ÎÞÂëÌìÌÃ

by Shannon Pite

The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that unqualified early years staff can continue to work in early years settings as normal, following confusion over a new qualifications guidance document.

The ÎÞÂëÌìÌà was contacted by a number of members who were concerned that guidance in the new document, which states that: "To be included in the staff:child ratios at level 2, level 3 or level 6, staff must hold a qualification that is recognised by the Department for Education as full and relevant at the appropriate level. Any individual that does not hold a full and relevant qualification can only work as an unqualified member of staff in an early years setting and therefore cannot count in the staff:child ratios", meant that under the revised Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), unqualified staff could no longer work in early years settings.

The ÎÞÂëÌìÌà has spoken to the DfE and can confirm that there have been no changes to the rules on unqualified staff and that this guidance does not mean that unqualified educators are unable to work in early years settings – only that they cannot be counted in Level 2, 3 or 6 ratios, as is currently the case.

The DfE has stated that this document "is a technical change that puts the existing information about qualifications that is currently held on various GOV.uk pages into one easily accessible document" and that it "does not introduce any new policy or requirements, other than the changes to the Level 2 maths requirement and use of students and apprentices in ratios, which the Department is bringing in following the consultation."

If you have any further questions about EYFS changes, you can send them to us via .

We will also be running a free member-only virtual Connect session on the changes to the EYFS on Monday 15 January, 6.30pm – 7.30pm. ÎÞÂëÌìÌà members can book their free place .

If you are not currently an ÎÞÂëÌìÌà member, you can find out more about joining us .