Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support early years providers to recruit, train and retain a skilled workforce, including through opportunities for providers to develop and train staff in-house.

​​​We want early years careers to be respected, rewarding, and something people are proud to pursue. Our Best Start in Life Strategy sets out how we are strengthening career pathways and championing early years teachers, with a long-term ambition of an early years teachers in every nursery setting.

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​To boost recruitment and retention, we are introducing recognition payments for early years teachers in 30 local authority areas of greatest need, offering up to £4,500. Roll out will start this November.

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​We are expanding funded places on Early Years Initial Teacher Training over three years, aiming to more than double capacity by 2028. We have also introduced a new degree apprenticeship route, backed by financial support for employers, making it easier for more people to become early years teachers.

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​We have consulted the sector on proposals to reform how early years teachers are trained and supported. The proposals aim to strengthen the quality of training built on strong evidence of effective practice, improve career progression opportunities, and raise the status of early years teaching across all settings. We are currently in the process of reviewing and analysing the feedback from the consultation, which closed 24 September 2026, and a full response will be published in due course.

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​We are also raising skill levels across the workforce by funding high-quality training for educators and leaders, including free online child development training, more places on the National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership and investment in evidence-based interventions in early maths and language.