Early Years Education Recovery (EYER) Programme: Level 3 qualification review

The earliest years are the most crucial point of child development and attending early education lays the foundation for lifelong learning and supports children's social and emotional development.

More than half of parents (56%) who used formal childcare before Covid-19 reported that the overall disruption to schools and childcare settings since March 2020 has harmed their child's social and educational development .

Evidence tells us that the quality of education and care in early years has the biggest impact on children's outcomes within a childcare setting. As such, we have designed a recovery programme for early years focused on supporting practitioners and leaders, who are key to addressing the impact of the pandemic on the youngest children.

One of the ways the Department for Education (DfE) is supporting early years settings is through a targeted continuous professional development (CPD) offer and focus on high quality qualifications. As part of this, DfE is conducting a review of the Level 3 qualification, including the criteria.

The Early Years Educator (EYE) Level 3 criteria are the criteria reflected in L3 EY qualifications. If the DfE assesses that a qualification meets the L3 criteria, then it can be considered "full and relevant" and added to the Early Years Qualifications List (EYQL) - meaning that holders of this qualification can count as qualified members of staff, and can work within the Level 3 staff:child ratios in England.

This project as a whole seeks to improve the quality and rigour of the L3 early years qualification, including the criteria, through consultation and engagement with stakeholders and users, and rigorous analysis of new and available data, thereby strengthening its quality and evidence-base. Our intention is for the review to take into account both the L3 criteria and its delivery. This contract is for the first part of the project - the review itself.