Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 17 of the Early Years Workforce Strategy, published in March 2017, what progress her Department has made on conducting a feasibility study into growing the graduate early years workforce in disadvantaged areas.

We are considering a range of approaches to increasing the number of graduates employed in the early years sector, but work is still underway. We will engage the sector in exploring ways to target support where it is most needed. We continue to support graduates into the sector through our funding of the Early Years Initial Teacher Training programme, including bursaries and employer incentives.

To Note:

Further information about Early Years Initial Teacher Training is available at:

https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/explore-my-options/become-an-early-years-teacher.