Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 25 of the Social Mobility Commission's report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, published on 28 June 2017, what assessment she has made of the consistency in the range of available qualifications for early years professionals.

Early Years initial teacher training (EYITT) is a graduate-level qualification introduced in September 2013, building on its predecessor the Early Years Professional Status. We set standards, the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years), for this programme, which all trainees must meet to be awarded Early Years Teacher Status. This training is delivered by accredited initial teacher training providers and is inspected by Ofsted to ensure consistency.

Following Professor Nutbrown’s independent review of early education and childcare qualifications, Foundations for Quality, (June 2012), the government consulted on and subsequently set robust criteria for the skills, knowledge and understanding that must be tested by level 3 qualifications. These were implemented in September 2014. There are currently 31 level 3 qualifications, available from a range of awarding organisations, which are approved by this department. All of these meet the level 3 criteria.

The early years workforce strategy published in March 2017 included a commitment to develop criteria for level 2 qualifications. These new criteria will set minimum qualification content, which awarding bodies will use to develop new, more robust and consistent qualifications for delivery from September 2019.

To note:

1. The Early Years Workforce Strategy can be found at:

   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy

   Nutbrown report: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175463/Nutbrown-Review.pdf

   Teachers’ Standards (Early Years):

   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211646/Early_Years_Teachers__Standards.pdf

   Level 3 qualifications criteria:

   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-educator-level-3-qualifications-criteria