How to become a children's nurse

To work as a children’s nurse in the UK you must be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and the usual way to get there is a degree in children’s nursing. Newly qualified children’s nurses in NHS England start on Agenda for Change band 5, which is £32,073 at the bottom of the band and £39,043 at the top.

What the job involves

Children’s nurses look after babies, children and young people from birth to late teens, and they work with the parents or carers as much as with the patient. On a ward that means giving medicines, taking observations, setting up and checking equipment, helping with feeding, and noticing small changes in a child who cannot always tell you what is wrong. You also spend time explaining things to frightened families and, where it applies, taking part in safeguarding conversations.

The setting changes the work a lot. A general paediatric ward sees a mix of infections, asthma, injuries and surgery. A neonatal unit looks after premature and sick newborns. Emergency departments, children’s intensive care, oncology and community children’s nursing teams each ask for different skills, and many nurses move between them as they gain experience.

Routes in

The main route is a university degree in nursing with the children’s field of practice. You apply through UCAS and choose children’s nursing as your field from the start, so it is a separate course from adult nursing. Entry requirements differ by university, but most ask for GCSEs including English and maths, plus A levels, a level 3 vocational qualification or an Access to HE diploma. Read the entry page for each course, because the grades and subjects asked for are not the same everywhere.

A second route is the nursing degree apprenticeship, where you work for an NHS employer and study at the same time. Employers advertise these as apprenticeship posts, so you apply for the job as well as the course. The nursing degree apprenticeship guide covers how it works. If you already work as a healthcare assistant, from HCA to nurse sets out the options for stepping up.

Graduates in a related subject can look at shortened postgraduate nursing courses at some universities. Whichever route you take, it ends the same way: you complete the course, pass your practice assessments and apply to join the NMC register.

Checks before you start

Children’s nursing is regulated activity, so you need an enhanced DBS check with the children’s barred list. The fee is £41.00 in England and Wales from 5 October 2026, and in many cases the university or employer arranges it for you. Scotland uses the PVG scheme and Northern Ireland uses AccessNI, with different fees. Our DBS check levels guide explains the differences. You will also have an occupational health check and have to show your immunisation record.

What the job pays

In England, pay follows Agenda for Change. A newly qualified children’s nurse starts on band 5, and with experience, extra responsibility or a specialist role you can move to band 6 and then band 7.

Band	Starting pay	Top of band
5	£32,073	£39,043
6	£39,959	£48,117
7	£49,387	£56,515

Band 5 has a middle step at £34,592, and you move up after two years at each of the first two points. London trusts add a high cost area supplement, which is a percentage of basic pay with a minimum and maximum. Scotland has its own scales, with band 5 running from £34,494 to £42,977. Wales and Northern Ireland follow different award timetables. See nurse pay in the UK for the full picture.

Say you start on £32,073 and pay into the NHS Pension Scheme. That salary falls in the 8.3% contribution tier, which applies to pay from £28,855 to £35,155. The take-home pay calculator will show what reaches your account after tax, National Insurance and the pension.

Hours, leave and registration

Most ward nurses work shifts that can include nights, weekends and bank holidays, often in 12-hour blocks. Annual leave for full-time NHS staff is 27 days on appointment, rising to 29 after five years and 33 after ten, plus eight public holidays, pro rata for part-time. The NHS unsocial hours page covers the extra pay for nights and weekends.

Once registered, you renew with the NMC and complete revalidation, which asks for practice hours, training, feedback and reflection. The NMC revalidation guide walks through it.

Finding a first post

Newly qualified nurses are usually recruited before they finish the course. Jobs are advertised on NHS Jobs and by trust, and many trusts run preceptorship programmes for the first year. Look at how to use the NHS Jobs website, and prepare for a values-based interview using the NHS values-based interview guide. Current openings are listed under nursing and midwifery jobs.