Childcare qualifications U-turn: implications for the profession

The government has backtracked in the past few weeks on a number of planned changes to early years education and training standards, which threatened to restrict the career progression of many practitioners and potentially lead to a shortage of fully-qualified childcare staff.

The move to harmonise access standards for Early Year Educator (EYE) Level 3 courses has been largely welcomed by early years groups, but some fear the U-turn could undermine reforms that were designed to improve the academic abilities of childcare practitioners.

The EYE was introduced in September 2014 with the aim of “raising the status of the profession” (see "guide to EYE Level 3", below).

Candidates could take the Level 3 course by itself or as part of an apprenticeship – but both routes were introduced with entry requirements of having GCSE maths and English at grade C or above.

The sector was quick to point out that these requirements would be problematic for apprentices and, in response, the government removed the entry standard from the apprenticeship in August 2014, instead making it an exit requirement.

Two-tier system

The move, while welcomed by early years groups, created a two-tier system that put those taking the standalone Level 3 EYE at a disadvantage, and meant that thousands of Level 2 qualified staff, many of who would already be working in childcare settings, would need to get GCSEs to begin the next level of training.

The anomaly was starting to affect the numbers enrolling on EYE Level 3 courses, and making recruitment more difficult for Level 3 qualified practitioners – the standard needed for workers to be included in staff-to-child ratios (see "at-a-glance", below).

Then the day before the entry requirements for the standalone course were due to come into effect on 1 August, the government announced these would also be moved to an exit requirement.

When asked what factors had changed the government’s mind, the Department for Education said the announcement came after discussions with organisations in the sector.

Liz Bayram, chief executive at the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (Pacey), welcomes the decision and says it shows that the government has listened to the sector and “understood the challenges of getting the balance between quality and raising standards”.

Common sense approach

June O’Sullivan, chief executive of London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), says “common sense has prevailed”, with the changes to EYE Level 3 requirements opening doors for workers, many of whom do not have maths and English grade Cs.

However, she says the government should not have waited until the last minute to heed the warnings of experts.

“The lesson in all of this is that the early years sector generally knows what it is talking about,” she adds.

This month, the government also announced that those undertaking the Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) degree course will no longer need GCSE maths and English in order to be counted at Level 3 ratios in an early years setting.

The government says this is because candidates would have demonstrated literacy and numeracy skills as part of the Qualified Teacher Status skill test, taken as part of their course.

Childcare providers welcomed the move as helping to alleviate recruitment pressures to the workforce and had been lobbying the government for these changes.

They were worried that finding and retaining staff would become more difficult with the expected increase in demand as a result of the doubling of the free entitlement for three- and four-year-olds from 15 to 30 hours a week from 2017.

However, Michael Freeston, director of quality improvement at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, says there is still some confusion among practitioners and employers about what the most recent changes mean in practice.

Here, we address some of the key questions that arise as a result of the changes to the EYE and EYTS.  

Q. Do the GCSE exit requirements for EYE courses mean a worker cannot obtain Level 3 status without getting the academic qualifications?

Under the new arrangements, nursery staff will be able to gain their Level 3 qualification without meeting the GCSE requirements.

However, they will not count towards a setting’s staff-to-child ratios until they have obtained maths and English GCSE grade C or above.

The changes, Bayram says, will help the workforce to “move around and develop”, and remove the barrier to starting a course in the first place.

She adds: “Now, the requirements are directly linked to counting in ratios. Previously, you couldn’t even start the course without GCSEs.

“What matters is growing your understanding of caring for children – you can then focus on the GCSEs afterwards.”

Q. Is the EYTS worth doing if you can still be counted in Level 3 staff-to-child ratios without it?
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Early years groups explain what the changes will mean.","articleBody":"\u003cp\u003eThe government has backtracked in the past few weeks on a number of planned changes to early years education and training standards, which threatened to restrict the career progression of many practitioners and potentially lead to a shortage of fully-qualified childcare staff. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe move to harmonise access standards for Early Year Educator (EYE) Level 3 courses has been largely welcomed by early years groups, but some fear the U-turn could undermine reforms that were designed to improve the academic abilities of childcare practitioners. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe EYE was introduced in September 2014 with the aim of “raising the status of the profession” (see \u0022guide to EYE Level 3\u0022, below). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCandidates could take the Level 3 course by itself or as part of an apprenticeship – but both routes were introduced with entry requirements of having GCSE maths and English at grade C or above. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe sector was quick to point out that these requirements would be problematic for apprentices and, in response, the government removed the entry standard from the apprenticeship in August 2014, instead making it an exit requirement. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTwo-tier system\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe move, while welcomed by early years groups, created a two-tier system that put those taking the standalone Level 3 EYE at a disadvantage, and meant that thousands of Level 2 qualified staff, many of who would already be working in childcare settings, would need to get GCSEs to begin the next level of training. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe anomaly was starting to affect the numbers enrolling on EYE Level 3 courses, and making recruitment more difficult for Level 3 qualified practitioners – the standard needed for workers to be included in staff-to-child ratios (see \u0022at-a-glance\u0022, below). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen the day before the entry requirements for the standalone course were due to come into effect on 1 August, the government announced these would also be moved to an exit requirement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen asked what factors had changed the government’s mind, the Department for Education said the announcement came after discussions with organisations in the sector.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLiz Bayram, chief executive at the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (Pacey), welcomes the decision and says it shows that the government has listened to the sector and “understood the challenges of getting the balance between quality and raising standards”. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCommon sense approach\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJune O’Sullivan, chief executive of London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), says “common sense has prevailed”, with the changes to EYE Level 3 requirements opening doors for workers, many of whom do not have maths and English grade Cs. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHowever, she says the government should not have waited until the last minute to heed the warnings of experts. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The lesson in all of this is that the early years sector generally knows what it is talking about,” she adds. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis month, the government also announced that those undertaking the Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) degree course will no longer need GCSE maths and English in order to be counted at Level 3 ratios in an early years setting. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe government says this is because candidates would have demonstrated literacy and numeracy skills as part of the Qualified Teacher Status skill test, taken as part of their course. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChildcare providers welcomed the move as helping to alleviate recruitment pressures to the workforce and had been lobbying the government for these changes. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey were worried that finding and retaining staff would become more difficult with the expected increase in demand as a result of the doubling of the free entitlement for three- and four-year-olds from 15 to 30 hours a week from 2017. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHowever, Michael Freeston, director of quality improvement at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, says there is still some confusion among practitioners and employers about what the most recent changes mean in practice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere, we address some of the key questions that arise as a result of the changes to the EYE and EYTS.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQ. 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