What you are signing up for
Every unit after the first is about a child. Nurturing Growth and Development in Early Childhood, Learning and Development Through Play, Unlocking Words: Exploring Early Language and Communication and Early Personal, Social and Emotional Development are each 20 credits and each takes one strand of how young children grow and asks what the research says and what a practitioner should do with it. Fostering Collaborative and Inclusive Relationships in Early Childhood Setting turns outward to families, colleagues and other agencies.
Most of the people who take this programme are nursery practitioners, room leaders or teaching assistants in reception classes, and the assignments are built for them: observation-based, anchored in a setting you know, and written up with the academic support that the opening unit, Academic Writing and Research Skills, provides. This is an academic diploma from OTHM, not a competence-based early years qualification, and it does not on its own make you a 'full and relevant' practitioner for ratio purposes; it sits above that and is about understanding rather than licence to practise. It carries 120 credits at Level 4, the size of a first year of an early childhood degree.
The six units
- Academic Writing and Research Skills20 credits
- Nurturing Growth and Development in Early Childhood20 credits
- Fostering Collaborative and Inclusive Relationships in Early Childhood Setting20 credits
- Learning and Development Through Play20 credits
- Unlocking Words: Exploring Early Language and Communication20 credits
- Early Personal, Social and Emotional Development20 credits
Unit titles and credit values are taken from the OTHM qualification specification. The order in which LSPM teaches them is set by LSPM and confirmed at enrolment.
After the writing unit, the development units make most sense in roughly the order a child would meet them: growth and development, then play, then language, then personal and social development, with the relationships unit last because it draws on all of them. LSPM confirms its order at enrolment.
Entry requirements
OTHM sets the entry requirements for this qualification and LSPM, as the approved centre, applies them when it assesses your application. As published by the awarding body:
- Relevant Level 3 qualification or equivalent qualification
- GCE Advanced level in 3 subjects or equivalent qualification
- Mature learners (over 21) with relevant management experience (learners must check with the delivery centre regarding this experience prior to registering for the programme)
OTHM's published entry points include a Level 3 qualification, A levels, or mature entry with experience; its wording refers to management experience, which LSPM has interpreted for this programme as substantial experience in an early years or school setting. Applicants without a Level 3 in childcare should talk to us first.
How you are assessed
One written assignment per unit, most incorporating observations of children carried out in your own workplace with appropriate permissions. There are no exams and no observed practice assessment. Ask LSPM about draft feedback before marking.
Where it leads, stated carefully
Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training or a related OTHM Level 5 route; there is no Level 5 Early Childhood title in LSPM's current range.
Year-two entry to an early childhood studies or education degree, if the university accepts the diploma for advanced standing.
Room leader, senior practitioner or SENCO-support roles in nurseries and schools where a Level 4 is asked for.
We do not name partner universities on this page. If and when LSPM shows us a written progression agreement for this diploma, it will be listed here with the date it was signed.
Who it suits
Likely to get a lot from it
- Nursery practitioners with a Level 3 who want to move towards a degree without stopping work.
- Reception and Year 1 teaching assistants who want to understand early development properly.
- Childminders and pre-school leaders who are curious about the theory behind what works in their setting.
Better served by something else
- Anyone who needs a qualification that counts in early years staff ratios; that is a Level 3 competence route, not this.
- People not currently working or volunteering with young children, because the observation-based assignments are hard to complete without access to a setting.
- Those who want to teach in primary schools; this is not a route to qualified teacher status.
Asked about this programme
Do I need to be working in a nursery or school to enrol?
You need reliable access to a setting where you can observe children with permission. Employment is the usual way, but regular volunteering can work; tell us your situation and we will advise.
How does this compare with the Qualifi Early Learning and Childcare diploma?
This OTHM programme is 120 credits and covers child development broadly across six units. The Qualifi diploma is 40 credits, aimed at experienced practitioners upskilling to an advanced role, and much shorter. They serve different purposes.
Will it help me become an early years teacher?
It gives you a strong grounding in early development and a Level 4 qualification, but teacher status requires a degree and a separate training route. Think of this as a first step towards that, not a substitute for it.
Read before you decide
Programme brochure
Brochure slot: PDF to be supplied by LSPM, with its fees, dates and tutor profiles for this programme. Ask us for it by email in the meantime and we will obtain the current version from LSPM.
Official specification
OTHM Level 4 Diploma in Early Childhood Education specification, published by the awarding body. The authoritative source for units, learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Also listed on the Ofqual register under 610/4873/2.