Tapestry Early Years Education Survey 2025 – what we learnt

Each year, the Tapestry survey gives a snapshot of how early years educators feel about a range of topics. This year we asked about their roles, whether they use artificial intelligence, and their approaches to engaging parents and carers, and more than 580 early years educators took the time to give us their views:

Early years practitioner	146
Early years manager	220
Early years teacher	53
Trainee EYFS	4
Childminder	56
Reception teacher	33
SENCo – early years setting	19
Other – within early years	53

This is hugely appreciated – thank you very much!

Here we provide a detailed look at what the survey findings tell us. It’s split into three main areas:

1. Early years educators’ view on their role
2. Use of artificial intelligence in the early years
3. Engaging families in the early years

We’ve also included a handy summary at the end of this article if you don’t have time to settle down to the detail. For ease of interpretation, we’ve rounded percentages to whole numbers, this means that in some cases we may have figures like 100% rather than 99.7%.

Early years educators’ views on their role

The findings offer a fascinating picture of a sector that’s passionate about their work, resourceful, and creative. At the same time, the well-documented challenges of the early years loom large, but the majority of the workforce would still recommend the role to others.

It is clear that there are many positive aspects to working in the early years. We provided a list of positive statements about working in the early years and none were rated less than 80% by respondents.

Of the three that came out top, the one in third position ‘having fun with children and colleagues’ really resonated with us. There are numerous studies which support the positive benefits of fun in the workplace and, more specifically, some that highlight how working in early years education offers more scope for fun than other sectors.

Early years pressures are significant

There is a clear contrast between the enjoyment educators find in their work and the challenges they also face. The survey provided a list of statements for respondents to agree or disagree with which described the challenges of the role:

Personal fulfilment and the realities of the early years role

Respondents were asked to select words from a list to describe their role – there was an equal number of positive and negative phrases from which to select. The most common choices demonstrate the contrasts of how those working in early years feel about their role:

• Rewarding (77%) but challenging (75%)
• Tiring (60%) but fun (55%)
• Stressful (53%) but fulfilling (50%)

Some respondents added extra words emphasising other challenges such as: “undervalued”, “unappreciated” and “unsupported”. However, others said how worthwhile the job is because of their impact on children, despite the issues: “I feel it can be stressful and tiring, but this isn’t all the time and as a whole it is rewarding and challenging.” And “I love the kids and engaging with them all, management is another issue at times!” And finally: “It’s a vocation, not a job. It requires huge sacrifice from us, and our families, for so little reward or recognition.”

What’s next for the early years workforce?

The findings revealed a committed and resilient workforce. Just over half (54%) said they planned to stay in their current roles. A further 11% hoped for promotion within early years. Less than one in ten planned to leave the sector.

The government’s plan to deliver 3000 nurseries in primary schools requires an estimated 40,000 early years educators. However, half of the survey respondents planned to stay in their role, suggesting it may mean the new school-based settings will struggle to recruit from the current workforce and will need to explore different avenues beyond the existing workforce.

Neil Leitch, Chief Executive of the Early Years Alliance, responding to the survey findings said: “Given the urgent need to boost the numbers of early years places, it’s vital that the government develops a strategy that recognises the importance of supporting existing PVI provision, alongside the rollout of new school-based nursery places. Working in the early years is a vocation and despite growing challenges, early educators continue to dedicate themselves to offering the best possible provision to the children in their care. Providers are doing their utmost to deliver high-quality, accessible, and affordable care and education to children and families, but more and more are being forced to do so in impossible circumstances. Ministers must recognise the urgency of this situation: given the current state of the sector, inaction is simply not an option.”

Raising the profile of early years

Despite facing serious challenges, three in five (60%) respondents said they would recommend a career in early years and less than a fifth (19%) said they wouldn’t. This is notable given the issues around pay, workload, and recognition.

Dr Helen Edwards, co-founder of Tapestry and a former nursery owner, said: “It is encouraging that early years educators are ready to recommend working in the sector, and clearly find their role satisfying. However, this only gets the sector so far. There are systemic changes needed if early years education is going to flourish and provide the support needed for children and their families.

