Nursery World - Ofsted highlights early years workforce crisis in annual report

Ofsted’s annual report highlights the impact of the early years workforce crisis on the sector, and the growing number of unqualified staff in nurseries and pre-schools.

Amanda Spielman steps down as Ofsted chief inspector next month after seven years in the role

It finds that nurseries and pre-schools are having to either use agency staff and apprentices to maintain child to staff ratios, or cut the number of childcare places they offer.

In 2023, one in five staff was unqualified compared with one in seven in 2018, according to the report.

Ofsted cites a number of reasons for the difficulty in recruiting qualified staff, including low wages, perceived low status, poor working conditions and limited opportunities for professional development.

The challenges of recruiting staff have been exacerbated by the pandemic, and there are recruitment and retention issues across education and social care.

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