EPA Standard
Early Years Practitioner
Early Years Practitioners (EYPs) work directly with children every day. They help plan and deliver activities and play that support learning. EYPs work in a team to care for children. They’re guided by an Early Years Educator, teacher or another qualified professional.
They support both child-led and adult-led activities based on each child’s needs and interests. They also help children feel safe and supported. EYPs help observe and assess each child, support learning and meet care needs.
Level 2 
£5,000 
12 months
Why NCFE?
We’re an approved End-Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) specialising in EPA delivery across health, education, early years, digital, social care, and business apprenticeship standards. We offer flexible and reliable EPA solutions supported by sector expertise, guidance documents and proactive service and support.
End Point Assessment
The EPA for Early Years Practitioner contains two methods of assessment:
Observation with Questioning
The Independent End-Point Assessor (IEPA) will observe the apprentice in their workplace, completing their day-to-day duties under normal working conditions, and then ask questions. The Observations with Questions must last for 1 hour and 20 minutes. The IEPA will observe the apprentice for 50 minutes and then undertake a questioning session which will last 30 minutes. The IEPA will ask at least five questions as part of the questioning session.
The Observation with Questioning is graded fail or pass.
Professional Discussion underpinned by a Portfolio of Evidence
The Professional Discussion is a 1 hour two-way discussion which gives the apprentice the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) mapped to this assessment method. The Portfolio of Evidence will be completed during the on-programme learning and submitted at Gateway. The apprentice must have access to their Portfolio of Evidence during the Professional Discussion where the IEPA will ask at least 10 questions. The apprentice can refer to and illustrate their answers with evidence from their Portfolio of Evidence; however, the Portfolio of Evidence is not directly assessed.
The Professional Discussion is graded fail, pass or distinction.
Early Years Practitioner v1.1
Delivering from 1 August 2025
Download standard PDF Skills England standardGet in touch
Early Years Practitioner v1.0
Delivering from 26 March 2020 to 31 July 2025
Download the standard
See the full standard on Skills England