The first cohort of students with the new Level 3 T-Level in Education and Childcare entered the job market this summer. Given the recruitment crisis besetting the early years sector, employers will be hoping for a fresh pipeline of qualified practitioners. Early Years Alliance research published at the end of last year found that 70 per cent of employers who are struggling to recruit said applicants lacking full and relevant early years qualifications was a barrier.
Education and Childcare T-Level students can take one of three occupational specialisms – Early Years Educator, Assisting Teaching, or Supporting and Mentoring Students in Educational Settings. Those on the Early Years Educator pathway hold a licence to practise on completion of the qualification, and employers can count them at Level 3 in the employment ratios.
In Education and Childcare, 93.3 per cent of the 482 students studying for a T-Level achieved a pass or above, while 3.5 per cent gained a distinction, the highest grade. However, the Government does not break down results by occupational specialism, so there is no way to find out how many students qualified as Early Years Educators and how they performed in their assessments. A Department for Education spokesperson said there were no plans to provide this information going forward.
This lack of data makes it hard to judge whether T-Level students are likely to progress to a career in early years.
‘Gold standard’
So, are Education and Childcare T-Level graduates likely to prove a godsend to hard-pressed early years employers? The Government thinks so.
‘This year’s brilliant results show just how beneficial this new route will be to recruitment in childcare settings,’ says minister for skills Andrea Jenkyns. ‘As the new gold standard technical qualification, employers in the sector can be confident that students with a T-Level will be an asset.’
But according to Stella Ziolkowski, NDNA director of quality and workforce development, it is too soon to say. ‘It’s too early to understand the full workforce impact of T-Levels on the sector, as there has only been one full cohort of students, and they only received their results one month ago,’ she says.
Julia Dunwell, early years course manager and lecturer at Strode College, says around a third of her Education and Childcare T-Level students have chosen to take the EYE specialism so far. Of those who graduated this year, three have gone into the workplace, one is becoming a Norland nanny and one has moved into adult nursing. ‘T-Levels are much more tailored to students’ needs and their career options,’ she says. ‘Students are much more engaged, placements have been going well because students want to be there. Settings have really supported the assessment process, and students have been able to take class-based information into the workplace to support their practice.’
Employers interested in this recruitment pipeline should think about getting involved with T-Level placements. ‘Getting involved in industry placements could be a good way to boost recruitment within early years,’ advises Ziolkowski.
The number of T-Level graduates is likely to rise considerably, as the qualification was only offered by a small number of providers in its first year but is now rolling out more widely. Also, the Government is pressing ahead with plans to remove funding from other college-based Level 3 qualifications for 16- to 19-year-olds.
Too much time spent on irrelevant learning theory?
However, some in the sector have doubts as to whether the T-Level is producing graduates who are sufficiently qualified to hit the ground running as a Level 3 practitioner. As students can go on to specialise as a teaching assistant, learning mentor or early years educator in the second year, the first year offers a more general pathway focusing on working with birth to 19-year-olds. Having said that, the Early Years Educator criteria (see box) are such that government guidance states that delivery of the early years occupational specialism ‘will need to start early in Year 1 of the T-Level, as will the placement’.
Even so, early years students are spending time learning things they don’t need, at the expense of what they do need, says author and early years consultant Penny Tassoni. ‘There is an awful lot that learners intending to work with under-fives need to know, and that generalised year means there is not enough space for the specific learning they will need to work effectively with young children and their families,’ she states. ‘The T-Level is not designed as a two-year early years course, it is a general introduction to education with only one year of early years, so the focus on early years has been nearly halved.’
She argues that studying educational methods such as massive online open courses, social media, and Siemens’ learning theory for the digital age are irrelevant to an early years educator. ‘Skilled tutors will try to tailor delivery in the first year to concentrate more heavily on early years, but because of the rigorous assessment process, they have to cover things not directly related to the early years sector,’ says Tassoni. Since the pedagogies covered by the core units in the qualification are not tailored to the early years, this could lead to confusion as students attempt to apply theories to very young children that are no appropriate to their stage of development.
This lack of focus means T-Level students are less prepared for employment than those studying the Early Years Educator CACHE diploma or BTEC, believes Tassoni. ‘We had two very sensible qualifications that needed tweaking, but generally were working well. Now we have a qualification that is not delivering the same amount of knowledge and experience to learners. How will this improve the life of children? My answer is it doesn’t.’
Early years specialism
Others disagree, however. Ian Everitt, programme area manager at Leicester College, was on the T-Level panel and started delivering the Education and Childcare T-Level in 2021. ‘The majority of the courses in the past have “studied” beyond the age range of under-fives, even if the placements were in day nurseries only,’ he says. ‘In practice, my staff are taking a common-sense approach to delivery.’
A sizeable proportion of students plan to go on to teacher training, so a lot of the core content is relevant to them, he says. ‘It is also good for nursery practitioners to know what happens after the children move on so they can properly prepare the children for school as well as life in general.’
Employer-set projects help to plug the knowledge gaps
Leicester College sends students on placements in their first as well as their second year, which Everitt believes helps give them as full an experience as possible.
‘In practice it is possible to make the early years courses focus on early years for both years, but it is up to the college teaching it to handle that,’ he says. ‘There is a strong communication link between a lot of colleges doing the early years pathway and the staff responsible for course leadership. ’
‘The employer-set project in the first year is also tailored to students’ occupational specialism, so we do a lot of work based around this,’ agrees Dunwell.
Although employers still don’t know much about the T-Level qualification, they seem happy with the students, he says. ‘Employers were well represented on the T-Level panel, they said that previously students were not coming in with skills like being able to work on a team, using initiative, being able to sustain a nursery routine throughout the week.’
Placements are now much more involved, he says, preparing students more for nursery life. ‘Gone are the days of washing paint pots.’
Licence to practise
The Education and Childcare T-Level offers a licence to practise if students successfully complete the Early Years Educator occupational specialism. These students may be counted in the EYFS staff:child ratios. All ‘full and relevant’ Level 3 qualifications must meet minimum assessment criteria and minimum content requirements to be badged Early Years Educator, and the T-Level is no exception.
This means the Early Years Educator strand of the Education and Childcare T-Level has a number of differences to other T-Levels. The industry placement is extended to a minimum of 750 hours, and an important part of the assessment process involves evaluating skills in real working situations. Given the extended duration of the placement and occupational specialist hours, delivery of the Early Years Educator occupational specialism starts early in Year 1. Early Years Educator students can have placements with more than two employers to gain experience with the relevant age groups (birth to five and five to seven).
Early Years Educator criteria are currently under review, and any changes will then need to feed into T-Level content and delivery. The consultation closed on 10 August, but the Government’s response and the publication of guidance has been delayed by the Conservative leadership election, HM Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and the party conferences. NCFE says it is expecting publication in October so the planned development and launch timescales can be adhered to.