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No. Kalendit is a workforce management platform — not a staffing agency. We don’t employ the educators, we don’t set the pay rates, and we don’t take a cut of the educator’s hourly pay.

The key difference: an agency profits when you can’t fill shifts yourself. Kalendit gives you the technology to manage your own workforce — and access a vetted educator pool as a safety net, not a first call.

Kalendit serves two groups:

• Nurseries and early years settings — from single-site settings to multi-site groups — who want to manage their bank staff more efficiently and reduce agency spend.
• Nursery educators and childcare assistants — from Level 3 practitioners to nursery assistants without formal qualifications — who want flexible, well-paid childcare work.

Kalendit is UK-based, and our educator network is currently concentrated in Greater London, with growing coverage in Surrey and Kent.

We’d rather be straight with you than sign you up and let a shift go uncovered. If your setting is outside these areas, register your interest and we’ll tell you honestly what educator availability looks like in your postcode before you post a shift — and let you know as coverage builds.

The fundamental difference is who benefits when you can’t fill a shift yourself. An agency profits from that gap — the more dependent you are on them, the more they earn. Kalendit inverts that model.

• Agency markup: typically 40–60% on top of educator pay. Kalendit: a published booking fee of 23% plus VAT, reducing to 20% at Gold tier or on Pro.
• Agency hours: business hours only. Kalendit: 24/7 in-app posting.
• Agency compliance: held by the agency. Kalendit: centralised, searchable, yours.
• Your bank staff: ignored by an agency. On Kalendit: notified first, every time.

Both models charge a fee when you take someone on permanently. The difference is that ours is published up front rather than appearing on an invoice after the fact.

For nursery enquiries and demo bookings: use our contact form or book a 15-minute call directly.

For educator support: email ops@kalendit.com — we aim to respond within one business day.

You can also reach us on WhatsApp: +44 7526 594 554

Most nurseries are approved and posting their first shift within 24 hours of submitting their documents. The registration process takes around 15 minutes.

Documents you’ll need:

• Current Ofsted Certificate
• Public Liability Insurance
• Employer Liability Insurance

Yes. Kalendit lets you bring your existing bank staff onto the platform, notify them automatically when shifts come up, and deploy them across all your sites. They see the shift, accept on the app, and you’re notified instantly.

Your bank staff use BStaff — your group’s own app. They see only your shifts, never an open marketplace. Your pool stays yours.

Your bank staff are always notified first, before any external Kalendit educator. That means they get more hours, and your external spend goes down.

If none of your bank staff can cover, the shift automatically opens to the wider Kalendit educator pool. Every educator in that pool is pre-vetted: DBS-checked, qualifications verified, referenced and safeguarding-trained before their first shift.

You see their full profile — including ratings from previous nurseries — before confirming the booking.

Yes — Kalendit is built for multi-site operators. The group dashboard gives you a single view of shift coverage, educator availability, compliance and spend across all your nurseries. Bank staff can be deployed across sites rather than being siloed within one location, which significantly increases utilisation.

Read the full Kido case study →

Yes, and many nurseries do — you’ve already worked with the educator across multiple shifts and you have a rating history, so there’s no guesswork.

A discovery fee is payable when you take a Kalendit educator into a permanent role, applied to their gross annual salary. On our Standard plan it starts at 12% plus VAT and is set by qualification level:

This applies to permanent hires only.

If instead you’re taking an educator onto a bank staff contract, a one-off introduction fee applies: £1,200 plus VAT for an unqualified educator, £2,400 plus VAT for a qualified educator. Our fees page sets out when each applies.

No. Shift booking on Kalendit is fully pay-as-you-go — you only pay when a shift is confirmed and completed, with no minimum spend, no lock-in and no notice period. You can pause or stop using the platform at any time.

The only recurring charge is our optional reporting dashboard, subscribed per user login. You don’t need it to use Kalendit.

When posting a shift you select the minimum qualification level required:

• Level 3 or above — qualified practitioner, ratio-qualifying
• Level 2 — ratio-qualifying in most settings
• Nursery assistant — support role, not ratio-qualifying

Only educators who meet or exceed your specified level will see and be able to accept the shift.

No formal qualification is required to apply. Many nurseries on Kalendit need nursery assistants for ratio support, mealtimes and general help — roles that don’t require a Level 2 or 3.

You will need:

• An enhanced DBS check
• Right-to-work documentation
• Two professional or character references
• Paediatric First Aid certificate

The pay rate is set by the nursery and shown in full before you accept any shift — you always see exactly what you’ll earn before committing. Rates vary by qualification level, setting and location.

Unlike working through an agency, Kalendit does not take a cut from your hourly pay. The fee is paid by the nursery, not deducted from your earnings.

Once you’ve submitted all your documents via the app, our team reviews them — usually within 24 hours. If you don’t yet have an enhanced DBS, that’s the step that takes longest (typically 2–4 weeks), so start it early.

Once approved, you’ll start seeing shifts matching your profile in your feed. Responding quickly to shift notifications significantly increases the shifts you secure, so keep push notifications turned on.

You can create your profile and begin the process, but you’ll need an enhanced DBS before your first shift. We can guide you through applying for one — it typically takes 2–4 weeks to come through.

If you already have a DBS from a previous role, check whether it’s registered on the DBS Update Service — if so, it may be usable immediately.

Yes. Nurseries use Kalendit to find reliable practitioners they can go on to hire permanently, and educators on the platform have been offered permanent roles by settings they’ve worked at.

Building a strong rating and becoming a “favourite” at nurseries you work at regularly is the clearest pathway to a permanent offer. Any placement fee is paid by the nursery — never by you.

