Qualification Levels: Part 3 - In demand

Across the sector, settings are struggling to recruit and retain Level 3 staff. ‘We are hearing that staff are reluctant to upskill to Level 3,’ says Stella Ziolkowski, National Day Nurseries Association’s director of quality and training.

‘Providers are telling us that the increase in National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, and the fact that the hourly rate has not increased, have squeezed employers’ ability to set pay differentials for qualification levels. If a member of staff upskills from Level 2 to Level 3, many settings are unable to offer much more in way of salary, and this has a knock-on effect on staff’s willingness to take up higher-level qualifications.’

‘I don’t have a formal Level 3, but I’ve worked in early years for over a decade,’ says Danielle, a childminder from London. ‘I’d love to get new qualifications, but I’d have to pay and it just isn’t worth my while. I won’t earn any more off the back of it.’

‘We are hearing reports that there is a reduction of students signing up for Level 3 qualifications and some colleges have stopped delivering Early Years Educator (EYE) courses due to low take-up,’ says Ms Ziolkowski. ‘This has a negative impact on numbers of staff taking up Level 3 qualifications as they are not always accessible locally.’

Funded courses

Level 3 EYE qualifications are among around 400 fully funded courses for adults that the Government made available for free from April 2021 as part of its Lifetime Skills Guarantee. However, funding is only available for adults without an existing Level 3 qualification, so staff who already have an A-Level or a Level 3 qualification in some other area will not benefit.

‘I was thrilled when the Government announced the free courses because I thought it would be exactly what I wanted,’ says Danielle. ‘Unfortunately, I’m not eligible because I already have A-Levels.’

The Government is currently consulting on plans to replace all college-based Level 3 early education courses with its Education and Childcare T-Level, launched in 2020 and set to roll out to all 16-19 providers by 2024. This means the main routes into a career in childcare will be the T-Level, which includes a Level 3 Technical Qualification in Education and Childcare developed by NCFE CACHE, and the Early Years Educator apprenticeship, which allows nurseries to ‘grow their own’ Level 3s.

‘For 16-18 mandatory education, having two clear pathways into early education reduces confusion for those making choices,’ says Ms Ziolkowski. ‘However, we continue to need a route for those within the sector who may not be entitled to apprenticeship funding so we can upskill our existing workforce to Level 3 and beyond.’

T-Levels

The Education and Childcare T-Level is based on the standards developed for the Early Years Educator apprenticeship, giving the two pathways a consistent approach. The T-Level takes two years to complete and offers students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience. Trainers and employers are generally hopeful but are waiting to see how the new qualifications pan out.

‘They may produce a quicker route into childcare as a qualified practitioner, which will help us all maintain our legal requirements more easily,’ says Tricia Wellings, early years director at the MBK Group, which runs five nurseries, four out-of-school clubs and a range of training and consultancy services. ‘I believe this is a good thing and may well help us overall to reduce the recruitment crisis.’

However, she is reserving judgement until the first cohort moves into employment. ‘We will need to balance out having these younger qualified, yet inexperienced, practitioners against older, more experienced yet unqualified ones,’ she says.

Apprenticeships

According to the Institute for Apprenticeships, 15,781 learners have begun the standards-based Level 3 EYE apprenticeship since it launched in 2019. Students completing the standards-based apprenticeship can earn a distinction or a simple pass, while the previous framework-based apprenticeship only offered a pass. This could lead to a two-tier Level 3 in the future, warns Tracy Walker, quality and compliance manager at WMC Training. ‘It could be interesting how employers start to view people who have a pass as opposed to a distinction,’ she says.

In February 2021, Best Practice Network, the largest provider of Early Years Initial Teacher Training in England, launched a Level 3 EYE apprenticeship programme. ‘My vision is for people to join us as an apprentice at Level 2 or 3, and stay with us until they are an Early Years Teacher,’ says Sian Marsh, early years and ITT director at Best Practice Network. The programme takes a blended approach, including six-weekly tutor visits, online learning and monthly webinars. Employers can track the apprentices’ progress through the digital platform.

‘At the end of the programme, apprentices have got to be able to complete a multiple-choice test and engage in quite a lengthy professional discussion with their endpoint assessment organisation,’ says Ms Marsh. ‘We want to support them from the beginning of the programme to be prepared for that.’

Best Practice Network developed the online learning with an instructional designer, taking into account the ways people like to learn online. ‘Some of our activities might be in the form of an interactive journey, looking at developmental milestones from birth to five,’ explains Ms Marsh. ‘Others might involve reading information and then testing yourself with some multiple choice questions. This means our apprentices are not fazed when it comes to the endpoint assessment, they’re very used to that style of learning and recall.’

The course also aims to link learning with day-to-day work as employers often complain that new Level 3 recruits have the underpinning knowledge but not the practical experience.

After a session on safeguarding, for example, the apprentice may be asked to take the tutor on a tour and show how what they have learnt works in practice, such as whether there is a password system for parents. ‘The apprentice gets used to “what I’m doing in my day-to-day job is relevant for my apprenticeship and ultimately the diploma”,’ says Ms Marsh.

Much needed

Level 3 apprentices have been a lifeline for settings struggling with staffing problems, says Julie Hyde, director of external and regulatory affairs at CACHE. ‘Providers have said apprentices have saved them over this period, primarily at Level 3 where there has been a recruitment issue in the workforce.’

It has been a tough time for many of the apprentices themselves, though, says Ms Walker. ‘A lot of them are working really long hours.’

Ms Hyde concludes, ‘The sector challenges don’t go away and the recruitment challenges don’t go away, but we are working with the sector to raise the profile of early years as a career and support continuous professional development of the workforce.’

‘There’s a lot to be done.’

Level 3 student – Summer Morrison

Summer Morrison, aged 25, joined Rainbow Pre-School in Deal, Kent two and a half years ago after working in community care and a children’s home. She already had a Level 3 qualification in Health and Social Care but wanted to gain an EYE qualification that would give her the knowledge and skills to count as a Level 3 childcare practitioner. Ms Morrison’s manager looked into the available options and they settled on Best Practice Network’s Level 3 EYE Apprenticeship. Ms Morrison started the 18-month course in April.

‘I am currently learning about the changes to the EYFS which start in September, and looking at safeguarding,’ she says. She particularly appreciates the online learning element. ‘I don’t do well in a classroom full of people,’ she says. ‘I can’t concentrate. Online is flexible, and it is easy to organise my work because it is all in one place. They set you tasks you need to complete – that might be an observation from a manager, or questions that you have to answer, or a document to write up.’

She also appreciates the support from her colleagues. ‘They have all been here a long time, and I ask them hundreds of questions a day, but they are always happy to answer me,’ she says. Tutors are available by phone and will recommence six-weekly visits to settings when they are able.

Once she has achieved her qualification, Summer might think about going on to further study, but she wants to remain in her current setting, putting her knowledge and skills to use.