Most out of school clubs will need to be registered with Ofsted on the Early Years Register or Compulsory Childcare Register, or both, depending on the ages of the children. Your club may also be registered on the Voluntary part of the Childcare Register. The statutory requirements for qualifications are slightly different depending on which register your club is on:
- Early Years Register - if the youngest children are of reception age or above
- Early Years Register - if any child younger than reception age attends
- Childcare Register, Compulsory part
- Childcare Register, Voluntary part
To satisfy the statutory requirements for settings on these Ofsted registers, an out of school club needs to have staff with the qualifications or training set out below.
Note that these qualification requirements apply to all Ofsted-registered out of school clubs, including clubs run directly by schools. Being run by a school does not exempt a club from these requirements.
Early Years Register (reception and older)
If all the children attending your out of school club are of reception age and upwards, you have some exemptions from the standard EYFS qualification requirements.
This means that at every session you must have:
- A first aider holding the 12 Hour Paediatric Care First Aid qualification
- All your staff must have been trained to understand your safeguarding policy and procedures and have received training in recognising signs of abuse and neglect
- All your staff must have received training in recognising the signs of radicalisation and how to respond to concerns
- All staff involved in food preparation must have had food handling training
Among your staff — and ideally at every session — you must have:
- A designated child protection person, who holds a Child Protection Level 1 or Basic qualification, and who has attended a Child Protection Designated Person training course
Among your staff you must have:
- A designated SENCO (special educational needs coordinator)
- A designated ENCO (equalities named coordinator) [required by many local authorities but not a statutory requirement]
- A fire safety officer is not a statutory requirement but it is good practice to have a named person taking responsibility for fire drills and record keeping
Caution
Although it is no longer a statutory requirement for you to employ qualified staff (ie a relevant Level 3 qualification) some childcare insurers may still require that at least the manager or session supervisor has this qualification. In addition, Ofsted inspectors tend to regard having quaified staff as a strong indicator of the quality of your setting.
Early Years Register (children younger than reception)
If any child younger than reception age attends your out of school club, your staffing arrangements must meet the standard EYFS qualification requirements in respect of those children.
This means that at every session you must have:
- A first aider holding the 12 Hour Paediatric Care First Aid qualification *
- The session supervisor and setting manager (if different) must hold at least a full and relevant Level 3 qualification (or above)
- Half of the remaining staff looking after the pre-school children must hold at least a full and relevant Level 2 qualification
- All your staff must have been trained to understand your safeguarding policy and procedures and have received training in recognising signs of abuse and neglect
- All your staff must have received training in recognising the signs of radicalisation and know how to respond to concerns
- All staff involved in food preparation must have had food handling training
Among your staff — and ideally at every session — you must have:
- A designated child protection person, who holds a Child Protection Level 1 or Basic qualification, and who has attended a Child Protection Designated Person training course
Among your staff you must have:
- A designated SENCO (special educational needs coordinator)
- A designated ENCO (equalities named coordinator) [required by many local authorities but not a statutory requirement]
- A fire safety officer is not a statutory requirement but it is good practice to have a named person taking responsibility for fire drills and record keeping
* In addition to the designated first aider, all newly qualified staff who you want to count as 'qualified staff' in staffing ratios for pre-school children must now have a Paediatric First Aid qualification. 'Newly qualified' means staff who have completed a Level 2 or Level 3 early years qualification on or after 30 June 2016. See our article First aid qualifications for more details.
Compulsory Childcare Register
If your setting is registered on the Compulsory part of the Childcare Register, at every session you must have:
- A first aider holding the 12 Hour Paediatric Care First Aid qualification
- All your staff must have been trained to understand your safeguarding policy and procedures and have received training in recognising signs of abuse and neglect
- All your staff must have received training in recognising the signs of radicalisation and know how to respond to concerns
- All staff involved in food preparation must have had some form of food handling training but not necessarily a formal Food Handling and Hygiene certificate.
Among your staff — and ideally at every session — you must have:
- A designated child protection person, who holds a Child Protection Level 1 or Basic qualification, and who has attended a Child Protection Designated Person training course
Among your staff you should have:
- A fire safety officer is not a statutory requirement but it is good practice to have a named person taking responsibility for fire drills and record keeping
Caution
Although it is no longer a statutory requirement for you to employ qualified staff (ie a relevant Level 3 qualification) some childcare insurers may still require that at least the manager or session supervisor has this qualification.
Voluntary Childcare Register
If your setting is registered on the Voluntary part of the Childcare Register, at every session you must have:
- A first aider holding the 12 Hour Paediatric Care First Aid qualification
- All staff involved in food preparation must have had some form of food handling training but not necessarily a formal Food Handling and Hygiene certificate.
- All your staff must have received training in recognising the signs of radicalisation and know how to respond to concerns
- At least one member of staff must have a Level 2 qualification in a relevant area, or have training in the core skills.
Among your staff you should have:
- A fire safety officer is not a statutory requirement but it is good practice to have a named person taking responsibility for fire drills and record keeping
All registers
For all registers, except for the Voluntary part of the Childcare Register, there is now an explicit requirement that your staff must have a sufficient command of the English language to ensure the safety of the children in their care. For example, staff must have sufficient understanding and use of English so that they can keep records, liaise with external agencies (eg, emergency services), and understand instructions such as those for the administration of medication. There is no requirement for staff to have any specific qualification in English, but if you have any staff whose level of English is poor you should arrange further training for them.
Related articles
Full and relevant qualifications
First aid qualifications
Staff without qualifications