GCSE requirements risk early years recruitment 'crisis'

From September, all Level 3 Early Years Educators (EYEs) will be required to have at least a grade C in GCSE English and maths to count in the minimum staff-to-child ratio requirements for nurseries.

But early years organisations and charities have warned this will lead to a “significant shortfall” in the number of apprentices, and have formed a campaign group calling on the government to back down over the plans.

The Save Our Early Years campaign, which launched earlier this month and includes the National Day Nurseries Association, the Pre-school Learning Alliance and the London Early Years Foundation, specifically want functional skills to be accepted as a qualification for new recruits, as was previously the case.

Functional skills, according to the government, “enable students to demonstrate real-life literacy, numeracy and IT skills through assessments set in everyday contexts”.

In a statement on its website the campaign group said: “We agree that English and maths are important for the childcare workforce – but functional skills in English and maths also provide staff with essential soft skills and must be accepted as an alternative for Level 3 EYEs [Early Years Educators].”

June O’Sullivan, chief executive of London Early Years Foundation, said on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that there had been a significant fall in the number of new starters on their Level 3 EYE apprenticeships in the past year.

“Recruitment is a major problem – we simply can’t get staff," she said.

"We’re not against having a C in GCSE maths and English, we just don’t think it’s that relevant, so we want the reintroduction of the functional skills, where we can prepare staff better.”

Under the new requirements, Level 3 apprentices without the necessary GCSEs are expected to gain the required grades alongside their apprenticeship.

“There’s no research that says having your GCSEs in maths actually prepares you for the mathematical teaching you do for small children.

“It’s a big ask for an employer,” O’Sullivan added. “There’s an expectation we get an apprentice through the Level 3 and get them the GCSE maths and English."

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association, said recruitment and retention of nursery staff is now at "crisis point".

"This situation will only be exacerbated with the introduction of 30 hours of funded childcare next year,” she said.

“The numbers of Level 3 qualified staff is dropping, so there is a real danger that quality will suffer due to increasing numbers of Level 2 qualified staff who have a lower skill level.

“We support increased qualifications for nursery practitioners to continue to be able to offer high-quality childcare. But until more investment is ploughed into the early years sector to support the workforce, we would welcome a relaxation on GCSE requirements with more emphasis being placed on functional skills.”

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “Strong numeracy and literacy skills are essential for staff working with young children – that is why we introduced GCSE requirements for those early years staff qualifying for Level 3 EYE status.
 
“We are continuing to look at what more can be done to encourage talented staff to forge a career in the early years.”

Last July, the government moved the GCSE requirements from an entry to exit requirement.