Nursery teachers’ qualifications have little impact on children’s learning

The London School of Economics along with University College London and Surrey University conducted a research study which revealed that the children’s learning and development was not significantly impacted upon by nursery teachers’ qualifications. The researchers evaluated data from the National Pupil Database and found that children’s learning only increased by a third of a point with graduate teachers. There was also no significant effect on children’s outcomes if they attended a nursery rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. Dr Jo Blanden, lead researcher of the study, stated that government’s efforts to improve teacher qualifications in order to improve children’s learning may not be particularly useful. Chief Executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance emphasized that voluntary nursery settings are not of a ‘lower quality’ only because they are less likely to employ graduate staff. This research contrasts with the findings of a study conducted by Save the Children in 2016 which claimed that nursery teachers must be qualified to improve children’s outcomes.