Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to raise the profile, and (2) to improve the perceived status of, early years teaching jobs.

The department understands that the earliest years are the most crucial stage of child development. Early education supports children’s social and emotional development and lays the foundation for lifelong learning.

The department is grateful for the contribution that all early years’ providers and childcare staff make in their work every day, both to the early education of children and to support the economy.

We are committed to supporting the sector to develop a workforce with the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to deliver high quality early education and childcare, and to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. That is why the department has recently announced an additional £153 million in programmes to support workforce development, including increasing the number of places available for early years initial teacher training. We are also developing new early years training routes, including a new National Professional Qualification for Early Years Leadership and support for new apprenticeship routes for careers in the early years.