Check an early years qualification
Check early years qualifications of the staff in your setting.
Check early years qualifications of the staff in your setting to make sure you are following the early years foundation stage (EYFS) requirements for staff:child ratios.
Staff:child ratios are the number of qualified staff, with different qualification levels, your setting needs to meet the requirements set out in the EYFS statutory framework.
These requirements are in place to meet the needs of all children in your care and ensure their safety.
Check qualifications achieved in the United Kingdom (UK)
Use the Check an early years qualification digital service (opens in new tab) to confirm which early years qualifications are full and relevant for working in staff:child ratios.
This service is for early years settings in England.
This service allows early years managers to:
- check if an early years qualification achieved in England is approved as full and relevant by the Department for Education (DfE)
- confirm if someone who holds this qualification can count in staff:child ratios at level 2, 3 or 6 in an early years setting in England
- save or print a summary of each qualification you check
If you are an early years manager, you can use this service instead of checking the early years qualifications list spreadsheet (EYQL). The service includes the same qualifications as those listed on the EYQL. No qualifications have been removed from either the EYQL or this service.
This is a new service, so please tell us what you think using the feedback form in the service to help DfE to improve it for everyone. We are also looking for people to take part in user research. If you are interested in this opportunity, please fill in this survey (opens in new tab).
Why you need the qualification start date
To check a qualification achieved in the UK, you will need to know the date the qualification was started.
It is important to know the date the qualification was started, rather than the date it was awarded, to establish which criteria the qualification was approved against. DfE sets the criteria for early years qualifications to be approved as full and relevant for working in the staff:child ratios. These criteria are occasionally updated following review and consultation with the early years sector.
More information on the DfE criteria for early years qualifications is in the early years qualification requirements and standards statutory guidance (opens in new tab).
Finding the date the qualification was started can be more difficult than the date it was awarded. Award dates are often shown on certificates, but this is not always the case for start dates.
To make checking the start date more straightforward, you can:
- add start date as a question on your recruitment application form, if you have one
- ask people applying for jobs in your setting to provide their qualification transcript - this document may show information about the date the qualification was started and the individual modules they studied
- ask for other proof of the date the qualification was started, for example a letter confirming the person’s place on the course
- ask the college, university or awarding organisation if they have information from their records
Check qualifications achieved outside the UK
If an early years practitioner’s qualification was achieved outside the United Kingdom, they will need to make an application to work within the staff:child ratios in early years education in England.
Use the early years qualifications achieved outside the United Kingdom guidance (opens in new tab) to get the information you to need to apply for recognition of non-UK qualifications to be counted in the EYFS staff:child ratios in England.
Check qualifications that do not meet the criteria
Some qualifications do not meet the full and relevant criteria set by DfE, meaning you cannot count them, at the appropriate level, in the EYFS staff:child ratios.
This could include:
- nurses
- midwives
- specialist community public health nurses
The Early years qualifications that do not meet the criteria guidance (opens in new tab) provides further information.
Understand your options if the qualification is not full and relevant
If someone’s qualification is not full and relevant, they can work as an unqualified member of staff.
Alternatively, they may be eligible for the DfE experience-based route (EBR) for early years staff (opens in new tab), which was introduced in March 2025. This guidance includes information on eligibility criteria.
EBR is a process which will allow suitable early years practitioners without an approved qualification the opportunity to gain status to work within the staff:child ratios at level 3. There are eligibility requirements for both the member of staff and the setting.
Eligible staff will undertake a period of supervised practice in their setting, during which they will develop and demonstrate any skills and knowledge from the Early Years Educator (level 3) criteria that are missing from their existing qualifications and experience.