Nursery World - Government policies have failed to improve early years workforce qualification levels

The Government lacks a long-term strategy to develop the early years workforce, with falling qualification levels threatening to put the quality of children’s early years education at risk, new research claims.

The Government lacks a long-term strategy to develop the early years workforce

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) report, Early years workforce development in England, has found little evidence that recent government policies have improved the qualification levels of the early years workforce and said that the last policy to have a positive impact on qualifications was the Graduate Leader Fund, which was withdrawn in 2011.

It states that the Government lacks a long-term strategy to develop the early years workforce, which is key to improving the quality of early years education and supporting the outcomes of disadvantaged children.

The Government should revive the Early Years Workforce Strategy, which provided an overarching framework for policy, early years qualifications and funding.

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