After every completed shift, the nursery rates the educator and the educator rates the nursery. Ratings are out of 5 and visible on profiles.

Educators with higher ratings appear more prominently in shift matching, receive more invitations and are more likely to be marked as “favourites” by nurseries — which means being the first person notified when shifts come up at settings you’ve worked at before.

Payment is processed after each completed and confirmed shift. Payment timing and method are confirmed during your onboarding. If you have a query about a specific payment, contact ops@kalendit.com.

BStaff is your group’s own app for your bank staff. Your team see only your shifts — never an open marketplace — so your pool stays yours.

On your side, Kalendit gives you a central place to manage that pool: add your bank staff, notify them when shifts come up, track their compliance, and deploy them across all your sites.

Once your nursery account is approved, you can invite your bank staff to join via email or a shareable link. They download the app, create their profile and upload their compliance documents. Once approved, they appear in your bank staff pool and receive notifications when you post shifts.

Your bank staff are always notified first — before any external Kalendit educator sees the shift.

Yes — this is one of the most impactful features for multi-site groups. A bank staff member added to your pool can see and accept shifts across all nurseries in your group, not just the site where they originally registered.

That means bank staff who weren’t getting enough hours at one site can pick up shifts at a sister site, utilisation increases across the group, and your need for external cover decreases.

Yes. Instead of sending a message to a WhatsApp group and waiting to see who responds, you post the shift on Kalendit. Your bank staff receive an instant push notification in BStaff, see the shift details and rate, and can accept in one tap. You’re notified the moment someone accepts.

No chasing. No back-and-forth. No calling round at 6:45am.

No. The booking fee applies only when a shift is filled by an external Kalendit educator. When your own bank staff cover a shift through BStaff, there is no booking fee — you simply pay your staff as you already do.

Kalendit charges a booking fee on each confirmed, completed shift filled by an external Kalendit educator:

No minimum spend on bookings — you pay only on completed shifts. Compare that to a typical agency markup of 40–60% on top of the educator’s hourly rate.

A one-off setup fee applies when onboarding new sites, covering onboarding, platform training and technical setup. It’s quoted per site and reduces with the number of sites — see our fees page.

You do. When posting a shift, you set the pay rate you’re willing to offer. Educators see this rate before accepting — so if it’s too low, they won’t apply. Competitive rates attract better educators and faster acceptance.

The booking fee is paid by the nursery on top of the educator’s rate. It is not deducted from the educator’s pay.

No. The Kalendit educator app is completely free to download and free to join. Kalendit does not charge educators a fee or take a percentage of their earnings. All fees are paid by the nursery, not the educator.

There are three, and all of them are published:

• Booking fee — 23% plus VAT per completed shift filled by an external educator, reducing to 20% plus VAT at Gold tier (160+ hours a month).
• Discovery fee — from 12% plus VAT of gross annual salary if you take a Kalendit educator into a permanent role, set by qualification level. Permanent hires only.
• Introduction fee — a one-off £1,200 plus VAT (unqualified) or £2,400 plus VAT (qualified) if you take an educator onto a bank staff contract.
• Setup fee — a one-off charge per site when onboarding new sites, reducing with the number of sites.
• Reporting dashboard — an optional monthly subscription for analytics access, quoted per user login.

Shift booking itself is pay-as-you-go: no minimum spend, no cancellation fee and nothing to pay unless a shift is completed. The reporting dashboard is the only recurring charge, and it is optional. VAT is charged in addition to all fees shown.

The quickest way is to bring one recent agency invoice to a 15-minute call. We’ll work through the real numbers for your setting — your shift volume, your rates and your current markup — rather than a generic estimate.

Every educator on Kalendit must have the following verified before they are approved and visible to nurseries:

• Enhanced DBS check — verified against the DBS Update Service where registered
• Qualifications — Level 2, Level 3, QTS, EYTS or equivalent, verified from certificates
• Right-to-work — UK eligibility confirmed
• Professional references — two references checked
• Paediatric First Aid — current certificate verified
• Safeguarding training — current child protection certificate

Kalendit tracks expiry dates for all compliance documents automatically. Both the educator and your nursery account receive advance notifications when a certificate is approaching expiry. An educator with an expired document is suspended from the platform until the renewal is uploaded and verified.

Yes. All compliance documents for educators who have worked at your setting are stored on the platform and accessible to you at any time. Every shift is logged with the educator’s name, qualifications, DBS status and date — giving you a complete, exportable audit trail.

Educators on Kalendit operate as independent professionals. They are not employed by Kalendit or by the nursery for individual shifts. Nurseries should satisfy themselves as to the employment status implications for their specific circumstances. We recommend seeking appropriate professional advice if you have questions about employment status.

Yes. Kalendit’s Safe Onboarding Policy sets out the checks, verification steps and standards all educators must meet before joining the platform. You can read the policy here.

The nursery management dashboard is browser-based and accessible at live.kalendit.com — no app download required. It works on desktop and mobile browsers. The Kalendit app on iOS and Android is for educators and bank staff.

The Kalendit educator app is free to download:

• iOS: Download on the App Store
• Android: Get it on Google Play

Yes. The nursery dashboard is fully mobile-responsive. You can post shifts, view availability, confirm bookings and access compliance documents from your phone browser at any time — including at 11pm when someone calls in sick for the morning.

Kalendit integrates with Famly and is compatible with most HR systems. For specific integration queries, email ops@kalendit.com and our team will advise on the best approach for your setup.

Yes. Kalendit takes data protection seriously — all data is handled in accordance with UK GDPR. Compliance documents uploaded by educators are stored securely and accessible only to approved nurseries the educator has worked with. You can read our full Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.