Survey of Nanny Agencies and Nannies
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The Early Years National Training Organisation and the Department for Education and Employment commissioned a postal survey of nanny agencies and nannies in autumn 1999. The purpose of this survey was to gather information on the employment and training of nannies across the UK in order to help plan workforce training and development priorities over the next few years. This was the first ever time that such information had been collected.

The questionnaire to nanny and childcare agencies focused on the training and experience that agencies expected nannies to have, the supply and demand for nannies and the availability of training for nannies.

The one sent to nannies who were working for these agencies looked at qualifications, training and experience, career aspirations, personal data, training needs and characteristics of their present jobs. Syniad and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (formerly the Federation of Recruitment and Employment Services (FRES) also supported the survey.

Key findings of the survey were as follows:

• Almost 90% of nannies hold vocational qualifications, of which the main ones were the CACHE Diploma (55%), the BTEC/EDEXCEL Diploma (15.4%) and NVQs/SVQs (8.7%).
• The average period since respondents achieved their last qualification was 4 years.
• 6.6% of those surveyed were currently working towards qualification.
• Almost a quarter of nannies considered that they needed further training to help them do their current job, and two-fifths to help them get a job in the future.
• Five sixths of all nannies were prepared to undertake further training, of whom two thirds were prepared to commit one evening per week and one in ten, one day per week.
• Three-fifths of agency respondents reported that there were too few suitably qualified nannies available, and a third that the number was about right.
• Two-fifths of agencies reported increased parental awareness of the availability and content of nanny qualifications and training, and the increasing demands of parents for nannies to hold relevant childcare and education qualifications.
• Around half of the agencies were moderately satisfied with the content of nanny training courses, with the quality of recently trained nannies and with the availability of nanny training in their areas. Almost a third were very satisfied
  with these aspects of nanny training.
• Nearly two-thirds of nanny respondents expected their next job to be also as a nanny and only one in ten expected it to be work other than in childcare and education (15% did not know).

In response to the report published in July 2000, the Early Years National Training Organisation pledged its commitment to the training and qualification of all nannies, and to setting and monitoring targets for training and qualifications throughout the childcare and education workforce until the year 2005. To keep up-to-date with other early years and childcare training and qualifications issues you might wish to visit their website at www.early-years-nto.org.uk