Now approved: new early years educator provision
We’re pleased to announce that in September 2024, we’ll have an updated suite of early years educator (EYE) qualifications, ranging from Levels 3 to 5, that meet the new Department for Education (DfE) EYE criteria that will come into effect from 1 September 2024. The DfE has approved all of the qualifications that we submitted, and we’ll publish draft qualification specifications as soon as possible. Read the information below for further details, or watch our recorded webinar.
The background
Following changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, we made the relevant updates to our portfolio of EYE qualifications. We submitted six in total, including Level 5 Diploma for the Early Years Senior Practitioner, Level 3 Technical Occupational Entry in Montessori Pedagogy and Level 3 Technical Occupational Entry in Early Years Educator.
What will change?
Due to the expansion of the EYE criteria, a number of qualifications have been updated, meaning their equivalent current qualifications have been withdrawn, as the qualification reference numbers needed to change. Some qualifications are also being withdrawn due to funding being removed for these qualifications for 16-19 year olds.
Please see the below tables for further details around the launch of the new qualifications and the last available registration dates for learners for any qualifications and unit programmes that will be being withdrawn. Withdrawn qualifications and unit programmes will no longer be available for registrations after their operational end date and certificates will not be issued after the certification end date.
For qualifications with an external assessment (601/3999/7, 601/8436/X, 601/4000/8, 601/8437/1), any assessment opportunities will continue to be scheduled for a minimum of two academic years i.e. until summer 2026, in line with typical delivery models. Decisions on the number, and specific scheduling, of final external assessment opportunities will be communicated and highlighted in the external assessment timetable for 2025-27, which will be published in or around July 2025.
Qualifications that have been updated to meet the new EYE criteria:
|
Qualifications |
Operational end date |
Certification end date |
Replacement qualification availability |
|
N/A |
N/A |
The current qualification will continue to be available for 16-19 learners and has been updated to reflect the new EYE criteria from 1 September 2024. |
|
|
NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce (Early Years Educator) (601/2629/2) |
31/08/2024 |
31/08/2027 |
New updated version will be available from 1 September 2024. Note, this will not be funded for 16-19 study programmes. |
|
31/08/2024 |
31/08/2027 |
New updated version will be available from 1 September 2024. Note, this will not be funded for 16-19 study programmes. |
|
|
31/08/2024 |
31/08/2027 |
New updated version will be available from 1 September 2024. |
|
|
NCFE CACHE Level 5 Diploma for the Early Years Senior Practitioner (603/3907/X) |
31/08/2024 |
31/08/2027 |
New updated HTQ version will be available from 1 September 2024 |
Qualifications that are being withdrawn as their funding has been removed:
|
Qualifications |
Operational end date |
Certification end date |
Replacement qualification availability |
|
NCFE CACHE Level 3 Certificate in Childcare and Education (601/3999/7) |
31/08/2024 |
31/08/2027 |
These qualifications will have their 16-19 funding withdrawn. Although there are no direct replacement qualifications, learners will have a choice of new updated equivalent EYE qualifications (referred to above) from 1 September 2024. *For technical qualifications that appear in the DfE performance tables, these will count towards 16 to 18 performance measures in 2024 and 2025 only. |
|
NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and Education (Early Years Educator) (601/4000/8) |
31/08/2024 |
31/08/2027 |
|
|
*NCFE CACHE Technical Level 3 Certificate in Childcare and Education (601/8436/X) |
31/08/2024 |
31/08/2027 |
|
|
*NCFE CACHE Technical Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and Education (Early Years Educator) (601/8437/1) |
31/08/2024 |
31/08/2027 |
Qualifications that are unaffected by the changes:
|
Qualifications |
Operational end date |
Certification end date |
Replacement qualification availability |
|
NCFE CACHE Level 3 Award in Childcare and Education (601/3998/5) |
N/A |
N/A |
This qualification will continue to be available for learners. |
Unit programmes that will cease to be available as standalone:
Further support
Watch our recorded webinar for more information on the changing education and early years landscape.