Complete AABPS (Withdrawn 21 July 2014) QCF Childcare & Early Years specification revision resources. Tailored syllabus coverage with topic breakdowns, quizzes, and practice questions.
Specification Topics
- E2E stub concept
- Support young people who are looked after or are leaving care
- Professional Practice in learning, development and support services
- Care for the physical and nutritional needs of babies and young children.
- Caseload management
- Support children and young people to achieve their learning potential
- Support Children and Young People's Health and Safety.
- Enable parents to develop ways of handling relationships and behaviour that contribute to everyday life with children
- Support young people in relation to sexual health and risk of pregnancy
- Support young people who are involved in anti-social and/or criminal activities
- Understand the needs of children and young people who are vulnerable and experiencing poverty and disadvantage.
- Promote the well being and resilience of children and young people
- Work with children and young people in a residential care setting
- Professional practice in children and young people’s social care
- Support young people to move towards independence and manage their lives
- Promote positive behaviour
- Support use of medication in social care settings
- Professional practice in early years settings.
- Lead and manage a community based early years setting.
- Develop Positive Relationship with Children, Young People and Others Involved in Their Care
- Engage young parents in supporting their children’s development
- Context and principles for early years provision.
- Promote communication in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
- Work with babies and young children to promote their development and learning.
- Support Care within fostering services for vulnerable children and young people.
- Support the speech, language and communication development of children who are learning more than one language.
- Support children or young people in their own home.
- Working Together for the Benefit of Children and Young People.
- Promote learning and development in the early years.
- Develop interviewing skills for work with children and young people
- Understand Child and Young Person Development.
- Support positive practice with children and young people with speech, language and communication needs.
- Support children and young people’s speech, language and communication skills.
- Assessment and planning with children and young people
- Promote creativity and creative learning in young children.
- Support children and young people to make positive changes in their lives
- Support the creativity of children and young people
- Promote young children’s physical activity and movement skills.
- Support young people to develop, implement and review a plan of action
- Improving the attendance of children and young people in statutory education
- Understand How to Support Positive Outcomes for Children and Young People.
- Understand the speech, language and communication needs of children and young people with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties.
- Engage parents in their children’s early learning
- Support young people who are socially excluded or excluded from school
- Support children and young people to have positive relationships
- Provide information and advice to children and young people
- Support the referral process for children and young people
- Principles for implementing duty of care in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
- Promote Child and Young Person Development.
- Support young people with mental health problems
- Coordinate special educational needs provision.
- Support children’s speech, language and communication.
- Support disabled children and young people and those with specific requirements.
- Facilitate the learning and development of children and young people through mentoring
- Engage fathers in their children’s early learning
- Understand how to set up a home based childcare service.
- Engage in personal development in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
- Promote children’s welfare and well being in the early years.
- Promote equality and inclusion in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
- Understand How to Safeguard the Wellbeing of Children and Young People.
- Work with parents, families and carers to support their children’s speech, language and communication development.
- Support speech, language and communication development.
- Work with parents to meet their children’s needs
- Support children and young people to achieve their education potential
Top Exam Board Tips
- Always link theoretical knowledge (e.g., attachment theory) to practical strategies when answering questions on support interventions.
- Familiarise yourself with key legislation by name and specific provisions, as direct references strengthen written assignments and professional discussions.
- Always explicitly name the relevant legislation (e.g., Children and Families Act 2014) and show understanding of its core principles, not just the title.
- Use real-life examples from your placement or work experience to illustrate how you have implemented policies and values, and how this benefited a specific child or young person.
- When discussing the views of children and carers, detail how you gathered their input (e.g., through one-to-one meetings, feedback forms) and give evidence of changes made as a result.
- In reflective logs, use a structured model like Gibbs or Kolb to critically analyse experiences, clearly identifying what you learned and how you will improve future practice.
- For supervision tasks, demonstrate that you prepared for sessions, followed up on action points, and linked your development goals to the relevant National Occupational Standards.
- Link all physical care practices explicitly to the current Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and relevant legislation, demonstrating how your actions meet statutory requirements for safeguarding and welfare.
- Use specific, observed examples from your placement to evidence each learning outcome; for instance, describe a particular nappy change or meal time where you applied a child-centred approach.
- When discussing nutritional provision, reference official guidelines (e.g., from the Department of Health or Nutritionist) and explain how you adapt menus for allergies, cultural preferences, or developmental readiness.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Assuming all looked-after children display challenging behaviour without recognising the underlying trauma and attachment needs.
- Overlooking the importance of promoting participation and choice-making in care planning, leading to disempowerment.
- Confusing the roles of different professionals, such as social workers and personal advisers, under the statutory framework.
