is the middle value of the sorted data, 25 per cent of data lie below the 25th percentile, 5 per cent of values lie below the 5th percentile etc.

8. Boxplots have been used to provide a visual summary of the range of pay reported by staff according to their highest childcare related qualification. The five main points shown by a boxplot can be seen below:

It can be seen that the box contains the middle half of pay reported by staff. The larger the box, the greater the spread in pay reported by staff. The middle value (median) of all hourly pay is shown by the line across the box. The lines from the box show the spread of 90 per cent of all pay reported fully.

9. Equivalent childcare related qualifications in 2005. The figures presented in tables 1.11 and 1.12 show the numbers of staff whose highest childcare related qualification is at the level equivalent to the SVQs shown below.

SVQ 1 is equivalent to SGA Care Intermediate 1, National certificate units, City & Guilds foundation, BTEC, Skills for Work (Early Education & Childcare) Int 1.
SVQ 2 is equivalent to PDA (classroom/learning assistants), NVQ2, SGA Care Intermediate 2, SCOTVEC modules, ACT, National Certificate module, City & Guilds craft, Skills for Work (Early Education & Childcare) Int 2.
SVQ 3 is equivalent to a higher grade, NVQ3, GNVQ3/ GSVQ3, NNEB, SNNEB, City & Guilds adv. Craft, ' AS'/'A' levels, ONC/ OND, National Certificate Group Award in Early Education & Childcare (Higher).
SVQ 4 is equivalent to advanced higher, HND, PDA (Early Education & Childcare), DCE, Diploma in Education, RSA adv. Diploma
Degree is specified as B.Ed or other degree directly relevant to childcare, or PGCE
SVQ 3 or above includes SVQ 3, HNC, SVQ 4 and degree.

10. Equivalent non-childcare related qualifications in 2005. The figures presented in table 1.11 show the numbers of staff whose highest non-childcare related qualification is at the level equivalent to the SVQs shown below.
SVQ 1 is equivalent to standard/'O' grades (max grades 3-4), interm.grade1, City & Guilds foundation, BTEC
SVQ 2 is equivalent to standard/'O' grades (grades 1-2), NVQ2, interm.grade2, City & Guilds craft
SVQ 3 is equivalent to a higher grade, NVQ3, GNVQ3/ GSVQ3, City & Guilds adv. craft, ' AS'/'A' levels, ONC/ OND, HNC
SVQ 4 is equivalent to HND, advanced higher, RSA adv. diploma
Degree is specified as Bachelors or Masters Degree not directly relevant to childcare.

BACKGROUND NOTES: 2003 AND 2004 REVISIONS

11. In 2003 and 2004 an error was made in 'grossing-up' the sample figures to equal the whole population of staff. The pre-school and childcare workforce survey samples all staff in pre-school and childcare centres regardless of whether or not they work directly with children. In 2003 and 2004 the total numbers of staff reported in the survey were grossed-up to equal the numbers of staff who work directly with children only, as collected in the Pre-school and Childcare Census in January of both years. The result was underestimated numbers for staff and vacancies, and slight inaccuracies in the estimates of proportions of staff members with particular characteristics, such as qualifications.

12. The 2003 and 2004 Pre-school and Childcare Workforce publications have now been withdrawn. Only the revised estimates presented in the current bulletin should be used for making comparisons across years.

13. The revised estimates presented in this bulletin were calculated by weighting the total number of staff who work directly with children as reported in the sample survey to the total number of staff who work directly with children as reported in the Pre-school and Childcare Census in January of both years. The same weights were applied to the number of staff who did not work directly with children to arrive at an estimated total population of all staff. This method was also used for the 2005 figures presented here, so there is consistency across the estimates for all years.

14. In 2003, the sample of centres used for the workforce survey was selected from those who responded to the Pre-school and Childcare Census 2003. The sample was stratified by urban-rural and area deprivation categories. The sample consisted of 450 centres of which 380 (84 per cent) responded. 2,016 individual staff forms were received. The survey week was the week beginning 26th September 2003.

15. In 2004, the sample of centres used for the workforce survey was selected from those who responded to the Pre-school and Childcare Census 2004 and who were not included in the 2003 survey. The sample was stratified by urban-rural and area deprivation categories. The sample consisted of 442 centres of which 375 (85 per cent) responded. 2,051 individual staff forms were received. The survey week was the week beginning 27th September 2004.

16. 2003 and 2004 survey forms can be accessed through the Children's Statistics Gateway: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/16135/PredayWSurvey

17. Equivalent childcare relevant qualifications in 2003 and 2004. The figures shown in table 2.4 show the numbers of staff whose highest childcare related qualification is at the level equivalent to the SVQs shown below.
SVQ1 is equivalent to the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework ( SCQF) level 4, SGA Care Intermediate 1, National certificate units, City & Guilds foundation, BTEC.
SVQ2 is equivalent to SCQF level 5, PDA (classroom/learning assistants), NVQ2, SGA Care Intermediate 2, City & Guilds craft.
SVQ3 is equivalent to SCQF level 6, higher grade, NVQ3, GNVQ3/ GSVQ3, City & Guilds adv. craft, ' AS'/'A' levels, ONC/ OND, or NNEB.
SVQ4+ is equivalent to SCQF level 7 and above, advanced higher, degree (including BEd. and PGCE), HNC or HND, PDA (childcare and education), RSA adv. Diploma.

BACKGROUND NOTES: GENERAL

18. For public enquiries ( non-media) about the information contained in this Statistics Publication Notice, or for more detailed information, please contact Sara Grainger, Scottish Executive Education Department, Area 1-B, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ. Telephone 0131 244 0314 or e-mail children.statistics@scotland.gsi.gov.uk . Media should contact Janet Dougall on 0131 244 2670 - and on the Scottish Executive web site ( www.scotland.gov.uk).

19. This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

Chart 1: Hourly pay by highest childcare qualification, 2005

Chart 2: Total staff and qualified staff, 2003-2005

Next »