Early Years Professional Leadership for England

The Pearson BTEC Higher National Diploma in Early Years Professional Leadership for England offers students a broad introduction to the subject area via a mandatory core of learning, while enabling the acquisition of skills, knowledge, behaviours and experience relevant to the workplace or placement. This effectively builds underpinning core skills while preparing the student for further subject specialisation at Level 5. Students will gain a wide range of sector knowledge tied to practical skills gained in evidence-based practice, personal research, self-study, directed study and workplace learning and experience.
The Higher National Diploma provides a solid grounding in early years education, leadership and care that students can build on if they decide to continue their studies beyond this stage. The course enables students to commit to a leadership career path and progression route to degree-level study.
On successful completion of the Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Early Years Professional Leadership for England, students can develop their careers in the early years sector through:

• entering employment

• continuing existing employment or seeking alternative employment or promotion

• joining an appropriate professional body or membership organisation

• committing to continuing professional development (CPD)

• progressing to level 6

• Unit 1: Personal and Professional Development through Reflective Practice
• Unit 2: Protecting Children in Early Education and Care Environments
• Unit 3: Play and Learning in Early Childhood
• Unit 4: Supporting and Promoting Children’s Development (Infants and Toddlers)
• Unit 5: Supporting and Promoting Children’s Development (Young Children)
• Unit 6: Promoting Healthy Living
• Unit 7: Preparing for Research (Pearson-set unit)
• Unit 8: Promoting Inclusive Early Education and Care Environments
• Unit 9: Investigating Childhood: Action Research for Early Childhood Practitioners (Pearson-set unit)
• Unit 10: Improving Quality in Early Education and Care Environments
• Unit 11: Managing and Leading People in Children’s Early Education and Care Environments
• Unit 12: Managing Children’s Early Education and Care Environments
• Unit 13: Mentoring and Supervision in Early Education and Care Practice
• Plus, Optional units

Qualification credit value: a minimum of 240 credits. This is made up of 15 units, 14 with a value of 15 credits, and one with a value of 30 credits.
The total qualification time for the Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Early Years Professional Leadership includes a requirement of 525 hours’ work placement or experience in early education and/care settings over the two-year period of the qualification.
The mandatory elements of work placement/experience are as follows: ● A minimum of two different settings is required.
A minimum of 75 practice hours with each of the following age ranges:
• From birth to 1 year, 11 months
• From 2 years to 4 years, 11 months
• 5 years to 7 years, 11 months.
If a student undertakes work placement/experience in two settings only, at least one of these settings must enable the student to meet the practice hours requirements for at least two of the age ranges specified above.
The age requirements for work placement in the Higher National Diploma are waived for students who provide evidence of recognised occupational competence, such as holding early years educator status.
Students with certificated evidence of occupational competence will still need to undertake a period of observation, or work shadowing, of a practitioner working with an age group different from the student’s area of practice during their study. Students can undertake placement in more than the minimum requirement of different individual settings, providing they meet the minimum requirement for setting hours as indicated above

To work as a teacher at a state school in England or Wales, you will need to achieve qualified teacher status (QTS). This is offered on this course for the following level:

• Course does not award QTS