‘Fundamental concerns’ emerge over early years training changes

Under the proposals rules around level 3 eligibility will be relaxed too far, warns early years training company Realise.  

Level 3 qualifications prepare learners to become early years educators, enabling them to work with children from birth to five years and gain knowledge of children aged five to seven years.

• Children’s Workforce Guide to Qualifications and Training 2022/23

• Sustainable Childcare Special Report

The new plans would mean staff working at nurseries for as little as six months would be able to make decisions over whether colleagues are eligible to be qualified at level 3.

In contrast the training provider says its assessors need at least three years experiences after they have passed their level 3 qualification to be able to assess other early years’ workers eligibility.

In addition, they should also have a level 3 assessor award, a teaching qualification and their work is regularly reviewed.

Realise has raised its concerns in a government consultation around the proposals which closes on 20 May.

Its operations director Karen Derbyshire welcomes the government’s intention of “looking at ways to drive new recruits into the sector and ensure the number of qualified staff increases”.

“However, we do have a number of fundamental concerns over the proposals put forward and fear it may undermine the thorough and regulated training process which rightly exists in early years and has done so for many decades,” she said.

“There is arguably no greater responsibility than overseeing the education and wellbeing of other people’s children and ensuring those practitioners have full and relevant qualifications is a vital part of the individual’s career development and the overall success of the sector.”

The proposed changes focus on early years workers taking an ‘experienced-based route’ in their career.

Those who have level 2 English, paediatric first aid skills and working in the sector for six months can be considered for level 3.

The staff member making a decision around whether an early years workers is eligible needs to be qualified at level 3 themselves and have worked in an early years setting for at least six months.

“Six months isn’t a long period for someone to be working in the sector and then make a judgement on a colleague’s competency,” adds Derbyshire.

She is also concerned that competency judgements will differ across settings “so if a practitioner moves on, they may be deemed level 3 qualified in one nursery – but not another which raises concerns around consistency”.

In the consultation, children, families and wellbeing minister David Johnston says that the experience-based route is being considered after the proposal “gained strong approval from respondents” in a previous consultation into regulatory reform in the sector last year.

The Department for Education has been contacted for further comment.