Shortage of 11,000 early years teachers, warns Save the Children

A Freedom of Information request by the charity reveals that 325,000 two-, three-, and four-year-olds in funded places in private and voluntary sector settings do not have access to a qualified early years teacher or a teacher with QTS.

According to the charity’s analysis, there are nearly 11,000 too few early years teachers in PVI settings in England.

The figures are based on data obtained by a FOI request made by the charity on the number of private, voluntary and independent (PVI) childcare providers in England employing an early years teacher or equivalent.

It concludes that 10,731 early years settings - out of a total of 21,041 - do not have staff with qualified teacher status (QTS), early years teacher status (EYTS) or early years professional status (EYPS). (This data does not take into account other graduate-level early years qualifications.)

According to Save the Children, its analysis reveals that there is a shortage of around 2,000 graduate early years teachers in the most disadvantaged areas, where they are most needed, which it says should be the Government’s first priority.

Save the Children’s FOI request asked the Department for Education for: