The use of online training by early years practitioners has surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new statistics from the Early Years Alliance.

When lockdown started in March, the whole country had to adapt to remote working and communication. In many ways it has completely revolutionised how we work as teams and carers.

The new data provided by online training provider and Alliance partner EduCare shows that since the beginning of lockdown between March and June 2020, over 130,000 free EduCare training courses have been completed by Alliance members, up by over 500% on figures from the same period last year.

April and May were the most popular months, with a combined total of over 85,000 EduCare courses completed, compared to around 12,000 over the same period in 2019.

The most popular courses between March and June 2020 were:

• Infection Prevention and Control in an Early Years Setting;
• Speech, Language and Communication;
• and Understanding and Addressing Behaviour in the Early Years.

Commenting, director of quality improvement at the Alliance, Michael Freeston, said:  

‘It is great to see that so many early years practitioners have taken the opportunity to engage in our online training courses during the lockdown period. The fact that well over 100,000 courses were completed during what was a very challenging period for the sector is testament to the early years workforce’s commitment to continuous learning and professional development.

‘With the pandemic prompting many providers to embrace an increasingly digital approach to everything from communicating with parents to online setting tours to virtual play sessions, now is the perfect time for those who have yet to try online training to experience the benefits for themselves.

‘We look forward to continuing to work with EduCare to develop even more courses to help support the sector and meet the changing needs of the early years workforce going forward.’