Minister for Early Education (): Having high-quality early
education and care available on parents' doorstep is key to
giving children the best start in life. In our Plan for Change,
we have set a milestone of a record proportion of children
starting school ready to learn. We will measure our progress
through 75% of 5-year-olds reaching a good level of development
in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment.
A key priority to achieve this milestone is rolling out
government-funded childcare support to improve access. Eligible
working parents are already benefiting from the latest phase of
the expansion of childcare in September 2024, being able to
access 15 hours a week of early education and childcare from the
term after their child turns 9 months. And from September 2025,
this will increase to 30 hours per week as we deliver the final
phase of the expansion.
In our Plan for Change, we committed to work in partnership with
the sector, reforming training and support for the workforce to
drive up standards. To make it easier to recruit and train the
right staff, the government is working to expand the workforce to
deliver the high-quality early years provision needed. We are
introducing new routes to becoming approved as early years
educators and early years teachers. We are also making it easier
for educators and employers to check their qualifications and
know that they are working within the Early Years Foundation
Stage requirements.
Early Years Teacher Degree Apprenticeship
The Government has worked with sector experts to create a new
undergraduate route to achieving Early Years Teacher Status,
through the publication of a new Early Years Teacher Degree
Apprenticeship. The apprenticeship complements the existing Early
Years Initial Teacher Training route and is designed for those
wishing to specialise in teaching young children and babies. It
enables people starting out in their careers as well as
experienced early years educators to gain a degree and become an
Early Years Teacher without needing to incur any debt whilst
gaining invaluable experience at work. This three-year course
will be available throughout England and will help ensure we have
a highly qualified workforce to support the next generation of
young children and help settings recruit the staff they need.
Experience-Based Route
Following last year's technical consultation, the government
intends to proceed with the introduction of an experience-based
route for early years staff. This new route will support the
recruitment and retention of staff by allowing suitable educators
who do not hold an approved qualification to be included in the
staff:child ratios at level 3 following the successful completion
of a period of supervised practice. Early years providers and
educators will be able to begin using the experience-based route
from the 3 March 2025, and we will work closely with the sector
in the coming months to ensure that employers and educators
understand how to deliver the route and realise the benefits.
The qualification, experience and process requirements for the
route will safeguard quality by ensuring only staff with the
right experience and qualifications can access the route, that
the duration of the process allows for sufficient development of
skills and knowledge, and that providers maintain an appropriate
number of fully qualified staff. These requirements were
supported in the consultation response, and in response to sector
feedback we have increased the required experience of assessors
and supervisors in this route from 6 months to a minimum of 2
years.
Check an Early Years Qualification service
Early Years qualification requirements can be difficult to
understand, particularly when determining whether a qualification
is approved for working in staff:child ratios. We have developed
the Check an Early Years Qualification digital service to help
managers check the approval status of qualifications held by
existing and prospective staff. We expect this to save managers'
time and increase their confidence in having sufficient,
appropriately qualified staff to meet the demand resulting from
the expansion of funded childcare entitlements by September 2025.
The service has been tested with individuals and organisations
working in the early years during its pilot and iterated in line
with feedback. It will be made publicly available on GOV.UK later
this Spring.
Together, these new measures are just the latest steps this
government is taking to grow and develop a valued early years
workforce, who provide the high-quality provision that supports
children and families right from their earliest years.
