Recruitment for early years and childcare providers

Interview scoring

If a scoring sheet is used, it should be prepared before the interviews take place and aligned with the job description, person specification and agreed selection criteria.

A simple scoring system could be:

• 0 = No evidence provided
• 1 = Very limited evidence
• 2 = Some evidence, but below the required standard
• 3 = Meets the required standard
• 4 = Strong evidence and exceeds the required standard
• 5 = Exceptional and highly relevant evidence

Certain criteria, such as safeguarding knowledge, qualifications or leadership experience, may be weighted more heavily where they are critical to the role. Any weighting should be agreed in advance by the panel and applied consistently to all candidates.

Checking early years qualifications meet the Department of Education (DfE) requirements 

It is the responsibility of managers and those involved in the recruitment process to ensure that an applicant's early years qualification is recognised by the Department for Education (DfE) as full and relevant for working within staff: child ratios in England. 

Before using the DfE Qualification Checker, you should have the following documents available: 

• The applicant's qualification certificate 
• The qualification transcript that includes details of the modules studied 

Some qualifications have additional requirements that must be met before they can be considered full and relevant. The DfE Qualification Checker will identify whether any additional requirements apply and provide details of what evidence is needed. 

Using the checker as part of your recruitment process can help ensure compliance with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requirements and support informed recruitment decisions.