Forgot your password?
Education and training
Qualification level
The sector has suffered form stereotypical views that it is ‘women’s work that anybody can do’. Additionally, being largely on or close to the National Minimum Wage, makes it difficult for training and qualifications to be financed.
In 2003, the labour force survey shows that:
- the proportion of employees holding a higher degree (7.6%) is lower than in the UK workforce (18%)
- about 62% of the staff were awarded with level 2 or level 3 qualifications
- the proportion of staff holding a level 4 qualification (16.8%) is higher than average in the UK (9.3%)
Expansion within the sector as well as national standards for qualification requirements have led to changes in qualification levels in the sector. In 2003:
- the proportion of managers in full day-care, playgroups and out of school clubs who hold at least level 3 qualifications has risen to 85% for full day-care, 77% for playgroups and 64 % for out of school clubs
- the proportion of supervisors and other childcare staff holding level 2 qualifications has risen from 11% in 2001 to 21 % in 2003; a decrease can be seen in those holding level 3; SureStart assumes that this reflects the continued expansion of the full day-care sector and the subsequent increase in numbers of more junior staff
- the proportion of childminders holding any relevant qualification has risen dramatically from 34% in 2001 to 64% in 2003
Source: SureStart 2004
Available qualifications
The main training needs for the sector are identified as:
- health and safety training (including first aid)
- food hygiene
- work with children with special needs
According to the nationally accredited qualifications for Early Years Education, Childcare and Playwork (QCA June 2001), the following vocationally-related qualifications and occupational qualifications are available:
- assistants such as nursery assistant, Pre-school assistant, play group assistant: Level 2 Certificate and NVQ level 2 in Early Years Care and Education
- supervisors and leaders e.g. nursery supervisor, pre-school leader, toy library leader, special educational needs supporter: Level 3 Diploma and national certificate, NVQ level 3 in Early Years Care and Education
- managers of larger/multiple settings, development officer, advanced practitioners: NVQ level 4 in Early Years Care and Education
- assistant playworker, playworker, holiday playscheme worker, adventure playworker: level 2 Certificate, intermediate certificate, NVQ level 2 in playwork
- senior playworker/co-ordinator: NVQ level 3 in playwork
- playworker manager, playworker development officer: NVQ playwork qualification; the sector needs to agree on a set of National Occupational Standards for playwork at level 4 before qualifications can be developed, piloted and included on the Qualifications Framework
OfSTED, the office for standards in education, inspect against the Daycare Regulation, which apply to all out-of-school-care and playwork facilities. Broadly, this means that within a setting:
- the manager who is present holds at least level 3 qualification (or appropriate qualification)
- all managers have at least 2 years experience of working in a day-care setting
- all managers and playworkers have to undergo a police check
- at least half of the staff holds a level 2 qualification (or appropriate qualification)
- all staff have induction training (incl. health and safety, child protection policies, procedures)
- trainees under 17 years of age are supervised at all times
Source: SkillsActive 2004, Playwork Unit 2002 and Early Years NTO 2001
Information on starting work in the sector is available on the Childcare Careers government website.
A list of the qualifications available in early years care, education and playwork is available on the QCA website.
Future development in qualifications for the playwork sector
“Quality Training, Quality Play”, the National Strategy for Playwork Education, Training and Qualification 2002-2005 has stated principles such as accessibility and transferability as the future development of qualifications. Future trends can be described as:
- education, training and qualifications in playwork should be available through a variety of routes to qualification; a route to qualifications should also take into account previous experience and learning
- accessibility: qualifications should be accessible geographically and affordable
- transferability: qualifications should be based on consistent standards at each level, enabling movement between different routes and geographical areas
- a qualification is necessary that brings in professional status for playwork
Source: Playwork Unit 2002
Last cached: 2008-05-06 02:04 PM