Next Steps

Hello all,

I am in a sticky situation right now and I need advice. I am currently studying NCFE CACHE Level 2 Diploma for the Early Years Practitioner with GCSE English Language alongside. I am nearly done with my course and I've hated it quite a lot. English Language is fine and my lecturer is more than sure I'll pass it. My placement hours are atrocious, I'm just hitting the bare requirements. I enjoyed my first placement at a primary school but hated my second placement at a nursery. However, my lecturer says I am doing more than great at my coursework aspect and I am even ahead at doing it compared to the rest of the class.

I've always had a passion to become a primary school teacher you see and it's all that I've wished to do.

I am just unsure on what to do next to reach this. My lecturer is saying she wants to put me on the T Level Technical Qualification in Education and Early Years (Level 3) (delivered by NCFE). She says I'll do amazing at it. I just am not keen on the 750 hour work placement, what if they put me in a nursery again? What if I hate the exams and projects expected of me? I know you need UCAS points to get to University but a Level 3 is really the only way I can see me being able to go to University. I don't really want to go through another 2 years unhappy.

Can I have any advice if there is any alternative routes to get to where I want to be? I do not want to make the wrong choice and I mess up my wishes for the future.

Thanks for reading :smile:

Reply 1

xx0610xx

Hi, I’m not sure if you’ve made up your mind yet but what about the level 3 early years apprenticeship route. I did this and have no regrets. The course is only 12-18 months(I did it in about 14). I’m happy I did this instead of the college route because I got so much experience, while also getting paid and gaining a qualification at the end. I did it across a range of different settings to broaden my knowledge so that i knew the exact type of early years setting I wanted to work in when I qualified. It wasn’t 100% easy but I definitely recommend it.