Apprenticeship Summary
The Early Years Educator Apprenticeship is a gateway qualification to a rewarding and meaningful career in the early years education sector. For employers, it provides a structured employment and training package that equips new or existing employees with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to support children's development from birth to age five, making a real difference during the most important years of their lives. For individuals it offers the opportunity to acquire the foundational skills required to develop the necessary competencies to progress a successful career within the early education sector.
Apprentices will learn how to create safe, inclusive, and stimulating environments that support every child’s learning journey. They will explore child development, safeguarding, play-based learning, and how to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). as well as gaining experience working with families and professionals such as health visitors and speech therapists.
With the potential to progress into leadership, teaching, or specialist roles, the apprenticeship offers benefits for both individuals and employers looking to develop foundational strong skills sets for both professional and commercial advancement.
Entry Requirements
For the apprentice:
Although specific entry requirements are set by individual employers, the following entry requirements will apply to all applicants.
Qualifications: GCSE Maths and English Grade C/4 or above, or be prepared to achieve Functional Skills Level 2 in English and Maths while undertaking the apprenticeship
Additional Requirements:
DBS Check: A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is required, typically obtained through employment.
Employment: Applicants must be employed in a suitable early years setting that supports the apprenticeship requirements.
Commitment: Ability to commit to the full length of the programme and meet the programme modules through your job role.
Apprenticeship standard dates
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Anytime
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Bispham Campus
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Anytime
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Bispham Campus
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Next steps
As an Employer
If you would like to offer this as an apprenticeship vacancy within your organisation, enrol one of your existing employees on this apprenticeship or simply find out more about supporting an apprenticeship within your organisation, please complete the Enquire Now form above and a member of our Business Development Team will be in touch within 2 working days to advise you on next steps.
As an Apprentice
If you are interested in securing an apprenticeship as an Early Years Educator, please visit our Vacancies page to check for any suitable roles.
If there are currently no roles available, please submit an enquiry form using the Enquire Now button above to register your interest. We will use this information to let you know when a suitable vacancy becomes available and also to advise you of any courses we offer that might advance your career goals in the meantime.
Key information
How will the Apprenticeship be funded?
As the employer
How your apprenticeship is funded will depend on whether or not you pay the Apprenticeship Levy. If you do pay the Levy, your apprenticeship will be funded out of this, provided you have sufficient monies available. If you do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy, 95% of the apprenticeship will be funded by the Government, with the remaining 5% being funded by you. There may also be some further incentives offered by the Government which we will be able to advise you of when setting up your apprenticeship. Either way, B&FC's Business Development Team will be on hand to help you navigate the funding arrangements and support you through this process.
As the apprentice
One of the benefits of an apprenticeship is that, as the apprentice, you are not required to fund your training. You will also receive a wage for the work that you do with minimum hourly rates set by the Government. Your employer can choose to pay you more than the minimum wage, but they cannot pay you less. For details of current minimum wage rates for apprentices, please visit the Government website.
Terms and conditions
Read our full terms and conditions.
What will my Apprentice learn?
Knowledge
By the end of their apprenticeship, your apprentice should understand:
- Child Development – Understand how children grow and learn, including key milestones and how to support individual needs.
- Safeguarding and Welfare – Learn how to keep children safe, recognise signs of abuse or neglect, and follow safeguarding procedures.
- The EYFS Framework – Gain a deep understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and how to apply it in practice.
- Observation, Assessment and Planning – How to observe children’s play and behaviour, assess their progress, and plan meaningful learning experiences.
- Inclusive Practice and SEND – Explore how to support children with special educational needs and disabilities, ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive.
- Teamworking and collaboration – How to develop strong communication and teamwork skills to work effectively with parents, carers, and multi-agency professionals.
Skills
Your apprentice should be able to:
- Recognise when a child or a colleague is in danger or at risk of abuse and act to protect them in line with safeguarding policy and procedure.
- Apply legislation, policy and procedure to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of children in the setting (for example, food safety, diets, starting solid food, allergies, COSHH, and accidents, injuries, and emergencies).
- Apply the principles of risk assessment and risk management within documentation and practice and teach children to develop skills to manage risk and maintain their own and others safety.