- Confusing legislation with guidance or local policies, and failing to cite specific Acts or statutory frameworks.
- Describing principles and values in theory only, without providing practical examples of how they are embedded in their own work.
- Overlooking the voice of the child: assuming rather than directly consulting children and young people, or tokenistically involving them without acting on their feedback.
- Treating supervision as a tick-box exercise rather than a constructive, two-way process that drives professional development.
- Reflective accounts that are purely descriptive, lacking analysis of strengths, weaknesses, or plans for change linked to professional standards.
Key Terminology & Definitions
- Understand the issues affecting young people who are looked after or leaving care, Understand how to support young people who are looked after or leaving care, Know about the statutory and legal frameworks in relation to young people who are looked after or leaving care
- Understand the purposes of learning, development and support services, Understand current legislation, policies and influences on LDSS, Be able to implement the current principles and values that underpin and inform the work of LDSS practitioners, Understand how the views of children, young people and carers can be used to improve learning, development and support services, Be able to use supervision to support continuing professional development and personal effectiveness, . Be able to reflect on own skills, knowledge and effectiveness to inform and improve own practice
- Be able to provide respectful physical care for babies and young children, Be able to provide routines for babies and young children that support their health and development, Be able to provide opportunities for exercise and physical activity, Be able to provide safe and protective environments for babies and young children, Be able to provide for the nutritional needs of babies under 18 months, Understand how to provide for the nutritional needs of young children from 18-36 months
- Understand the importance of managing personal case load, Be able to prioritise cases in personal case load, Understand how to review and evaluate the effectiveness of the case management process
- Understand the legislation and policies that underpin education and learning for children and young people, Be able to support children and young people to work out what they want to learn and achieve, Be able to work with children and young people to make the most of learning opportunities, Know how to work with others to support children and young people to achieve the best possible outcomes from learning opportunities
- Understand how to plan and provide environments and services that support children and young people’s health and safety., Be able to recognise and manage risks to health, safety and security in a work setting or off site visits., Understand how to support children and young people to assess and manage risk for themselves., Understand appropriate responses to accidents, incidents emergencies and illness in work settings and off site visits.
- Know how to enable parents to understand and respond to children’s feelings and ehaviours ., Understand how to support parents to interact with their children in positive ways, Understand how to develop parents’ knowledge of how to support children’s play, learning and creativity, Understand how to work with parents to find positive ways to meet children’s physical needs., Understand how to reflect on own practice in enabling parents to develop ways of handling relationships and behaviour thatcontribute to everyday life with children.
- Understand the issues affecting young people in relation to sexual health and risk of pregnancy, Understand how to support young people in relation to sexual health and risk of pregnancy
- Be able to assess the underlying issues contributing to the anti-social and/or criminal activity of young people, Be able to monitor and review the support given to young people who are involved in anti-social and/or criminal activities
- Understand the factors that may impact on the outcomes and life chances of children and young people., Understand how poverty and disadvantage affect children and young people’s development., Understand the importance of early intervention for children and young people who are disadvantaged and vulnerable., Understand the importance of support and partnership in improving outcomes for children and young people who are experiencing poverty and disadvantage., Understand the role of the practitioner in supporting children and young people who are vulnerable and experiencing poverty and disadvantage.
- Understand the importance of promoting positive well being and resilience of children and young people, Understand how to support the development of children and young people’s social and emotional identify and self esteem in line with their age and level of understanding, Be able to provide children and young people with a positive outlook on their lives, Be able to respond to the health needs of children and young people
- Understand the legal, policy, rights and theoretical framework for residential care for children and young people, Understand own role and professional responsibilities in a residential care setting, Be able to work with children and young people through the day to day activities involved in sharing a living space, Be able to work with children and young people in a residential setting, Be able to safeguard children and young people in a residential care setting
- Understand the legislation and policy framework for working with children and young people in social care work settings, Understand the professional responsibilities of working with children and young people, Be able to meet professional responsibilities by reflecting on own performance and practice, Be able to develop effective working relationships with professional colleagues, Understand the implications of equalities legislation for working with children, young people and families, Understand the value of diversity and the importance of equality and anti-discriminatory practice
- Understand the way that young people move from dependence to independence, Be able to prepare young people for the practical challenges of independence, Be able to prepare young people for the emotional challenges of independence, Be able to prepare young people to assess personal risks and protect themselves
- Understand how legislation, frameworks, codes of practice and policies relate to positive behaviour support., Understand the context and use of proactive and reactive strategies., Be able to promote positive behaviour., Be able to respond appropriately to incidents of challenging behaviour., Be able to support individuals and others following an incident of challenging behaviour., Be able to review and revise approaches to promoting positive behaviour.