Please see the latest guidelines from the DfE in reference to staff qualifications in regard to the EYFS and staff:child ratios and for managers to verify whether qualifications meet ratio requirements.

• Summary and About These Requirements and Standards

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework sets the standards that early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to help children thrive and to give them a broad range of knowledge and skills that provide a foundation for good future progress through school and life. It does this by setting out the requirements for early years providers delivering the EYFS, including staff:child ratios and the qualification levels practitioners must hold to be included within those delivery requirements.

This document sets out the minimum qualification and experience requirements that group and school-based providers must ensure their staff meet to be recognised as level 2, level 3 or level 6 members of staff for the purpose of working within the EYFS staff:child ratios.  Providers must refer to these requirements to determine at which level a member of staff can be included in the staff:child ratios.

This document also sets out the criteria that Early Years Practitioner (level 2) and Early Years Educator (level 3) and other qualifications of level 4 or higher must meet to be recognised as full and relevant by the Department for Education. These criteria outline the minimum skills, knowledge and understanding that a practitioner must demonstrate to deliver the EYFS and support the learning and development of young children. To ensure quality across early years settings in England, awarding organisations and training providers should seek the Department for Education’s approval of their Early Years Practitioner and Early Years Educator qualifications against these criteria.

The Qualification Requirements and Standards Document and the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework for Group and School-based Providers should be read alongside each other.

This document uses the word “must” where the requirement is mandatory for group and school-based early years providers. The word ‘providers’ will be used to refer to group and school-based providers unless otherwise stated.

Words and phrases written in bold throughout this document are defined in the Glossary of Terms

Early years qualification requirements and standards

For group and school-based providers, and awarding organisations and training providers offering qualifications in early years

Dated: 10 February 2025

Effective: 3 March 2025

The Experience-Based Route Status For Early Years Staff 

• Summary and Main Points

This is non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education. It is intended to be helpful to early years providers when carrying out duties relating to the experience-based route for early years staff, but it is not mandatory. The guidance covers how early years settings and managers may implement this route for their staff who do not hold full and relevant early years qualifications.

This guidance outlines the recommended approach for early years providers to carry out the experience-based route for staff in their setting who do not hold the qualifications required to be included in the staff:child ratios at level 3. It provides support for providers, decision-makers, supervisors and applicants who intend to use this route  

While early years providers can start assessing people through the experience-based route from 3 March, it will not be possible for anyone to be included in the staff:child ratios at level 3 through this route until at least September 2025. This is due to the time required to complete the supervised practice period, and the related changes to ratio requirements in the EYFS statutory framework that are expected to be made from September 2025.  

A provider must have received an overall effectiveness judgement of ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ in its most recent Ofsted inspection in order to offer the experience-based route to its staff who meet the eligibility criteria and to approve staff to count in the staff:child ratios at level 3 after completing the experience-based route.  

Staff who have successfully completed the experience-based route are able to be included in the staff:child ratios at level 3 without holding a full and relevant qualification.  

Staff who successfully complete the experience-based route and can work in the staff:child ratios at level 3 following assessment by the provider will hold ‘experience-based route status’. This status allows them to be included in the staff:child ratios at level 3 in their current setting at the manager’s discretion. This does not confer a full and relevant qualification on staff.   

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/experience-based-route-for-early-years-staff