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

Recent research from the Sutton Trust found as many as 1,000 Sure Start children's centres across the country have closed since 2009, due to budget cuts. National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) research reveals a 47 per cent increase in private and voluntary sector nursery closures between September 2017 and May 2018, compared to the same period the previous year.

While settings closing down should mean a wider pool of job seekers, in fact early years is facing an unprecedented recruitment crisis. Two-thirds of nursery managers say they are unable to recruit suitable replacements due to a lack of candidates. According to the NDNA, 34 per cent of the entire workforce is considering leaving the sector altogether.

In 2017, the government published an early years workforce strategy, aiming to improve recruitment and retention in the sector. Functional skills qualifications now have the same standing as GCSEs for those gaining Level 3 Early Years Educator (EYE) qualifications. The previous GCSE requirement had caused numbers of Level 3 students to plummet, and some Level 3 courses have since closed due to lack of interest.

Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) was introduced in 2013 in an attempt to create a graduate-led workforce. The number of students enrolling on Early Years Initial Teacher Training courses is falling, with 595 students enrolling in 2017/18, 25 fewer than last year and only 40 per cent of the government's target.

The government has closed one of the four routes into EYTS, the School Direct route, which was designed by early years providers in partnership with training providers. The remaining routes are undergraduate, taken by seven per cent of trainees last year, postgraduate employment-based, taken by 79 per cent, and graduate entry taken by 19 per cent.

EYTS is considered the equivalent of Qualified Teacher Status, but does not bring equivalent pay. The government has backtracked on a commitment to consult on proposals to allow EYTs to lead nursery or reception classes in maintained primary schools. It has also scrapped proposals to carry out a feasibility study into a scheme to grow the graduate workforce in disadvantaged areas.

The Department for Education has worked with the Department for Work and Pensions to upskill Jobcentre Plus work coaches to develop their knowledge of the early years sector and promote childcare as a career. In February 2018, it joined with the Education and Employers Charity and Tinies Childcare to deliver an event to promote childcare as a career to school children as part of the Inspiring a Future in Childcare campaign. Afterwards, 71 per cent of pupils said they would consider a career in childcare.

A trailblazer group of employers, led by nursery chain Busy Bees, has developed standards for a new Level 3 Early Years Educator apprenticeship. An assessment plan has to be approved before the apprenticeship is ready for delivery. The group has written role profiles for Levels 4, 5 and 6, and intends to consult on apprenticeship standards for those levels.

The DfE has set out new criteria for Level 2 qualifications, including an increased focus on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) training. Awarding organisations will now develop the new qualifications, which will be available for delivery from 1 September 2019.

In May 2018, the DfE published a new job description and qualification specification for Level 3 practitioners working with children with special educational needs and disabilities. This will enable awarding bodies to develop an accredited qualification for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) at Level 3. It has also launched a Level 2 SEND specification to provide guidance for early years staff who wish to develop knowledge and skills of working with babies and children with SEND.

In November 2017, the DfE convened a Childcare and Education panel to oversee the development of new qualifications, including apprenticeships, but it has been criticised for a lack of representation from the early years sector. A 14-member panel has also been established to work on the development of childcare T-Levels, a vocational alternative to A-Levels.

An online careers pathway, showing various routes through the early years sector, launched in July.

The early years workforce is predominantly female. A group of stakeholders has been set up to consider gender diversity in the sector. The Task and Finish group has completed its work of producing a report which has been forwarded to the DfE, with a view to the proposals contained in the report being considered for action by the government from the autumn onwards. The group continues to work with the department to develop options for implementation.

Read more from CYP Now's Children's Workforce Guide to Qualifications and Training