The Children's Workforce Development Council is well on its way to making qualifications for the children and young people's workforce easier to understand. Historically there have been over 300 qualifications available for the early years workforce. Now, for those delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage, there are 12 available at Level 2, just six of which carry occupational competence. At Level 3 there are 14 available, nine of which carry occupational competence. This can be checked on the Qualifications List.
Our aim to make qualifications much easier to understand is being realised through the development of one qualification at Level 2 (the Level 2 Certificate for the Children and Young People's Workforce) and one qualification at Level 3 (the Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce, which has three pathways - early learning and childcare, learning development and support services, and social care). For new learners from September 2011, these qualifications will be the only ones that carry occupational competence.
The aspiration for the children's workforce is that it will be qualified to a minimum Level 3 and graduate-led. We realise not everyone will be able to enter straight on to the Level 3 Diploma, so the Level 2 Certificate has been developed to support progression.
The new Level 2 Certificate is a generic qualification, including the common core of skills and knowledge. It will support progression into any area of the children's workforce and provide a bridge to the new Level 3 Diploma.
It is 35 credits in size and made up of 13 mandatory units, plus a choice of units from an optional unit bank, which includes both Level 2 and Level 3 units to enable learners to tailor the qualification to their needs and ability.
The qualification includes units from other sectors, such as schools and health and social care, which will enable learners to carry credit to and from other qualifications. The Level 3 units included in the optional unit bank are taken from the Level 3 Diploma for the Children & Young People's Workforce, so any learner taking these will also be able to transfer credit directly to the Level 3 qualification.
Apprenticeships are increasingly popular in our sector and will change in line with the introduction of the new qualifications and the new Standards for Apprenticeship Specifications in England (SASE). This will happen in stages. The first stage will be to replace both the NVQ and the technical certificate with the new qualifications, with further changes taking place once the SASE has been finalised towards the end of 2010.
CWDC is working with awarding organisations and training providers to ensure that the new qualifications are delivered in ways that meet the needs of all learners, including those aged 16 to 19 years and adults, both work-based and college-based.
Training providers are enthusiastic about taking the new qualifications forward and some are currently preparing for delivery from August 2010. Between then and September 2011, there will be an expanding programme of availability across all learner groups.
- Full details of the Level 3 Diploma (including content of the units) and the structure of the Level 2 Certificate are available at www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/qualifications. Full details of the level 2 units will be available very soon.
