Nursery practitioner CV example
Early years settings weigh your qualification level, room ratios and partnership with parents. All of it belongs in the top half of the CV.
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- Sector
- Education
- Template used
- Dublin
- ATS level
- ATS verified
- ATS keywords
- 5
Document preview
How the CV looks once laid out
The same example content, laid out in the recommended template: single column, selectable text and no tables or graphics that break automated parsing.
Sample document. Open it in the editor to change template, language and sections without losing the content.
Rachel Donnelly
Level 3 early years practitioner with 6 years in the room
rachel.donnelly@mail.com · +353 87 123 4567 · Dublin · linkedin.com/in/rachel
Professional summary
Level 3 qualified early years practitioner with six years in day nursery settings. I've been key person for a toddler room of 13 children, plan continuous provision to the EYFS and hold termly meetings with every family. Paediatric first aid and safeguarding training current.
Experience
Nursery practitioner
Employer name · City · 2019 – Present
- Key person for a room of 13 children aged 1 to 2 across four years
- Planned 30 continuous provision activities with individual development tracking
- Achieved 100% parent attendance at termly progress meetings
Education
Qualification or certificate for the role
Training centre · Year
Skills
- EYFS planningAdvanced
- Routines and self-careAdvanced
- Development observationAdvanced
- Parent partnershipAdvanced
- Paediatric first aidAdvanced
- SafeguardingAdvanced
Languages
- EnglishNative
- SpanishB1
01
Professional headline
This is the line that decides whether they keep reading: a specific role and years of experience, never an adjective.
Level 3 early years practitioner with 6 years in the room
02
Example professional summary
Three or four sentences with your specialism, one figure and your goal. It sits right under the headline.
Level 3 qualified early years practitioner with six years in day nursery settings. I've been key person for a toddler room of 13 children, plan continuous provision to the EYFS and hold termly meetings with every family. Paediatric first aid and safeguarding training current.
03
Achievements that work in this role
Past-tense verb, what you did, measurable result. Three to five per role, strongest first.
- 01Key person for a room of 13 children aged 1 to 2 across four years
- 02Planned 30 continuous provision activities with individual development tracking
- 03Achieved 100% parent attendance at termly progress meetings
04
Skills to include
Written as plain text: rating bars are invisible to automated filters.
- EYFS planning
- Routines and self-care
- Development observation
- Parent partnership
- Paediatric first aid
- Safeguarding
05
ATS keywords
The terms filters search for in this role. Place them inside your experience, not in a list at the end.
- EYFS
- early years
- key person
- room ratio
- safeguarding
Work them naturally into your experience — these are the terms screening software scans for.
06
Tips for this CV
What separates a CV for this trade from a generic one.
- 01
Put your qualification level and year at the top — it's the setting's first filter.
- 02
Be specific about the age range and the room ratio you've worked.
- 03
Add paediatric first aid and safeguarding with their renewal dates.
07
What a nursery practitioner CV is
Short definition, ready to quote.
A nursery practitioner CV is the one or two page document used to apply for a nursery practitioner role in education: it brings together the professional headline, the profile summary, experience with measurable results and the competencies the trade expects you to evidence, such as EYFS planning and Routines and self-care. Unlike a generic CV, it is ordered around what the applicant tracking system and the hiring manager look for in a nursery practitioner: the words used in the advert and the numbers of the actual job.
08
Keywords and where to place them
Each term works best in a specific place in the document. Repeating them all at the end scores nothing.
| Keyword | Where to place it |
|---|---|
| EYFS | In the professional headline |
| early years | In the profile summary |
| key person | Inside an achievement with a figure |
| room ratio | In the skills list |
| safeguarding | In training or certifications |
09
How this nursery practitioner CV gets through the filters
What the example above does right, point by point.
- The headline reads «Level 3 early years practitioner with 6 years in the room»: the job title (nursery practitioner) appears literally in the first line, not as a creative synonym.
- The trade's keywords —EYFS, early years, key person— sit inside the experience and summary, where the filter reads them in context.
- Every achievement carries its figure. «Key person for a room of 13 children aged 1 to 2 across four years» is the pattern to copy: volume, timeframe and result.
- Skills such as EYFS planning, Routines and self-care, Development observation are written as plain text, never as rating bars or stars, which no parser can read.
- The Dublin template is single-column and rated ATS verified, so the sections come out in order.
10
What hiring managers look for in a nursery practitioner
The three points that separate two candidates in this trade.
Age range and ratio
The job changes entirely between babies, toddlers and pre-school. Give the room, the number of children and the staffing ratio you worked to: “toddler room, 13 children with one support practitioner”.
Qualification level
A full and relevant Level 3 qualification as a minimum, or early years teacher status for room leadership. Give the level, awarding body and year — it drives the setting's ratios.
Planning and observation
Spell out the pedagogy: early years framework planning, observations and next steps, progress checks, key person responsibilities and settling-in plans.
11
Common mistakes on a nursery practitioner CV
The ones that repeat in this role, each with its fix.
- 01
Calling it “childcare” instead of early education
Early years is an educational stage with planning and assessment. Framing it as childcare downgrades the role and compares you to a babysitter rather than a qualified practitioner.
- 02
Leaving out parent partnership
Handovers, termly reports, parents' evenings and handling a parent's concern. It is the most delicate part of the job and the one managers probe at interview.
- 03
Forgetting safeguarding and paediatric first aid
Safeguarding level, paediatric first aid, allergen management and accident procedure are technical requirements, not minor duties. Give the year for each.
- 04
No mention of the settling-in period
September and settling-in are the most demanding weeks of the year. Having led a full settling-in, tears and attachment included, proves real room experience.
12
What a nursery practitioner earns
So you can tell whether an advert is at market rate before applying.
- Usual range
- Typically £11.50-£13.50 an hour for a Level 3 practitioner, with room leader posts above
- What moves the figure
- Qualification level, room leadership and London weighting move the rate more than years in the setting.
- Where the figure comes from
- Ranges observed in UK early years adverts through 2026.
Frequently asked
Questions about a nursery practitioner CV
- What qualification do nurseries require?
- A full and relevant Level 3 for ratio purposes, and many settings will fund a Level 2 practitioner towards it. Always state the level, awarding body and year.
- Does babysitting or playscheme work count?
- It counts as experience with children and is worth including, but describe it with educational intent: ages, group size, planned activities and contact with parents.
- Is paediatric first aid essential?
- In practice yes — settings must have qualified first aiders on site and will screen for it. Give the year and the provider so it reads as current.
- Should I mention inspections?
- If you have been part of one, yes, including the outcome and your contribution. It signals that you work to a documented standard.
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