It is important as a nursery owner or employee to know National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates.
What is the National Minimum Wage in nurseries?
NMW is the minimum pay per hour almost all workers in your nursery are entitled to. The National Living Wage is higher than the National Minimum Wage and is just the name given to the minimum wage for employees who are 21 or over.
It’s vital that ALL businesses in the UK abide by these rules. We have seen an increase in the numbers of fines given to businesses by HMRC who also publish lists of businesses who have fallen foul of these rules.
See government guidance on the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage for nurseries here.
The National Minimum/Living Wage is paid at a number of different rates – here are the current rates for 2026/7:
Rates for 2027/28
The National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage will increase from April 2027 by 3.9%.
Read the full article including NDNA’s comments about the new rates here https://ndna.org.uk/minimum-wage-increases-2026/
National Minimum Wage rates for nursery apprentices
Whether or not someone is actually an apprentice is a matter of fact. An apprentice has to be taking part in a recognised apprenticeship and not just someone who’s called an ‘apprentice’.
Apprentices are now paid at the same rate as under 18s.
What counts as ‘Pay’?
There are two elements that make up the ‘rate of pay’ for NMW purposes – pay that counts in the pay reference period and hours that count in the pay reference period. The pay that counts divided by the hours that count gives the average hourly rate of pay. https://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-different-types-work