Opportunities to move up - or sideways or diagonally for that matter - are looking better than ever before. The new qualifications framework is designed to be more coherent, support a more integrated way of working and create more flexible career pathways.
In line with this the Children's Workforce Strategy consultation outlines that qualifications should be built on transferable units of core and specialist skills and knowledge, with common approaches to the accreditation of previous experience and learning.
The working model represented by the table below supports the idea that there will be more scope for a read-across between qualifications, experience and careers in different sectors of the children's workforce.
Some professional roles such as teaching will continue to draw significant numbers of new entrants straight from university, while many leadership roles will be taken by people with appropriate skills and background from a range of service areas. Equally many people will enter at support worker level.
While there is a lot of change to take on board, examining bodies are quick to stress they haven't thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Much of the existing qualifications content has been retained but its organisation means that practitioners can make a more informed and constructive choice about what and when they need to study.
The developing needs of employers have guided the changes and they must now let the workforce know exactly what they want. Expect to see lots of high-profile recruitment drives later this year, aimed at bringing new people into the sector as well as encouraging those already in it to move onwards and upwards.
