Statutory guidance

Early years qualification requirements and standards

The qualifications that staff must hold to be included in the specified staff:child ratios at levels 2, 3 and 6 of the early years foundation stage (EYFS).

From:: Department for Education
Published: 8 December 2023

Applies to England

Documents

Early years qualification requirements and standards

PDF, 413 KB, 46 pages

Details

The requirements in this document come into force on 4 January 2024 and are in response to the Early years foundation stage (EYFS): regulatory changes consultation.

Until this date you should refer to:

Published 8 December 2023

Update history

2025-03-03 09:30
The updated version of the statutory guidance is now in force. We originally published this document on 10 February when the related statutory instrument was laid.

2025-02-10 09:32
Published an update to ‘Early years qualification requirements and standards’ to come into force 3 March 2025 subject to parliamentary procedure.This update allows for the introduction of the experience-based route for early years.It also clarifies the qualification requirements for staff counting in the level 6 staff:child ratios in early years settings and references to the early years qualifications list.

2024-01-04 09:30
‘Early years qualification requirements and standards’ updated to reflect the Early Years Educator level 3 criteria from September 2024.

2023-12-08 13:21
First published.