Important:  UCU Cymru briefing
Proposed changes to childcare courses

'Gold standard' childcare courses to be scrapped
Under proposals due to come into force in September 2010, all existing childcare courses are to be scrapped and replaced with a single, new Level 3 qualification.  The proposals, which are UK-wide, will mean the end of the present two year Level 3 childcare courses run by Cache, Edexcel and City and Guilds.  They will all be replaced by a single new Level 3 Diploma under the new QCF framework.

As a trade union our main concerns are:

•	the radical shift of emphasis in the new Diploma from an academic programme of study to a work based learning scheme;
•	that the new Level 3 Diploma will still confer the licence to practice unsupervised, but it will have a radically reduced teaching element (awarding bodies believe it will be delivered in as few as 300 taught hours – about a third of the present provision);
•	despite the scheduled start date being September 2010, the new course does yet not have UCAS points allocated to it, and;
•	the potential impact on the jobs of childcare lecturers of such a change.
The fate of level 2 courses is similarly threatened.

UCU believes these changes will have huge implications for the quality and status of childcare qualifications and for the future of childcare provision. Such draconian reductions in teaching hours will also lead to the threat of widespread job losses among lecturing staff.

UCU has started the campaign to halt these changes. Our central demand is that the existing BTEC National Diploma and Cache National Diploma are reinstated until full consultation has taken place with the whole childcare sector.

Already UCU has enjoyed some success in the campaign.  The courses have been reinstated and will give licence to practice for one more year.  However, we are in no doubt that these changes are only a delay in the implementation of the new courses. It safeguards some jobs for a year and it allows us to fight for quality child care.  As it currently stands the new course will also be available from September 2010 at colleges and training agencies.

UCU representatives met with Assembly officials and with those developing the qualification.  Despite this meeting key issues remain surrounded by uncertainty:

•	Exactly how many teaching hours will the new courses have? How will they be delivered? Edexcel and Cache refer to 63 credits equating to 630 Guided Learning Hours (including placements). 10 GLH will involve 5 hours of notional teaching. In other words the new course will be delivered in a 315 notional taught hours. We need clarification over the term ‘notional’;
•	What will be the practical placement element? We understand that placement experience could be limited to one setting. This has major implications for the quality and range of experience students receive. Nurses, for example, could not possibly expect to achieve a full licence to practice having obtained all their experience on one ward;
•	How will the new courses be assessed? The awarding bodies are saying this has yet to be addressed;
•	The new course does not have UCAS points and it seems very unlikely that courses with such small teaching elements will attract UCAS points, and certainly not the 360 points which the present courses confer. This raises important issues around progression. Many of our present students use existing level 3 courses as a means to progress to higher education.  It seems this route will now be closed;
•	How do we credibly start interviewing students for next September with all the above unresolved?   We simply are not in a position to answer questions around assessment, UCAS points and career progression.

It is clear to UCU that the childcare education agenda has been hijacked by the employers through the Sector Skills Councils. There has been no formal consultation with unions in Wales, despite the fact that UCU represents the vast majority of lecturers in Wales.

UCU is determined to try and seize back the agenda and put education and quality back at centre stage. UCU does not oppose change however what is being proposed is potentially catastrophic. We are urgently calling on the Assembly Government to halt these changes so we can have a full and proper consultation and debate involving all stakeholders including lecturers, childcare providers and parents. Childcare education is too important to rush.  We have to get this right. 

How you can help
We need your help in the campaign.  If you are a childcare lecturer working in Wales then please contact Guy Stoate (on g.stoate@morgannwg.ac.uk) or David Hagendyk (on dhagendyk@ucu.org.uk) for more information.  Shortly, we will be lobbying Assembly Members and the more colleges that take part the more effective this will be.

If you are a childcare lecturer but not a member of UCU, then join today by going to www.ucu.org.uk - the more lecturers who join UCU the stronger our voice will be.

January 2010