Childcare courses confuse students on Level 3 status

Although the courses are accredited as being at Level 3, they can be completed in as little as three months and with no practical experience of working with children.

Chiltern College in Reading contacted Nursery World after one such course came to light when they were verifying the qualifications of an applicant for a job at the college nursery.

The college said that the candidate warranted an interview, but they were concerned about her lack of experience and the short length of time that she appeared to have taken to complete what was described in her application as a Level 3 diploma.

The applicant believed that she was fully qualified to apply for nursery nurse posts advertised as requiring a Level 3 qualification.

The course is called the Children and Young People's Workforce (Early Learning & Childcare) Level 3 and is offered by Stonebridge Associated Colleges.

It is approved by the awarding body NCFE.

The college website says that the course is 'only available to study through the traditional paper-based method' and takes approximately 120 hours to complete 12 lessons (units).

It says that at the end of each lesson there is a question paper that needs to be completed and returned to the tutor and that learners should allow at least one to two hours of study to complete each question paper. The course costs £269.99.

Stonebridge College's website states that, 'Our new and exciting Children and Young People's Workforce (Early Learning & Childcare) Level 3 course has been specifically designed for those students who are seeking employment within the child care sector, this could include a job in a nursery or after school clubs etc, basically any job that requires working with children and young people.'

However, the status of the qualification has proved confusing to some students and employers. While it states that the course gives learners 'all the underpinning knowledge should they wish to go on and complete the full Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) qualification', it also states that on completion learners will receive the 'Children and Young People's Workforce (Early Learning & Childcare) Diploma issued by Stonebridge Associated Colleges, entitling you to use the letters SAC Dip after your name.'

Approached for a statement by Nursery World, Stonebridge Associated Colleges denied the course title was confusing.

They said that they had taken 'all precautions available ... to ensure that the course is advertised in a correct and responsible manner' (see box).

But Chris Lawrence, principal of Chiltern College, said, 'I was appalled by this discovery and feel really sorry for the candidates who believe they have a full Level 3 qualification. This simply reiterates to me the absolute importance of employers having clear recruitment procedures in place, which includes verifying the status of each individual awarding body "qualification" on the DfE list of full and relevant qualifications.'

She added, 'It also highlights for me the need to establish as quickly as possible a set of well recognised and respected early years qualifications. I really hope that the Government responds promptly to the Nutbrown review once it is published, as the current system does nothing to help the status or morale of early years practitioners and could result in us losing really good practitioners from the workforce.'

Andrew Barber, owner of the recruitment agency Everything Childcare, said the status of the course could be 'easily misunderstood'.

He claimed that after a phone call to the college about the Level 3 course, he was left with the understanding that the course would allow him to work in a nursery as a Level 3 practitioner.

Stonebridge denied that any of their representatives would have said this.

Mr Barber told Nursery World, 'My main concern is that candidates are paying for a qualification that is not actually full or valid for a level 3 post. The worrying issue is that, because the name is so similar, people could easily believe this is what they are taking.

'This means that nursery managers may take on a new member of staff that actually is not fully qualified. This is potentially a high-risk issue that could involve a lot of settings across the country.'

In her interim report on early years qualifications published last month, Professor Cathy Nutbrown highlighted 'a complex and at times confusing qualifications picture'.

She cited at least 445 different qualifications currently available. While 223 of those are deemed 'full and relevant', they are 'no longer' trusted by some employers, the report said.

A spokesperson from NCFE said that their understanding of the course offered by Stonebridge was that it offers students 'a taster, whereby candidates can study the subject matter because they're either interested in this area or want to do the course as a pastime, or to help them decide if they want to study a regulated QCF qualification.'

They added that there were many 'excellent' courses that were not accredited and have measurable learning outcomes and assessment criteria judged to be equivalent to the QCF Level 3.

In a statement NCFE said, 'It is part of our relationship with Stonebridge College that they must communicate clearly with learners about the nature and value of the courses they run and in no way suggest that their bespoke training is the same as an accredited Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) qualification.

'This is a requirement that we insist on with all training providers and we also go to great lengths on our own website to ensure that learners fully understand the standing of the qualifications or courses they are taking.

'In this particular instance, from our initial discussions with the college and looking at its website, we have not found anything that says that on completion of this course the student will be able to take a job as a fully-qualified nursery nurse.'

STATEMENT FROM STONEBRIDGE ASSOCIATED COLLEGES

Stonebridge Associated Colleges said in a statement, 'Stonebridge College's course does not carry the full title of the QCF qualification, our course is actually called: Children and Young People's Workforce (Early Learning & Childcare) Diploma.

'The full title of the qualification is: Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce (QCF) (Qualification number: 500/8887/7). The qualification title has the word (QCF) in it and contains the words "Level 3 Diploma" in it. Our course title does not contain these two key features of the full qualification title. Furthermore on the landing page of our course in the third paragraph it clearly states:

"Our Children and Young People's Workforce (Early Learning & Childcare) Level 3 course has been written in line with, and provides the learner with all the underpinning knowledge should they wish to go on and complete the full QCF Qualification. Our course is the theory based course which leads to the Level 3 Award certificate."

'The college stresses that this makes it abundantly clear that it is not in fact the full qualification and that it is only the theory element that provides the underpinning knowledge should the learner wish to go on and complete the full QCF Qualification.

'Furthermore the title of the college's course is dictated by the course text that is used to supplement the course, which is: Children and Young People's Workforce (Early Learning & Childcare), which is a Heinemann publication.

'We are very sorry if you or your readers have read the contents of our course to be something it is not, however the college has taken all precautions available (by not using the full qualification title and most importantly by having a clear statement on the course description page informing learners that this course is only the underpinning knowledge and is not the actual QCF qualification) to it to ensure that the course is advertised in a correct and responsible manner.'