Childcare Level 3 qualifications to be free from April

The list, which has been published, includes Early Years Educator courses (EYE), Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy - Birth to Seven (EYE), and the Diploma in Playwork (NVQ).

The fully-funded courses are being offered as part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, for adults without a full qualification at Level 3.

Backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund, the new courses will be available from April to all adults without a full Level 3 (A-level equivalent) qualification.

Tens of thousands of adults will be able to benefit from almost 400 free courses next year, in the first major development in the Lifetime Skills Guarantee announced by the Prime Minister in September. 

The wide-ranging list of fully-funded courses, includes childcare, engineering, healthcare, conservation, will be available to adults without a full qualification at Level 3 (A-level equivalent) from April 2021 to help them gain in-demand skills and open up further job opportunities. 

Nurseries have been finding it increasingly hard to both recruit and retain staff Level 3 qualified staff, and the news has been welcomed by sector organisations.

Research has also shown that qualified staff have been leaving the workforce in recent years and turning to jobs, such as retail.

A full Level 3 qualification is equivalent to a technical certificate or diploma, or two full A levels. 

The list of funded Level 3 courses will be kept under review to ensure that it continues to respond to changing labour market needs, and there will be a facility for Awarding Organisations and mayoral combined authorities to suggest additions to the list.  

The Government said the qualifications are designed ‘to help our country build back better’ after the pandemic, the qualifications in this offer have been carefully chosen to help adults improve their career prospects and meet the needs of the economy. They will be reviewed regularly so the courses offered can be updated as the economy changes. 

Ministers said the announcement marks an important step in the development of the Government’s landmark Lifetime Skills Guarantee, which aims to transform the skills system to ensure more people, no matter their age or background, can get the skills they need to progress in employment.  

The offer is backed by £95 million from the £2.5 billion National Skills Fund, which is financing programmes that both support the immediate economic recovery and help meet future skills needs. 

A proportion o this funding will also be used to support providers to scale up their provision to deliver the courses and meet the needs of learners.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, ‘Despite all our efforts, coronavirus is damaging the economy and putting people out of work. But I am determined to help everyone who has lost their job to retrain, develop new skills and find new opportunities.  

‘The Lifetime Skills Guarantee will give thousands of adults across the country the chance to do exactly that – as we build back better after the pandemic.’ 

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said, ‘As we recover from the pandemic, we are focussed on making sure that individuals and businesses can build back better than before.  

‘Throughout our lives we may all need to boost our skills, or gain new ones. These free qualifications will help open doors to better employment opportunities for thousands of adults and support businesses to access the workforce they need to grow. 

‘Our new Lifetime Skills Guarantee promises to help you get the skills you need at every stage of your life. I’d urge all those eligible to see what course they can take from spring next year and start thinking about their next steps.’ 

Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, David Hughes said, ‘I’m pleased to see progress in the roll-out of the new Level 3 entitlement as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. The qualifications will help people to get the skills they need in the labour market emerging from the pandemic so it is great to see that essential services like child and social care have been included alongside engineering, agriculture, construction and many others. Colleges are eager to start work and begin planning ahead of delivery in the spring of 2021.  

‘This breadth of courses is vital in supporting rural and urban economies to build back better. The impact Covid-19 is having on people’s livelihoods requires urgent action so we look forward to working closely with the Department to support the delivery of this new offer.’ 

Sector response

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said, ‘This could save students and employers thousands of pounds in fees so could remove a major barrier to starting the Early Years Educator course in the first place. We hope this will mean that many more people interested in teaching our youngest children will be able to take the first step on the ladder towards their ambitions. 

‘Research has shown that children in early years benefit from being educated by staff with higher qualifications and greater levels of experience. Improving the access to these qualifications will support professional development in the sector.

‘We know from our own early years workforce research that the numbers of Level 3 qualified practitioners has dropped alarmingly in the last few years. Equally nurseries and other childcare providers are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain Level 3 qualified staff members.

‘Employers will welcome this news as they will be able to develop their practitioners aged 24 and over who would not have been eligible for funding previously. This training will provide reward and recognition for these members of staff who might not have received it due to employers’ limited budgets. We hope this will spur on many practitioners already working with young children who are qualified to Level 2 or below to progress their own careers and sign up for a course from April.’

Michael Freeston, director of quality improvement at the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘We welcome the news that a number of Level 3 early years courses are being included in the Government's Lifetime Skills Guarantee. At a time when recruitment remains a real challenge for many early years businesses, we hope that enabling all adult learners to undertake these qualifications at no cost will provide a real boost for the sector.

‘That said, ensuring that learners are able to easily access these funded courses will be vital to the success of this initiative and to that end, we urge the government to ensure that all registered training providers, and not just those with existing adult education contracts, are able to deliver these qualifications.

‘Nevertheless, this is a positive announcement and one that rightly reflects the value of building a career in the early years.’

Liz Bayram, chief executive at PACEY, said, ‘The inclusion of early years and childcare courses in this offer is important, as it will help providers upskill their existing staff and help address the long-standing recruitment challenges in the sector. Whilst we of course welcome this investment and would encourage more people to consider a career in the early years, the Department for Education needs to do much more to support early years and childcare providers to remain sustainable services.

‘Our youngest children deserve a high quality, skilled workforce and this is only possible if government provides funding for early education places that covers the full cost of delivering that place and works with the sector to establish a long term strategy that support families, especially the most disadvantaged, to benefit from early education and childcare. Without it, people in the sector will continue to be low paid, under-valued and turnover of staff will remain a challenge. People working in childcare should not be earning less than someone working in a supermarket nor should they have to rely on in-work benefits.’

Full list of free Level 3 courses in Child Development and Wellbeing