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).
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The existing version of ‘Early years qualification requirements and standards’ applies until 31 August 2025.
The new version comes into force on 1 September 2025.
Updates to this page
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Added 'Early years qualification requirements and standards: effective from 1 September 2025'. This has minor clarifications to the existing version. The existing version applies until 31 August.
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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.
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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.
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'Early years qualification requirements and standards' updated to reflect the Early Years Educator level 3 criteria from September 2024.
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First published.