Government proposals on changes to early years qualification requirements have prompted concerns from sector leaders that this will lead to lower standards and quality of care.
The proposals have been published by the Department for Education (DfE) as part of a wider consultation on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework.
The proposals include only requiring managers to hold a maths qualification rather than all Level 3 practitioners, and introducing an ‘experience based route’ to gain ‘approved status’ without having to do a qualification.
There are plans to reduce the percentage of Level 2 qualified staff required per ratio for children of all ages from the current requirement of ‘at least half’ to either 30 per cent or 40 per cent.
