Early years audit tool to provide vital workforce data

The Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) is carrying out an audit to create the first accurate picture of qualifications in the early years workforce in England.

The Early Years Audit Tool has been launched online and settings are being encouraged to submit information about their practitioners to help CWDC ensure high quality provision in childcare settings for all babies and children aged birth-to-five.

Settings taking part will help shape the future status and standards of the profession. The audit tool will also offer direct benefits to managers, who will: 

• have an accessible electronic record of staff details and qualifications, which can be managed when convenient
• check that staff qualifications meet the minimum requirements in the Statutory Framework from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
• set targets for increasing staff qualifications according to government targets
• monitor and plan appropriate training and development of staff
• produce a report to support Ofsted inspections

The information supplied by settings will provide CWDC with vital details to help them better understand the early years workforce, and the extent of training needed to achieve a minimum Level 3 qualification for all early years workers. 

Thom Crabbe, National Programme Manager for Early Years at CWDC, said:

We want as many early years settings as possible to complete the tool so that we can generate the first accurate national picture of the early years workforce.  From this we can better identify and plan how the CWDC can further support training and development of the profession.

Early feedback from settings who've already completed the online tool indicate it is quick and easy to use, and many have told us it has helped them take charge of their staff's training and development needs.

The audit tool is currently being promoted to early years settings with the assistance of local authorities and other early years organisations.

A helpline is available for early years workers and presentations are available for local authorities to use.

Information from the tool will be available to view by local authorities and other partner organisations like the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DSCF).

A step by step guide to the tool, with guidance on each of the fields and what information should be entered, is available at www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/early-years/audit-tool or by calling the support team on 0300 123 1033.