Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage people to obtain early years qualifications.

Our Best Start in Life strategy sets out how we are improving the quality of early education by investing in training and qualifications, increasing understanding of high-quality practice and providing more access to proven, evidence-based early years programmes. This includes introducing a faster assessment only route for experienced staff to achieve Level 3 recognition, similar to those in other education professions.

The department is also transforming apprenticeships into a new growth and skills offer, with shorter, more flexible training options. Recent reforms to the English and maths requirements will allow many thousands more apprentices to qualify each year.

We are also investing in opportunities to become an early years teacher, aiming to more than double the number of funded places on early years initial teacher training by 2028, providing financial support for employers delivering the new degree apprenticeship route, and offering financial incentives for early years teachers working in disadvantaged areas.

Finally, we continue to help more people discover rewarding early years careers through our ‘Do something BIG’ national recruitment campaign.