The move is a response to overwhelming pressure from the early years sector, which has faced a growing recruitment crisis over the post-2014 requirement for Level 3 Early Years Educator staff to hold GCSEs above grade C in maths and English.
The new Level 3 qualification requirements will come into force from 3 April, at the same time as the new Early Years Foundation Stage framework, also published today, will come into effect.
The minister confirmed that the Government was broadening the English and maths requirements as a direct response to more than 4,000 views aired during the consultation last November.
The Government response to the consultation found that just 4 per cent of respondents believed that the GCSE requirements had improved quality. Some 77 per cent said they had had 'significant' or 'some' difficulties with recruiting staff in the past two years, with the biggest reason given that applicants did not have the required GCSEs.
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