CYP Now - Qualifications change escalates childcare recruitment crisis

Annual workforce survey of early years leaders shows higher staff turnover and falling qualification levels as a result of new GCSE requirements, leading to concerns there will be too few practitioners to deliver 30-hour offer.

The National Day Nursery Association's (NDNA) annual national workforce survey lays bare the scale of the recruitment crisis in the childcare sector.

Representing the views of 278 nursery owners and managers, the 2016 survey reveals early years providers are struggling to cope with rising staff costs and difficulties recruiting and retaining practitioners, which could have significant implications for the ability of the sector to deliver planned government reforms.

Recruitment and retention

There was an 18 per cent turnover of the early years workforce in 2015/16, an increase from 14 per cent in 2014/15. NDNA found that 59 per cent of those who have left the sector have done so due to lack of progression - and cites new requirements around academic qualifications as a key factor.

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