College which trains elite £50,000 nannies hired by royalty is awarded university status – where students learn Taekwondo and getaway driving

An elite institution which has trained generations of prestigious nannies hired by royalty and millionaires has been awarded university status.

Founded in 1892 and based in Bath, Norland College, which costs more than £17,000 a year, is far from your typical university.

Students learn skills more often associated with James Bond than with Mary Poppins, including getaway driving and martial arts.

They must also bid farewell to their wardrobe in favour of the college’s famous £1,000 brown uniform, which includes a beige, crested dress and matching felt hat for women, and a tweed blazer with chinos for men. 

It’s strictly mandated, down to their tights (brown, 70 denier).

While wearing this clothing, students and nannies are reportedly banned from eating at fast-food restaurants, wearing headphones and chewing gum.

However, the unique training methods prove to be incredibly fruitful. While many graduates are forced to return home and scrape a living as a waiter or bartender, Norland nannies are guaranteed a job with a £50,000 starting salary.

Previous alumni include Maria Borrallo, who was hired by the Prince and Princess of Wales to care for their three young children: Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 11 and eight-year-old Prince Louis. 

Now, Norland College has been given the green light to become recognised as a university by the Office for Students. 

From September, it will be renamed Norland University of Early Childhood and become the world’s first university dedicated to early childhood. With only 400 students, it is set to become one of the smallest universities in England. 

Its change in status will mean that that college can expand its academic offerings to postgraduate teaching and a new online masters degree which will cover topics including child behaviour and nutrition. 

At present, students take a three-year bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and care alongside a four-year diploma. 

The college charges £17,000 a year because it is offering two qualifications, but students can only borrow up to £6,185 a year.

Last year Norland received 230 applications for 100 places. Five years ago around 155 applied. 

Dr Janet Rose, the university’s principal, told The Times: ‘Achieving university title is a landmark moment for Norland and for the field of early childhood education and care.

‘Becoming Norland University of Early Childhood strengthens our ability to advance research, connect knowledge and skills with practice, extend our influence on policy and professional standards, and help shape the future of early childhood for generations to come.’

Newly qualified nannies can earn up to £47,600 at the start of their career, while some earn up to £120,000 after a few years’ experience – plus perks including designer handbags, trips abroad and luxurious living quarters. 

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger employs a Norlander, while Princess Beatrice is thought to have hired a £1000-a-week Norland nanny for the birth of her first daughter Sienna in 2021.

Over the years, nannies-in-training at Norland College have shared rare insights into what life is like at the unique institution, with Deputy Head of Students Lillie, who goes by @nanny_lillie on TikTok, sharing snippets of her life there.

These include an orientation day which involved taking a stuffed bear around London. 

When she asked other students what Norland College is to them in one word, she was met with responses like ‘stability’, ‘committed’, ‘inspiring’ and ‘passion’.

Come exam season, and the students are met with typical demands, though, and Lillie explained that they each complete a dissertation and placements while developing their CV and portfolio.

Elsewhere, third-year Norland student Liv shared a clip explaining why her school is ‘different from others’, showing snippets of her fellow student reading to a toy baby, carrying it in a pram, and holding up puppets to the toy.

Alumni are guaranteed a job through the college’s recruitment agency, which has five vacancies for every graduate.

Elspeth Pitman, head of graduates at Norland, told The Times: ‘As long as there are children around, the likelihood of nannying jobs staying around is quite high.’

And while salaries in finance and banking for new graduates are, on average, £45,500 this year, Norland nannies start on an average of £50,000 a year for jobs in Britain and overseas, or £46,500 for the UK only, according to the college.

Fellow nanny Sophie (@nanny_amara) has also taken to social media to give an insight in to her training.

Taking to Instagram, the trainee has shared snapshots of the elite school’s kitchen where she has been ‘cooking up a storm’.

Easily identifiable by their brown dresses and matching hats, brown shoes and white gloves, Norland nannies are trained in their specialist college in Bath and can sometimes be spotted walking around the historic city in their famous uniforms.

Trainees’ hair must be worn in a bun, nails are to be cut short, the word ‘kid’ is prohibited and engagement rings should not be worn when working with children.

Alongside learning paediatric first aid including the recovery position and first aid, trainees undergo cyber-security training and personal security training, alongside classic courses like how to correctly feed a newborn.

Ahead of a nanny being placed with a family, there is a formal interview, followed by a trial run for 24 hours, or longer in some cases.

Nannies can expect to live in some of the world’s most exclusive locations and holiday with families to high-end resorts around the world.

However being a nanny is also extremely demanding: Norlanders must be willing to put the family first and ‘never share’ any private information they might have heard, ‘even if it seems trivial’, according to Elspeth Pitman, Head of Graduates: Placements, Employment and Alumni.

Students must also sign up to the Norland Code of Professional Responsibilities which sets out the professional standards they should uphold, including respecting the family’s right to ‘privacy and confidentiality’, so no tell-all books about famous employers.

They must prioritise children and their families and respect the role of parents, which can be a difficult dynamic for any childminder to navigate. But the nannies are well compensated for their work.

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2022, Principal Dr Janet Rose and Mandy Edmond, Vice Principal, Head of Quality and Standards and Registrar, revealed how in order to be accepted, students have to be ‘creative, resilient and practical’ – and be capable of keeping their employer’s secrets.

Dr Janet continued: ‘Amongst many traits, Norland Nannies need to be loving, kind, honest, creative, practical, responsible, organised and willing to continually learn and improve in order to do the very best for the families and young children with whom they work.

‘We aren’t looking for an in-depth knowledge of babies and young children because we will teach them this.

‘Instead we’re looking for what we can’t teach – an absolute commitment to being the person that changes the world through shaping the life of the children they work with.’

A Norland nanny with more than ten years experience working overseas can command a salary of £130,000.

But even for those just starting out they are well paid, taking home more than teachers, doctors and lawyers.

For those working in London and coming in daily they can take home £49,500 and after five years their rate increases to £66,500.

Norland College now accepts international students and had its first male graduate in 2019.