Nursery World - Nurseries exceed training proposals

Many nursery staff are currently qualified at a significantly higher level than the proposed national standards for daycare, a survey by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has found. As highlighted in Nursery World's 'Stop the Drop' campaign last autumn, the Care Standards Bill requires that only 50 per cent of nursery staff would need to be qualified to NVQ level 2 or above, despite calls from the early years sector for the standard qualification to be the NNEB or its equivalent, NVQ level 3. But an NDNA membership survey on qualifications found that two-thirds (66 per cent) of nursery staff are qualified to NVQ 3 or above and four per cent are qualified teachers.

As highlighted in Nursery World's 'Stop the Drop' campaign last autumn, the Care Standards Bill requires that only 50 per cent of nursery staff would need to be qualified to NVQ level 2 or above, despite calls from the early years sector for the standard qualification to be the NNEB or its equivalent, NVQ level 3. But an NDNA membership survey on qualifications found that two-thirds (66 per cent) of nursery staff are qualified to NVQ 3 or above and four per cent are qualified teachers.

More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of staff surveyed were qualified to Level 2 or above. Nine per cent were currently employed as trainees or modem apprentices and only 14 per cent reported having no qualifications.

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