How clever you have to be to work in a nursery (with GCSE maths and English)

From September, if you want a job as a level three nursery worker in England you're going to need a minimum grade C in GCSE maths and English.

There's been criticism that this is unfair because 40% of teenagers don't achieve those grades.

So how much maths and English will nursery workers be expected to know and how much will they actually use?

For someone to reach that benchmark grade at GCSE maths, there's a list of things they need to be able to master.

Depending on which board you take the exam with there are some differences but all expect you to use a calculator effectively.

The rest of the list is more challenging and includes being able to find the percentage of an amount, simultaneous equations and the dreaded Pythagoras' theorem.

Remember that one? It's all about right-angled triangles.

When it comes to a C grade in GCSE English, you are expected to show that you can use quotes effectively, structure writing appropriately using paragraphs, be able to spell, as well as use grammar and punctuation for effect.

So is all this necessary to work in a nursery setting?

Many argue that this level of knowledge isn't needed but the government claims "strong numeracy and literacy skills are essential for staff working with young children".

22-year-old Laura from Glasgow agrees with the Government. She's just finishing her degree in childhood studies.

"We're so under represented because people think all we do is play with paint," she tells Newsbeat.

"You wouldn't expect your primary school teacher to have no qualifications or to be uneducated. And I think that should be the same for us."

Jimmy is 19 and works at First Steps day nursery in Cambridgeshire.

He had to re-sit his English and Maths to get a C grade but says that has had no impact on how well he can look after and nurture pre-schoolers.

He says: "I absolutely love working with the children, it keeps me entertained all week."

When asked whether he was doing Pythagoras' theorem with them he laughed and said "we do basic maths and count up to 20, basic sums like one plus one and one plus two - it's not algebra".

Valerie Wells runs the nursery and is concerned that the new rules will put a lot of teenagers off considering childcare as a career.

"It's going to take some people out of the sector.

"I've got unqualified staff here that work incredibly hard, very creative people and having a grade C in maths I don't think is going to make any difference to the quality of care and education they give to the children."

She says she doesn't think Pythagoras' theorem is relevant when teaching three and four-year-olds.

"As long as you can count to 10. Going into mainstream school they don't want them to be reading, they want them to be doing the phonics.

"We do that every day with our children. We read stories and books with them as long as they can understand and listen to the sounds of the letters, then we're doing what we should be doing in the sector."

For more information and help with GCSEs have a look at BBC Bitesize.

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