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Children's Workforce Guide to Qualifications and Training: Early years

3 mins read Courses and training Early Years

Research shows young children, particularly those in disadvantaged areas, benefit from the presence of highly-qualified practitioners in their early years setting. The government is developing a comprehensive early years workforce strategy, to cover recruitment, training and career progression, which is set to be published later this year. The sector hopes the strategy will go some way towards reversing what many describe as a recruitment and training crisis.

"Combined figures from two awarding organisations revealed a 70 per cent drop in numbers of students enrolling on Level 3 courses in 2014/15 and a 64 per cent drop in 2015/16," says Stella Ziolkowski, director of quality and workforce development at the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA). "This is real cause for concern. The result is a deskilling of staff, where quality is being diluted."

Research published by the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (Pacey) in July 2016 found nearly three quarters of training providers report a decline in the number of students enrolling on Level 3 Early Years Educator (EYE) courses in 2015/16. The Early Years Educator role was introduced in 2013 to improve the quality of people working in early years below graduate level.

Early years experts fear new requirements around GCSEs are putting off potential Level 3 students. After protests from the sector the government revised its original plan to require all EYE students to hold an English and Maths GCSE at grade C or above before starting the course but they still have to gain the qualifications as part of their training. "Most colleges now won't accept students at Level 3 unless they have the GCSEs already, as it is too much of a risk for them otherwise," says Susanna Kalitowski, policy and research manager at Pacey. A review into the GCSE requirements, announced in July, is set to be published later this year, at the same time as the workforce strategy.

Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) was introduced in 2013 in an attempt to create a graduate-led workforce. There are four routes into EYTS, lasting from three months to three years, depending on participants' existing experience and qualifications. A number of early years teacher courses have found recruitment difficult, with at least 16 providers withdrawing from offering the qualification due to lack of demand. It is considered the equivalent of Qualified Teacher Status, but does not bring equivalent pay or allow holders to work in maintained primary schools beyond reception class. The Department for Education is currently reviewing data collected on early years initial teacher training and plans to publish this in November.

The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) this year extended its bursary scheme for graduate entry to EYTS to cover students with a 2:2 degree, who will receive £2,000, but reduced the amount students with a first class degree receive from £9,000 to £5,000. Students with a 2:1 degree continue to receive £4,000, and all eligible graduates can still claim grants of up to £7,000 to cover course fees.

In 2014 the NCTL introduced a School Direct programme for early years initial teacher training. Based on the existing School Direct scheme for schools, the programme brings together groups of employers and trainers to deliver EYTS training.

In 2013 educational charity Teach First also introduced an early years training scheme, aiming to tackle educational inequality by getting high-calibre graduates into teaching. Applicants to the Leadership Development Programme must have a degree at 2:1 or above, and undergo an intensive five-week summer school. They then start working at a reception class in a school or nursery while studying for a new Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) and achieving Qualified Teacher Status.

Awarding body Cache this year introduced a new, work-based, Level 4 Advanced Practitioner qualification for those who want to progress beyond the Early Years Educator role. Continuous professional development is an issue for early years managers. "Some nurseries are having to use money they had previously set aside for staff training to cover payroll costs, since they went up considerably with the implementation of National Living Wage," says Ziolkowski. Local authority cuts have also hit training budgets.

There have been a number of changes in the childminder sector, with new legislation allowing childminders to work from non-domestic premises, such as schools and nurseries, for up to half of their time. An increasing number of childminders are working with assistants, who do not need any particular qualifications, which can provide an entry route into the childcare sector. "There is a trend for more professionalisation in childminding, and for childminders to work together in one setting," says Kalitowski. The introduction of childminder agencies, which provide training, support and inspection visits for the childminders on their books, also provides a new route into the sector, although there has been some controversy over costs and conflicts of interest.

EARLY YEARS COURSES

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