- Develop effective professional, collaborative relationships with others involved in the education and care of the child.
- Provide a safe space in which children from birth to 5 years can develop their social skills, understand and respond to their emotions and create a positive sense of their own identity and culture.
- Create inclusive, child-centred, dynamic, innovative, and evolving physical environments both indoors and outdoors that enables a child to feel safe and secure whilst stimulating their minds and positively impacting their development.
Behaviours
Your apprentice should:
- Be confident to have difficult conversations.
- Demonstrate a child-centred and empathetic approach, valuing equality, diversity, and inclusion and the uniqueness of each child.
- Act with vigilance and professional curiosity.
- Show that they are caring, compassionate and sensitive.
- Be honest, open, respectful, and a role model.
- Use initiative, be self-motivated and proactive.
- Be playful and creative.
- Be committed to CPD and willing to reflect on their on practice.
Expert Tutors
All tutors involved in the delivery of courses and apprenticeships within the College are approved to teach the subjects and modules they deliver.
Our recruitment process ensures that tutors delivering a given programme are suitably qualified and, where appropriate, possess relevant technical and industrial experience and a familiarity with professional practice. This is especially important for apprenticeships where off-the-job training needs to align with apprentices' on-the-job experience.
How will the Apprenticeship be delivered?
The apprenticeship will typically be delivered over a 24-month period with additional time required to prepare for the End Point Assessment. Apprentices' time will typically be split 80:20 throughout the apprenticeship programme with four days a week spent at the employer premises learning on the job and one day a week spent off-site, undertaking classroom-based and workshop-based training at B&FC.
What support will I get from B&FC?
As the employer
Each employer is supported by an experienced member of our Business Development Team to set up their apprenticeship. For those employers who are completely new to the apprenticeship process, the Team will support them with all the necessary paperwork and administration to get their apprenticeship programme up and running as quickly and efficiently as possible. For existing employers, their dedicated Client Services Manager will be an ongoing point of contact for all their apprenticeship queries, however big or small.
We can also help employers who are looking to recruit new apprentices by advertising their vacancy, finding suitable applicants and supporting them with the interview and selection process. Once an apprentice is onboard, our Curriculum Tutors and Apprenticeship Trainers and Skills Coaches also step in to support the employer-apprentice relationship and ensure the apprentice is on track to succeed.
As the apprentice
In the first instance, we aim to give potential apprentices all the support they need to find a suitable apprenticeship. That can mean working with them prior to an application to improve their CV, hone their interview skills and advise them of any additional training that may help them secure an apprenticeship vacancy.
Once they start their apprenticeship, we continue to support them with their off-site training and with regular meetings with our Apprenticeship Trainers and Skills Coaches to ensure they are progressing and acquiring all the knowledge, skills and behaviours that will ensure they complete their apprenticeship successfully.
How will the Apprenticeship be assessed?
What is an end-point assessment and why it happens
An EPA is an assessment at the end of the apprenticeship. The EPA is the apprentice's opportunity to show an independent assessor how well they can carry out the occupation they have been trained for.
The overall grades available for this apprenticeship are:
- fail
- pass
- distinction
When the apprentice passes the EPA, they will be awarded their apprenticeship certificate.
Assessment methods
- Portfolio of Evidence: Throughout the apprenticeship, apprentices will compile a portfolio of evidence that showcases their learning and achievements. This portfolio will include various forms of assessment such as written assignments, case studies and practical tasks.
- Written Assignments: These assignments will test apprentices' understanding of theoretical concepts and their ability to apply this knowledge to real-world scenarios.
- Case Studies: Apprentices will analyse specific situations, demonstrating their problem-solving skills and ability to provide appropriate care and support.
End-Point Assessment (EPA) Methods:
- Observation: Apprentices will be observed in their workplace by an independent assessor, demonstrating their practical skills and competencies in a real-world setting.
- Professional Discussion: This is a structured discussion between the apprentice and the assessor, focusing on the apprentice's portfolio of evidence and their experiences during the apprenticeship.
- Knowledge Test: A test to assess the apprentice's understanding of the theoretical knowledge required for the role.