New study of early years qualifications will create a shared benchmark
A new study The Value of Early Years Qualifications: Quality, Skills & Progression will explore the core knowledge and skills that early years qualifications (EYQs)
“It is rocket science: professionalising the early childhood workforce in the UK” is the final report from our comparative study of early years workforce policies across the four UK nations, highlighting the urgent need to improve the status and recognition of early childhood education staff. The report calls for stronger action across all four UK nations to strengthen qualification requirements for the early years workforce (EYW) and to establish clear career progression routes with appropriate pay and status, in order to address the current recruitment and retention crisis and drive up quality in the sector.
Read the full press release or download and read the reports above.
Campbell Barr, V. (2026) Building a quality early childhood education workforce, Policy Brief
Early Education partnered with colleagues at five UK universities to understand policy issues around the early years workforce in all four nations of the UK, and to make policy recommendations for the future.
The project aimed to inform early years workforce (EYW) policy development across the UK. It involved a comparative analysis of EYW recent policy in the four UK nations. It:
The study involved interviews with 80 key stakeholders, expert interviews, focus groups and developing exemplar case studies.
Key outcomes included:
Findings are being disseminated to policy makers, officials and sector bodies in all UK nations to support discussions about future EYW policies and their role in effective early learning and raising children’s outcomes. Dissemination events will encourage public policy debate on the EYW to build support for policies leading to improved qualifications, pay, status, conditions, recruitment, retention and equity across the workforce. Reports on the project will be published in various forms including academic journals, professional magazines, websites, blogs etc.
The early years workforce is experiencing crisis for different reasons and in different ways across the UK. The project aimed to:
This study has built on relevant national and international scholarship to develop an overview of existing workforce strategies and policy interventions across the UK and internationally. This informs the potential for long-term UK, EYW strategies to benefit and address all four UK national contexts, remaining sensitive to regional differences within nations.
The project asked:
Professor Dame Cathy Nutbrown, University of Sheffield/President of Early Education
Professor Verity Campbell-Barr University of Plymouth
Professor Verity Campbell-Barr University of Plymouth (England)
Professor Aline-Wendy Dunlop, University of Strathclyde (Scotland)
Dr Glenda Walsh, Stranmillis University College, Queen’s University Belfast (Northern Ireland)
Dr Glenda Tinney, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (Wales)
This project has been funded by The Nuffield Foundation
A new study The Value of Early Years Qualifications: Quality, Skills & Progression will explore the core knowledge and skills that early years qualifications (EYQs)
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