PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Pre-school Education: Staff (27 January 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the providers of Early Years Foundation services have adequate numbers of qualified staff from which to recruit.

Asked by:
Darren Jones (Labour)

The department recognises that recruitment and retention are key issues for the early years sector, with local authorities reporting significant pressures on providers. We are working with the sector to build our understanding of the situation in the workforce and how we might support providers in this area.

We are committed to supporting the early years sector to develop a workforce with the appropriate knowledge, skills, and experience to deliver high quality early education and childcare.

The department has engaged with early years employers to help them develop three high-quality apprenticeships. These are early years educator, practitioner, and lead practitioner, spanning levels 2 to 5. Since academic year 2018/19, over 32,000 early years apprenticeships have been started and we continue to work with employers on developing these apprenticeships to meet the sector’s needs.

In September 2020, we launched T Levels in education and childcare. The two-year 16-19 technical programme has been designed by employers to provide direct progression into early years education roles. It is aligned to the early years practitioner level 3 occupational standard and covers the early years educator criteria. Over 500 students enrolled in September 2020/21, and approximately a further 1,500 this academic year.

The department continues to fund the early years initial teacher training programme, including grants, bursaries and employer incentives. As part of early years education recovery, we are expanding the number of training places to increase the supply of qualified graduates to the sector.

In April 2021, free level 3 early years qualifications became available through the Lifetime Skills Guarantee.

As part of our education recovery package, we announced a £153 million investment in evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners, including through new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development. This year we will commission a review of the level 3 early years qualification criteria, through the recovery programme, responding to feedback from the sector. This review will consider how we can improve the quality and rigour of the level 3 early years qualification, including the criteria, through consultation and engagement with stakeholders from across early years.

Answered by:
Will Quince (Conservative)
1 February 2022