It is our intention to enrol a new in-take every school year. To achieve this we require applications or serious expressions of interest by the end of August.

You will need a good level of written and spoken English in order to take full part in the programme and complete the assignments. You don't have to be an outstanding artist, but a willingness to participate in artistic and craft activities and to try new skills is important. You will need the computer skills and access to be able to communicate regularly on-line and submit written work electronically as well as in paper form.

There is a government requirement that those who gain the Level 3 EYE qualification, which is included within our level 4 qualification, also have minumum GCSE English and Maths at Grade C/4, or equivalent. Information about equivalent English and Maths qualifications (e.g. O levels) can be found at Department for Education. This list has now been expanded to include Level 2 Functional Skills qualifications in English and Maths. You can receive your qualification without achieving this requirement, but you will not be counted as a qualified member of staff.

If you have qualifications from another country please consult UK ENIC for a qualification comparison. Unfortunately high school 'English as a foreign language' is not sufficient.

If you do not have these you can still enrol on the programme but in an early years setting you will not be counted in child:staff ratios or be considered as a qualified early years worker. However, you can take the necessary GCSEs or the Functional Skills tests while you are on the training and you will gain the appropriate status once you have the necessary grades. Please consult your local college to find out what is available in your area if you need to take the GCSE or Functional Skills options.

If you have any learning difficulties or disabilities that you think will affect your ability to participate in the programme, please let us know so that we can support you ourselves or help you to find the support that you may need. We may ask you to come for an interview and skills-needs assessment.

There are two application form, one for the Level 4 route and one for the Quality Mark route. Please download and complete the one relevant to you:

NESWEC Level 4 Programme Application Form

NESWEC Quality Mark Programme Application Form

Both forms ask for a full CV of your education, qualifications, work and other relevant experience to date and a personal statement of why you think that this is the course for you – please write between 500 and 1,000 words which will tell us something about your outlook on life and how you see this course contributing to your future.

With it we require

• A registration fee of £50 (non-refundable)
• Two passport sized photos
• The names and contact details of three referees, one of which should be a recent work colleague
• This course requires you to have a full enhanced DBS check dated within a year of the commencement of the course programme. Please enclose this for us to see and return to you.

All individuals who apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check are now able to subscribe to an update service. For an annual fee, the update service allows individuals to keep their certificate up to date and take it from one role to another within the childcare sector. This enables childcare employers to carry out an instant free online check on the update service of any new information relating to an individual's record, rather than applying for a new DBS check for the individual. We strongly recommend that you register with the update service to support your placement visits.

For more information please visit the DBS Update Service

If you do not have a DBS check, you will be given information about how to obtain one through the course during the Induction residential. There will be a charge for this.

We issue updates about the course from time to time and hold an Online Introductory Weekend each year in the summer term. We shall keep informed everyone on our Enquirers list, so please contact us if you would like to be kept informed. You are also welcome to contact the Course Coordinator with any questions that you may have. See the contact tab for contact details.

If you are applying to join the course, please read carefully the information on this website, including all the documents under the 'Useful Documents' tab.

At the induction residential you will be given a Student Handbook and Assignment Schedule. These will give you lots of essential information about the course.

Students must complete the first two years of the course within four years of initial enrolment in order to fulfil the requirements of the qualification. The third year full time work placement must be undertaken within two years of the completion of the first two years of the course. This means that the whole course (levels 4 and 5) must be completed within six years of initial enrolment.