Playwork is the profession that facilitates children’s play outside the educational curriculum in their childhood and young adulthood years (ages 4 – 16 years).  Playwork takes place where adults support children’s play in settings that include: after school clubs, holiday playschemes, adventure playgrounds, parks, play buses and breakfast clubs.  Some professions within playwork may not be fixed to one site, for example play rangers, and some employees will not work face-to-face with children, for example, children’s services managers in local authorities.

Playwork falls within the following Standard Industrial Classifications (SICs):

• 8010 Primary Education
• 8532 Social work without accommodation
• 9133 Activities of other membership organisations

However, SIC codes do not adequately define the playwork sector because playwork sits across several codes, making the use of SIC codes to identify the sub-sector in national data difficult.

The playwork industry gross value added (GVA) was £1.5 billion in 2004, which is 0.2% of the whole UK output.  The industry makes a significant social contribution towards improving the lives of children, building communities, improving health and education, plus reduces crime. 

UK employment in the industry accounts for 23% of the Active Leisure and Learning sector, with a total of 132,730 people employed, comprising:

• England 110,330
• Northern Ireland 4,460
• Scotland 11,210
• Wales 6,730

Over the next 10 years, employment levels are expected to increase by 1.5% annually.  On average between 2005-2009, there will be a replacement demand of 14,880 annually.

Playwork provision falls into the voluntary, statutory and private sectors.  Playworkers are mainly employed by voluntary or charitable organisations and it is estimated that volunteers account for 13% of the workforce.  Many playworkers undertake paid as well as voluntary jobs.  The workforce is predominately part-time or seasonal.  Holiday play settings are the main source of seasonal employment, but turnover is high as a result.

People can start work in the playwork sector without a qualification, but there are regulations in place that govern minimum qualification requirements of staff in some Playwork settings.  For example, in England, the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) have published Daycare Standards which say that at least half the staff working in a play setting with children aged under eight years must have a relevant Level 2 qualification and that the person in charge must have an appropriate Level 3 qualification.

Typical estimated ranges of pay (2003/2004) are:

• £5-£7 per hour for someone starting with no experience
• £6-£12.00 per hour for someone with some experience and training (e.g. Level 2/3 qualifications)
• £8-£15 per hour for someone with experience and higher qualifications (Level 4/higher education) who is managing one setting
• £13-£19 per hour from someone with experience (Level 4/higher education) managing more than one setting

People working in other capacities, such as development workers are usually paid according to local authority pay scales.

The workforce is predominantly female (95% female and 5% male) and there are less young workers in the sector than in the economy as a whole.  This varies significantly by setting as holiday playschemes have a higher proportion of male workers (18% male and 82% female) and a much younger age profile than the industry as whole. 

Playworkers generally have a high level of educational attainment, but their qualifications are not necessarily related to playwork.  50% of playworkers hold entry level training or a Level 2 qualification as their highest qualification in playwork.

Just over one third of employers have a hard-to-fill vacancy because of lack of interest in this type of job, a low number of applicants or unsociable hours.  29% of employers identified a skills gap in their workforce, including: team working; communications; and planning and preparing work.

Key drivers in the industry:

• increased demand for quality services and staff by parents and carers
• the need for more childcare provision to meet the needs of parents returning to work
• emphasis on early learning
• possibilities of marketing play provision online as access to and fluency in IT improves
• government policy and regulatory frameworks driving developments
• long-term sustainability as funding is problematic

Future skill needs:

• playwork specific skills and qualifications
• an understanding of the values and principles of playwork.
• business and management skills: specifically leadership, partnership working, marketing and fundraising
• more staff trained to Level 2 and 3
• higher level qualifications e.g. foundation degrees for senior practitioners

Source: Skills Needs Assessment – Playwork 2005

Keywords
Gross value added (GVA) is the difference between the value of goods and services produced and the cost of raw materials and other inputs which are used up in production.

Click here for more information on current education and training provision in playwork.