A government U-turn on qualifications required by nursery staff has come as a "huge relief", say campaigners. Since 2014 new recruits have needed at least C grades in GCSE English and maths, with equivalent "functional skills" qualifications not accepted.
Childcare organisations said the requirement was putting off talented staff, risking a recruitment crisis.
But Early Years Minister Caroline Dinenage has confirmed that equivalent qualifications will count from April.
The minister set out the change of plan in a speech launching the government's early years workforce strategy at the Childcare Expo in London.
Current early years staffing rules set out ratios of children to qualified staff as follows:
- One-year-olds and younger - one member of staff to three children
- Two-year-olds - one member of staff to four children
- Three and four-year-olds - one member of staff to eight children or one to 13 if the group is teacher-led.
Although nurseries were able to hire staff without good GCSEs, these staff did not count towards the ratios. And nursery owners said potential new recruits were put off if they were unable to achieve good enough GCSE grades, leading to staff shortages.
The National Day Nurseries Association said the decision to broaden the qualification requirements would help ease the recruitment crisis.