My advice to government would be to work more closely with those early years educators who feel positive about their role. Give them a platform to share their experiences of the sector and demonstrate how fulfilling their work often is. Our survey suggests many would be willing to recommend the role, and word of mouth is much more effective than costly advertising campaigns.”

Use of AI in the early years

Artificial intelligence tools are now part of many people’s working lives and a third (33%) of respondents said they had used AI in the past year to help them in their roles.

It’s clear that use of AI for admin-related work was the most common function. However, it’s interesting to see that around a third are using AI for other aspects of work in the early years.

More research and evaluation of AI in the early years is needed. This was raised as a concern by two-fifths of respondents (43%) when we asked about concerns about AI. Indeed, Ofsted’s recent review of AI in schools and further education has drawn a similar conclusion.

Educators’ experience of AI in the early years

Those using AI are engaging with it in practical ways, often to save time or improve how they share information.

It is also interesting to see that a third of respondents (30%) had found AI helpful in managing the setting. Time saving is a clear motivation for use of AI but fewer respondents felt it had actually reduced their planning time. This acknowledges that AI can offer a great starting point, but it can’t replace the educator’s knowledge of the children and what they need to thrive.

Ben Case, Education Advisor at Tapestry who is a self-styled ‘techie’ found the results around AI fascinating: “It’s incredibly encouraging to see early years educators embracing AI at such pace. The fact that it’s helping to save time on administrative tasks demonstrates its potential to help reduce workload – a key issue which our survey highlights.”

Reasons why early years educators are not using AI

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents to our survey said they had not used AI in the past six months to support aspects of their jobs. As you can see in the graph below, there wasn’t one reason that stood out. Slightly more felt it wasn’t relevant to their role, but there was a wide spread of reasons.

Some added comments suggesting that the nature of early years education meant there was little need for AI: “We use digital learning now and again depending on themes, but most of the day is play outdoors inspired by natural play and role play and structurally investigative play.” Others had simply not had time to investigate AI: “I haven’t had an opportunity to delve further into AI – I do plan to, but it’s not a priority for me at the moment.”

Over half (53%) of those who weren’t using AI at the moment, were undecided about whether they would use it in the future. And less than a fifth (17%) thought that they would use AI in the future, with almost a third (30%) already clear that they would not use AI.

For those who feel uncertain about using AI, it may be that with better information, training and support, more early years educators might explore using AI tools in the future.

It’s also worth acknowledging that many of the tools now widely used in settings, schools and offices are powered by some form of AI. Google Search, Microsoft Word with Copilot, and Gemini are all examples. So, it’s quite likely that some respondents may have used AI without necessarily realising.

Educators concerns about AI

Whether or not respondents had used AI, the two key concerns were the same – namely the reliability and accuracy of information and whether uploaded data could be accessed by others. The lack of regulation over the use of AI and that it’s not been widely tested in early years were also concerns. Few respondents felt that AI would replicate all, or part of, their job.

Next steps with AI in the early years

Despite concerns, most believe that the use of AI will increase in the early years. Indeed, most of those who had used AI reported that their use had increased in the past year, and although 16% stated it had remained the same, no-one said it had reduced.

Overall the findings suggest that any support for AI in early years needs to be grounded in the needs of educators, and how they can best support children’s learning and development. Tools need to be educator-led, not AI-led, they need to be easy to use, safe and secure. There’s also a clear need for training so that early years educators can feel confident that they can use AI tools responsibly, effectively and ethically.

Ben Case added: “It’s essential that concerns around reliability and data security are addressed, and early years educators need proper training and support to harness AI effectively. Most importantly, we need to use these tools to enhance and support educators’ significant expertise in child development, rather than seek to replace it.”

Richard Waite, technologist and early years expert, also makes the case for striking the right balance: “AI is not about replacing educators – it’s about enhancing their role, freeing up valuable time, and providing new insights to better support every child. However, the growing presence of AI brings both exciting opportunities and important challenges.

