Retrain or lose job under skills plan

Thom Crabbe, national development manager for early years at the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC), said when the framework comes into effect in the autumn some workers might have to take extra modules.

"There will be a transition period if their qualifications aren't registered," he said. "They will have to think about taking particular units, such as the certificate in Early Years Foundation Stage practice."

The framework will have a set of approved qualifications for working with children, which the CWDC says will help cut down on the vast range of different early years qualifications.

Tricia Pritchard, senior policy officer at the union Voice, formerly the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses, said she was in favour of staff retraining if their qualifications had been short courses, such as online courses, where they did not come into contact with children.

"My worry would be if a qualification somebody had invested a lot of time in was not recognised," she said.