The Value of Early Years Qualifications: Quality, Skills & Progression is a two-year project which will explore the core knowledge and skills that early years qualifications (EYQs) should provide at both entry and leadership levels, in order to strengthen high-quality practice and improve outcomes for children.
Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the project will build on a recently completed study of the early years workforce across the four UK nations by the same research team, which demonstrated the need for trusted high-quality EYQs to improve recruitment, career progression, workforce status and setting quality.
This mixed-methods research will synthesise new and existing data to develop a framework for high-quality EYQs for the four UK nations, building a shared understanding of the building blocks required for a well-qualified workforce.
The research team has been brought together by Early Education, a UK-wide professional membership body which has supported the development of educators in the early years for over a century. It will be a truly cross-nation study,
The project will run from September 2026 to August 2028.
Further details will be shared here as the project progresses.
Professor Verity Campbell Barr, University of Plymouth
Scotland:
Professor Emeritus Aline-Wendy Dunlop, University of Strathclyde
Dr Lynn McNair, University of Edinburgh
Dr Marion Burns, Independent Researcher
Wales
Dr Glenda Tinney, University of Wales Trinity St David
Northern Ireland
Professor Glenda Walsh, Stranmillis University College: a college of Queens University Belfast
England
Professor Verity Campbell Barr, University of Plymouth
Dr Sara Bonetti
Dr Nathan Archer
Carly Ellicott
Kayla Halls