Educators need to understand how to balance the benefits of AI with the irreplaceable value of human judgment, empathy, and creativity. As we embrace these changes, it’s vital to stay informed, selective, and always focused on what’s best for children’s wellbeing and development.”

Engaging families in the early years

An area of ongoing attention for those working in the early years is the wish to engage with parents and carers, and virtually all respondents focused on this and felt it was a priority. Three quarters of respondents said that they had a clear policy in place and that parents and carers were generally keen to engage with them.

However, half reported that parent and carer engagement had become harder in the past year. There could be many reasons for this, but it does coincide with the introduction of the expanded offer. In our discussions with settings this year this has come up quite often, for instance one respondent offered their perspective: “There is less time for chats at drop off because parents and carers need to stay carefully within their funded hours and they often have to dash to work. Funded hours also start at the same time for all our families which means drop off and pick up are busier which makes it hard to have a quick chat when it’s needed. People are still finding their feet, and I think it will settle down, but it’s certainly a reason why we have found it harder to engage with our parents and carers this year.”

We feel this is an area that warrants further investigation.

Where parents and carers experience barriers to engagement with a setting, respondents were most likely to focus on face to face chats and meetings to support them. However, the graph shows that settings use a wide range of strategies.

We were pleased to see that using an online journal, like Tapestry, was a popular response in the survey, (it should be noted that many respondents were users of Tapestry), and one respondent added: “we send lots of photos at the end of the session to share their child’s play”. Others talked about hosting coffee mornings, community festivals and workshops to help welcome families and encourage a sense of belonging.

Digital communication here to stay

An area of significant change has been the approaches settings use to communicate with families. Five years after the start of the pandemic, communicating with families has become far more digital. Half of respondents (51%) reported reducing their use of printed letters and a fifth (21%) reported less use of face to face meetings. At the same time, half (51%) reported an increased use of email and a third (35%) reported increased use of online meetings.

Respondents were most likely to say they had increased their use of their online learning journal (54%) which was welcomed by us all here at Tapestry! Dr Helen Edwards, who is co-founder of Tapestry and a former nursery owner, added: “Since its inception, and in the years after the pandemic, Tapestry has developed new tools to support educators as they seek to communicate in a digital-first world. We are always surprised at how quickly settings take up these new tools and I think it is driven by a wish to engage with families as effectively as possible.”

Supporting play at home

The majority of settings (80%) provided play ideas and resources for parents and carers to use at home. The most popular ways to share these are via an online journal, to model them in class, or to share ideas in a newsletter. Only a small number create videos with play ideas. But there’s interest in finding new ways to support families through digital platforms and informal sharing.

Respondents provided lots of examples including: “we send out home learning tasks that encourage parents and carers to get out and about”, “curiosity boxes to send home”, and “we chat to our parents a lot on handover and via WhatsApp. They love sharing achievements, etc. at home”.

In summary

This year’s survey highlights four key messages for those working in, leading, or supporting early years settings:

• This is a deeply committed workforce. Despite the pressures, most plan to stay and would recommend the job to others.
• Recognition matters. Lack of societal value is the biggest challenge. This needs to change if the sector is to attract and retain staff.
• AI is still new – but growing. Some are using it, others are unsure. But many share the same concerns and more support is needed.
• Digital communication is now the norm. Emails, online journals, and virtual meetings are part of daily life for most settings. However, where parents and carers experience barriers to engaging with a setting, face to face chats and meetings are still important.

At a time when early years education is under the spotlight, this survey provides a useful snapshot from early years educators. It shows a workforce that is creative, thoughtful, and open to new tools – but also tired and under-recognised. It suggests there are real opportunities to build on what’s working, improve what’s not, and raise the profile of early years in education and society. It also underlines the need for policy decisions and technological developments to be shaped around what educators, children, and families need – not just what’s possible.

To find out about previous Tapestry Surveys, you can visit our survey page.