Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has considered the potential merits of introducing a career development strategy for nursery staff, including a requirement for staff working with children aged two to four to hold, or be working towards, a relevant Early Years qualification, in order to improve recruitment and retention.

The department set out its strategy in the ‘Giving every child the best start in life’ report. We are working with the sector to address barriers to recruitment and retention and create more opportunities to enter the profession and gain relevant qualifications.

The department sets the criteria that qualifications must meet in order for staff to be included in the staff to child ratios. These are known as ‘full and relevant’ qualifications. We will continue to simplify the number of early years qualifications on offer.

Having these qualification requirements ensures a consistent level of knowledge and skills across all settings, so that every child receives a quality early education and receives the best start in life. Any individual that does not hold a full and relevant qualification can only work as an unqualified member of staff.

To check whether a qualification is considered full and relevant, practitioners and managers can now use the department’s digital registry at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-an-early-years-qualification.

We want more people to achieve a level 3 qualification. To do this, we are working to develop an Assessment Only route for experienced staff to achieve level 3 recognition, which is similar to those in other education professions.