During the Spring Budget this year, the Chancellor announced sweeping expansion plans which, in the governments view, will reinvigorate the sector’s sustainability.

However, research published by the Early Education and Childcare Coalition and the University of Leeds pointed to the reality of the recruitment crisis in early years with 57% of nursery staff and 38% of childminders considering quitting the sector in the next year.

The government’s first stage of the expansion plan will come in the Spring of 2025 which will offer 30 hours of ‘free childcare’ to eligible parents of nine month olds. Researchers found that even using conservative estimates the number of childcare places in England would need to grow by 6% in order to meet the demand created by the government’s planned expansion.

However, many nursery settings say they are unlikely to offer the new entitlement because of an inability to recruit and retain suitably qualified staff.

Ratio changes

Many quoted that the recent updates to ratios increased the likelihood of early years professionals wanting to leave the sector.

Just 17% of nursery managers said it was likely they would increase the number of places they offered, while 35% said they would limit the number of places they offered unless there was more government support to enable them to recruit and retain staff. Two-thirds (67%) of nurseries were already reporting average waiting times of almost six months for a place.

When turnover intention rates are combined with new demand, it is estimated that almost 50,000 additional staff could be needed in 2024 and again in 2025 to maintain existing provision and provide the expanded entitlement.

Sarah ronan, director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, commented: “Promising more free childcare without the infrastructure to deliver it is raising false hope among already struggling families. If the government is to have any chance of delivering this expansion, it must listen to the people on the ground educating and caring for our children. Years of underfunding have left them underpaid, overworked and feeling disrespected. It doesn’t matter if it’s more free hours from this Government or wholesale reform from Labour, the fact is nothing will change for parents or children unless we have a well-paid and valued workforce.”

Invest in the workforce

Abby Jitendra, principal policy adviser for Care, Family and Relationships at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said: “There is no quality childcare expansion without a new workforce strategy for the early years workforce. Government needs to value workers to attract them to the sector – this means development opportunities and ultimately, higher pay. We need to rethink how we fund providers, moving beyond funding a race to the bottom in quality to investing in driving up standards.”

In addition to low pay, staff were four times more likely to quit their jobs if there was a lack of training opportunities. Half of staff reported that they do not have regular access to paid leave to undertake training and 66% said that funding or costs were a major barrier to accessing training.

Professor Kate Hardy, from the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC) at the University of Leeds, commented: “Early years educators have a real thirst for training and continuing to improve their practice. But they desperately need paid time out from their working day, high quality training and their pay to rise in line with their growing capabilities. Investing in staff in the sector in this way is absolutely vital for stemming the tide of people exiting the sector and also for delivering the highest quality early education possible”. 

Increase in SEND means more targeted support necessary

The research also found a significant increase in the number of children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) in early years settings with 87% of nursery respondents and 63% of childminders reporting that they were working with or assessing more children with SEND, often without the necessary specialist support that the child needs.

Hardy continued: “Whether as a result of the pandemic or a longer term trend, there appears to be a significant rising need in the sector amongst children with SEND. Educators want to be able to support these children, this is why they do this job. They are deeply committed to giving children the best start in life possible. But they urgently need more staff around them, support from other agencies and investment in specialist training to do so. This must be an urgent priority for this government and needs urgent intervention”.

Recommendations

The report sets out a number of recommendations that could ease the challenges currently hindering the sector and boost its prospects for the future.

• Increasing early years funding rates with the expectation that providers will use this to boost pay
• Reestablish a career development hub at the Department for Education
• Provide more on-site training to reduce the need to spend time away from a setting
• Ensure access to funded, universal, high-quality SEND training
• Develop a system for bank staff at Local Authority level which enables staff to take time out for training, with no negative implications for their setting
• Ensure the ‘Experts and Mentoring Scheme’ for childminders becomes a permanent programme
• Restart the Graduate-led Grant Scheme. Set a target to achieve a graduate led workforce by 2028.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said:

“This report shows just how short-sighted the government’s plan to expand the early entitlement offers are. 

“It’s clear that the early year workforce is in crisis, but rather than addressing existing challenges, the government has instead decided to blindly promise more early years places to families when it’s clear there are nowhere near enough educators to be able to deliver this – something ministers would have known this if they had properly engaged with the sector before charging ahead with this policy.

“The fact is that early educators are leaving in their droves, and unless government takes urgent action to tackling this worrying trend, the expansion will be nothing more than a pipe dream, leaving families disappointed and vital money and time wasted.

“At the Alliance, we know just how vital a role the early years workforce have in children’s development, but years of underfunding and a lack of a meaningful workforce plan has meant this has yet to be recognised and reflected in their pay and career opportunities. 

“If the government is to have any chance of creating the additional places it has promised to families, it must work with the sector – and crucially, provide the investment needed – to ensure that there are enough high-quality educators to actually deliver them.”

Purnima Tanuku OBE, Chief Executive of NDNA said:

“NDNA has been warning of the growing workforce crisis for a number of years and we are now reaching a critical juncture as this research shows. If early education and care settings are to offer more funded places to children it’s clear the workforce needs to grow, but at the moment recruitment and retention remain the number one issue for providers. The numbers of professionals considering leaving our sector has to be a wake-up call for Ministers.

“Our research with the sector showed that 75% of providers would need more staff to be able to increases their capacity but with high turnover this research shows the scale of the mountain that needs to be overcome. It is disappointing that the Government has not taken forward the Education Committee’s recommendation for a workforce strategy which was echoed by experts in NDNA’s Blueprint this year.

“Investment in the workforce through better funding rates and more training are urgent requirements but without a clear workforce strategy there is no direction, no plan and the Government’s policy will be undeliverable.”