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The sector has welcomed the early years minister Caroline Dinenage’s decision to reinstate functional skills as alternatives to GCSEs in English and maths for Level 3 qualifications.
The minister has also published the Early Years Workforce Strategy, describing it as ‘an investment in the dedicated professionals who help shape children’s earliest experiences of education…it is absolutely right that we make sure they have the right expertise.’
GCSE AND LEVEL 3
The move to bring back functional skills is a response to overwhelming pressure from the early years sector, which has faced a growing recruitment crisis since the 2014 requirement for Level 3 Early Years Educator staff to hold GCSEs above grade C in maths and English.
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