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DfE urged to make full and relevant qualifications list 'easier to understand'

There are calls for the Department for Education to make its early years qualifications list simpler, as confusion mounts within the sector over which qualifications are 'full and relevant' with many graduates finding they don't have a 'licence to practice'.
Early years students, employers and higher education institutions say the DfE's 'full and relevant' qualifications list is confusing PHOTO Adobe Stock
Early years students, employers and higher education institutions say the DfE's 'full and relevant' qualifications list is confusing PHOTO Adobe Stock

A thread on social media suggests that many practitioners and employers are either unaware of the DfE's list that states which qualifications are considered 'full and relevant' - allowing employees to count in staff: child ratios at a particular level - or find it confusing and very hard to navigate.

For a qualification to be full and relevant, it needs to be consistent with the Quality Assurance Agency(QAA) for Higher Education benchmark standard for Early Childhood Studies. Learners also need to have been assessed on their practical skills within an early years setting.

Commenting on Facebook, some practitioners claim they can find their qualification on the list, but not the institution where they studied.

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