THE College of West Anglia is supporting national moves to raise nursery staff qualifications.

Children’s Minister Liz Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, hopes to raise the qualifications of nursery childcare staff employed to improve quality and allow them to look after more children.

The changes, which are due to come into force later this year, have been welcomed by the college, which prepares hundreds of young people for careers in the childcare industry.

College of West Anglia principal David Pomfret said: “We welcome the expectation of higher standards, which fits with our aim of producing fully-trained and qualified people for the local and regional economy.

“Staff working in nurseries are fulfilling a very important role and ensuring they are well qualified will bring benefits all round.

“The students who successfully complete our level 3 childcare courses are fully trained and will have good GCSEs or their equivalent in maths and English, a key element of the new Government proposals.

“Our childcare students also have the opportunity to progress to university-level qualifications through our foundation and degree programmes.”