Early Years Services

These services are for those who wish to work in the early years sector in England.

The early years stage in education covers the learning and development of children from birth to 5 years old.

All early years providers working with children from birth to 5 years old must follow the regulations on early years foundation stage (EYFS) staff:child ratios. This is the number of qualified staff an early years setting needs to have, in order to meet the needs of all children at different stages of development and ensure their safety. These regulations are set out in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework.

If your qualification is not related to the early years stage of education, it will not be eligible for our Early Years Services.

If you would like a comparison of your qualification, you may wish to apply for our Statement of Comparability.

If you have an early years qualification from a training provider in the UK, you can refer to the Department for Education’s Early Years Qualification List (EYQL) for qualifications that meet their criteria for counting in the early years foundation stage framework staff:child ratios in an early years setting in England.

If you have any further questions, please contact our dedicated early years advisory service at [email protected], attaching the following documents:

  • final certificate
  • transcript(s)
  • a letter from your institution confirming the date you registered onto your course, if this is not already stated on your transcripts.
  • proof of name change and a form of identification (such as a passport), if your current name does not match the name on your qualification documents.

Our team will review your case, and advise if your qualification is Full and Relevant, in line with the Early Years Qualification List (EYQL) set by the Department for Education. More information on the EYQL can be found on the UK Government early years web pages.

We will aim to answer your query within 5 working days of your email. There is no charge for contacting [email protected].

If your qualification is from Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, and you cannot find your qualification on the Department for Education’s dedicated list, we encourage you to contact our advisory service.

If you have a qualification that was issued by an institution outside of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), you will need to apply for the Early Years Statement service.

The Early Years Statement service maps the detail of your early years qualification against the criteria set by the Department for Education.

Dependent on the outcome, we will confirm the steps required to be able to count within your employer’s staff:child ratios at your nominated level.

Note: in addition to your early years focused qualification, we will require evidence of your school level awards, to confirm that you meet the Department for Education’s literacy and numeracy requirements.

You apply for this service online.

First, create your account on this website. Then, you will be able to log in to upload documents and contact us.

You will need to upload your final certificate(s), transcript(s), and certified translations of your documents if your documents are not in English, relating to any early years focused qualification(s), as well as your school level awards. If your name has changed for any reason, you should also upload proof of your name change and form of identification.

Note that applications should be made by the Qualification Holder, who is seeking to use our services.

When we have received all your documents, our specialists will compare the detail of your qualifications against the criteria set by the Department for Education.

When completed, the Early Years Statement will confirm the following:

  • whether your qualification is relevant to the early years sector
  • the comparable level of your qualification to the UK frameworks
  • the relevancy of your qualification, when comparing it against the criteria for the Early Years Educator or Early Years Practitioner
  • recommended next steps, if not all of the criteria have been met
  • whether your school-level qualification meets level 2 literacy and numeracy requirements.

The Department for Education has introduced new, higher-quality Level 3 Early Years Educator (EYE) criteria, which came into force on 1st September 2024. These criteria can be found at Annex E of the Early Years Qualification Requirements and Standards document (EYQRS).

The Level 3 EYE criteria has been expanded and now covers in more detail essential areas such as safeguarding and SEND, as well as referencing specific aspects of UK/English statutory and non-statutory guidance and processes specific to English early years settings. For this reason, the Department for Education recognises that applicants with non-UK qualifications are unlikely to obtain a Full and Relevant outcome (100% of the subcriteria fully met) on the first assessment. Instead, if your qualification is assessed as meeting 50% or more of the subcriteria, you may be required to complete an adaptation period or standalone modules in order to be counted in Level 3 staff:child ratios. This said, although the Department recommends that the adaptation period is 6 months, this can be shorter, if the employer is satisfied that the candidate has demonstrated the necessary experience and skills in the subcriteria which Ecctis assessed their qualification to be missing.

 

Note: due to the in-depth nature of this service, we are unable to offer our options for Fast Track or Translation Waiver Service.

You should apply online for the Early Years Statement service, using this website.

We will require the following documents:

  • final certificate(s)
  • transcript(s)
  • certified translations of your documents if your documents are not in English.
  • proof of name change, if your current name does not match the name on your qualification documents.

All documents should be clear colour scans or colour photographs of the original documents. If you upload black and white copies, we may ask for colour copies to be uploaded.

In addition to this, for any qualification(s) focused on early years education, we will also require the following:

  • excerpts from your course content, for the modules relating to early years
  • a self-certification form, completed by your training provider.

The self-certification form is used to compare your qualification against the Department for Education’s requirements for Early Years Educators/Practitioners. It should be filled out, stamped, and signed by your training provider. Make sure that your training provider has completed the form before applying for the Early Years Service.

If you are applying for the Early Years Educator (Level 3), the self-certification form can be downloaded here.

If you are applying for the Early Years Practitioner (Level 2), please email our Early Years team at [email protected] and we will send you the form to be completed by your training provider.

Once we have received all of the necessary documents, we will complete the service within 20 working days.

From 8am on 10 December 2024, the Early Years Statement service will be free of charge.

The statement will be made available by e-Statement only and, therefore, there are no associated costs for the Early Years Statement service.

The Early Years Statement is free of charge.

The statement will be delivered by e-statement only and therefore, there are no associated costs for the Early Years Statement.

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