June 2026 Subject Advisor Update for Early Years
Subject Advisors June update for Early years and Child Development
Welcome to the June update for Early years and Child development. I hope you've been able to enjoy some sunshine.
There is lots of information in the update around reforms and what that means.
Now that the exams are over we just have to wait for the results in August.
| Date | Activity |
| 5 July | BTEC Claiming deadline for students expecting a summer 2026 result |
| 5 August | BTEC Level 3 Nationals results released to centres under embago |
| 13 August | BTEC Level 3 Nationals results released to students |
| 14 August | BTEC L1/L2 Firsts,Level 2 Technicals and BTEC Tech Award results released to centres under embargo |
| 20 August | BTEC L1/L2 Firsts,Level 2 Technicals and BTEC Tech Award results released to students |
AAQ Funding
Early Childhood development
The AAQ in Early Childhood Development is funded for 26/27 so you can continue to teach this with confidence.
In 2027 it will be replaced by the V-Level Education and Early years.
You can see the proposed content and respond to the Government Consultation.
Funding for Level 2
Level 2 Qualifications in Early years
The BTEC Level 2 Technical Occupational Entry for Early Years Practitioners (Diploma) (post 16)remains funded for 26/27. The BTEC Level 2 Diploma for Early years Practitioners (19+) also remains funded.
They will be replaced by Foundation Certificate and an Occupational Certificate in September 2027.
You can see the proposed content on the Government website.
BTEC Tech Award (2022) Extended
Child Development
We’ve extended all BTEC Level 1/Level 2 Tech Awards in England and Northern Ireland to 31 August 2030.
Tech Awards aren’t currently affected by reforms at this level, so you can continue to deliver them with confidence.
Training for the Tech Award
We are gathering information from centres on how to improve the Tech Award training. It is just a short form and will help us to improve what we can offer.
Early Childhood Development AAQ
Updated Specification
You can now download the updated specification for the BTEC L3 AAQ National in Early Childhood Development.
Take a moment to review the summary of changes at the start of the document and share this update with your delivery teams so everyone is working with the correct version.
We’ve also updated the sample assessment material for Unit 2. The Pearson-set assignment briefs are unchanged.
BTEC 2026/27 Timetables
Nationals, Firsts and Tech Awards
The final timetables for the winter and summer 2027 series are now available for you to download. Make sure you use these over the previous provisional timetables.
Subject advisor
Esther Trehearn
Childcare
Email :
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Phone :
+44 (0) 344 463 2535
(Teaching Services team | Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm GMT)
