Early Years Practitioner Apprenticeship Level 2

 

Early Years Practitioner Level 2

The Level 2 Early Years Practitioner apprenticeship is a funded work-based training programme. EYPs work under the guidance and supervision of an Early Years Educator, teacher or other suitably qualified professional in the Early Years Workforce supporting the planning and delivery of the educational programmes for children in the 0-5 age range.

An Early Years Practitioner (EYP) works in a range of early years settings delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), including full day care, children’s centres, playgroups, pre-schools, nursery schools, reception classes and home-based provision. 

What are the benefits?

  A high level of support with monthly tutor visits and taught lessons

Safeguard and promote the health, safety and welfare of children

Support and promote children's early education and development

Develop effective and informed practice

Levy-funded, which we can help you access

Career progression opportunity on completion with our EYE Level 3 Apprenticeship

You are entitled to a TOTUM student discount card

“The thing that stood out most for me is just how organised it all is, everything that I need to find is easily accessible. Furthermore, after completing tasks, the quality of the responses from the tutors has been excellent, the whole package is really well organised.”
Ben Wright, Apprenticeship Candidat

How is it delivered?

  • This programme has monthly start dates – it does not run as per the typical academic year  
  • Work is submitted using Bud, the cutting-edge online platform, which is easy to use and includes login access for employers to keep track of their apprentice’s progress

EYP level 2 course structure


Delivery includes:

  • Monthly online training events to deliver Knowledge elements 
  • Half termly review meetings with Apprenticeship Tutor 
  • Regular Observations with Apprenticeship Tutor/mentor to evidence skills 
  • Witness statements to evidence behaviours

Our delivery model is a blended learning model consisting of the following components:


Am I eligible?

There are no previous qualifications needed for this course and no age restrictions. 

Apprentices must have:

  • Support from your employer and levy account holder
  • Successful interview
  • Must have held a residency in the UK for the last three years

Who is it for?

  • Ideal for someone looking to pursue a career as an Early Years Practitioner, Nursery practitioner, Classroom assistant. 
  • Suitable for either someone already working in or someone looking for a career in, an early years childcare and education setting

Looking for employment? 

Find a list of current apprenticeship vacancies from our partner settings.

Find an apprenticeship

How do I access the funding?

Employer Incentive

An employer incentive payment of £1,000 is available for new apprentices aged 16 to 18 and those under 25 with an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Apprenticeship Funding

The levy is paid by large employers with a wage bill of over £3 million. These employers pay 0.5% of their total annual pay bill into the levy. Most nurseries state-maintained schools and multi-academy trusts pay into the levy and all settings and schools can access the levy to fund apprenticeship training. Dependent on the individual setting or school, levy funding can be accessed through their trust, their local authority, or the ESFA via the co-investment scheme. 

 Best Practice Network provide support to candidates and their employers in order to access this funding. 

 The level of funding depends on each candidate’s learning needs, with a maximum allocation of £4,000 to cover the cost of the apprenticeship.    

  • Levy-paying employers

Levy accounts are linked to the employers PAYE numbers so please check who is managing your Apprenticeships Service Account. This could be your Local Authority Apprenticeships Team, your business manager or HR department. They will need to add Best Practice Network as a provider and add any apprentices to the AS Account. Your account will automatically go into co-investment if you do not have enough apprenticeship funds to pay for training and assessment.  

  • Employers that do not pay the levy

If your organisation does not pay the levy, then it always co-invests with the government. The maximum amount your organisation will pay for apprenticeship training is 5% of the total cost. 

 The apprentice must be paid a lawful wage and they cannot contribute towards the cost of the apprenticeship.

Apprenticeship Levy Transfer

If an employer pays into the Apprenticeship Levy and has unspent funds, they can transfer up to 25% of that contribution to another employer. That means you can benefit from the levy-contributions of a different organisation to cover the full costs of an apprenticeship for a member of your team.

Organisations who are actively willing to transfer unspent funds can be viewed on the pledge page. Learn more about the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer on the Government website.

Early Years Practitioner Apprenticeship Level 2

Are you looking to do an apprenticeship?

If you are employed within a setting...
Please check that your employer is supportive of you going on programme and then apply directly here. When you submit an application with your setting’s details, an employer declaration will automatically be sent across for them to complete.

If you are not employed within a setting...
Please look at our list of vacancies that we are currently recruiting for throughout the country.  Our recruitment team will then be in touch to book an online screening interview. If you are deemed successful at this stage, your details will be sent to the employer, who will then decide whether to book you in for an in person formal interview or work trial.

If you do not find a vacancy which is within your area, do not worry!
Simply apply for our programme here and our recruitment team will be in touch to book an online screening interview. If you are deemed successful at this stage, we will support you in finding a setting local to you.

Are you an employer and looking for an apprentice?

If you are interested in upskilling some of your current staff members by supporting them on an apprenticeship, please ask them to apply via our Apprenticeship Recruitment.  

If you are looking for apprentices and would like us to recruit possible candidates in your area, please fill out our vacancy form below. This information will allow us to populate your vacancy altered uniquely to your setting. 

In order for us to be able to recruit on your behalf…. 

  • Every week, our recruitment team will collect applications that come through for your vacancy. Candidates will be invited for a vigorous screening interview to find out if they are suitable for the role and to be put on programme.
  • Successful candidates will be sent over with their CV, application and interview notes for you to make a decision whether you would like to invite them in for a formal interview and/or work trial. 

Once they are given an offer and accepted onto the programme... 

  • For us to be able recruit for you and secure funding for your apprentices, you will be required to set up a Digital Apprenticeship Service Account. This is a government portal that allows you to get funding for apprenticeship costs and recruit apprentices via the government website.  
  • Once you have signed up you will need to add Best Practice Network as your training provider and set us permissions to recruit apprentices and add apprentice records. Once this is completed, we will be able to recruit apprentices on your behalf and secure apprenticeship funding.  

We will provide all instructions on how to complete this and our dedicated funding and recruitment support teams are happy to book in a meeting with you, to provide further support and help set up your account.  

Why choose us?

Supporting employers Supporting apprentices
We recognise how important it is to you that you find apprentices who are the best fit for your early years setting, that they have ongoing support and that you know how they are progressing at every step.  By joining the Best Practice Network apprentice programme, the apprentice can be assured that they will be supported every step of the way to succeed, both within the programme and in their career.