If you’re comparing prices for the NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma for Working in the Early Years Sector, it helps to know exactly what you’re paying for before choosing based on price alone. This qualification is the standard route into becoming an early years educator, and while costs vary between providers, the cheapest option should still give you everything you need to actually complete it and enter the workforce.
At Easy Training 123, we offer the NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma for Working in the Early Years Sector at £950 (reduced from £1,800), making it one of the more accessible ways to gain this qualification with full support included.
What This Qualification Actually Involves
This diploma prepares learners to become early years educators, enabling you to work with children from birth to five years old, with additional knowledge of children aged five to seven. On completion, you’re intended to be ready to enter the workforce directly as an early years educator.
Key details:
- 10 mandatory units, with 95 credits required to complete the qualification
- Typically takes 1–2 years, depending on your pace
- Assessed through an internally assessed and externally quality assured portfolio of evidence — not written exams
- Requires a mandatory work or industry placement, with a minimum of 300 hours (350 recommended where possible)
- Entry requirement: learners must be at least 16 years old
Who This Course Is For
This qualification is designed specifically for learners preparing to become early years educators, and opens up roles such as:
- Educator in day nurseries
- Educator in nursery schools
- Educator in reception classes in primary schools
- Pre-school worker
Because it’s a competence-based qualification, you’ll need access to a relevant placement or workplace setting with children aged 0–5 throughout your studies to complete the practical requirements.
This diploma prepares learners to become early years educators, enabling you to work with children from birth to five years old, with additional knowledge of children aged five to seven.
Why the Cheapest Price Isn't Always the Best Value
Given the placement hours and portfolio evidence required for this diploma, the level of support you get matters as much as the price tag. Before choosing a provider based on cost alone, check whether the price includes:
- Ongoing tutor support across the full 1–2 year duration
- Guidance through your portfolio of evidence, including help meeting the 300+ placement hours requirement
- A genuinely accredited course, rather than one implying equivalence without proper NCFE approval
Our £950 price includes full tutor support throughout, so you’re not left to navigate the placement and portfolio requirements without help.
Progression After This Qualification
Completing this Level 3 diploma isn’t just an entry point — it opens up clear next steps, including:
- Further education
- The NCFE CACHE Level 5 Diploma for the Early Years Senior Practitioner, for those ready to move into a leadership or senior role
- Higher education, where universities may accept your qualification alongside a personal statement
How to Confirm a Provider Is a Genuine NCFE Centre
Before enrolling with any provider offering this qualification, it’s worth checking they’re a properly approved NCFE centre. You can verify Easy Training 123’s approval directly on NCFE’s own centre qualification list, which confirms our centre code and the qualifications we’re approved to deliver. It only takes a minute and protects you from providers advertising accreditation they don’t actually hold.
Get Started
Ready to work towards your NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma for Working in the Early Years Sector at an accessible price, with full tutor support included? View full course details and enrol here, or contact our Croydon-based team if you have questions before signing up.
What Our Students Have To Say
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