The Social Care and Health Workforce Group, which publishes quarterly data on registrations and certificates of NVQs/ SVQs in the care sector, found the number of certificates for childcare and early years care and education NVQs in England rose from 76,110 to 100,242 between March 2005 and March 2006 and by 5.5 per cent in the last quarter.
In Scotland, figures rose by 35.2 per cent in the past year, from 4,799 to 6,487, and by 10.2 per cent in the last quarter.
At the end of March 2006, 47.9 per cent of early years NVQs in England were qualified at level 2, 52 per cent at level 3 and 0.2 per cent at level 4.
Registrations for NVQs in Children's Care, Learning and Development, which came into force last November, are also soaring.
From October 2005 to the end of March 2006, registrations for level 2 rose by more than 100 per cent, from 2,016 to 4,040; for level 3 by 127 per cent, from 1,503 to 3,416; and for level 4 by 121 per cent, from 89 to 197.
