How Family First built a sustainable workforce through apprenticeships
Like many organisations across the early years sector, Family First was experiencing growing recruitment pressures. As one of the UK’s largest early years provider groups, unfilled vacancies had a direct impact on teams, consistency and day-to-day operations. Level 3 practitioners were particularly difficult to recruit, and attrition was sitting at around 34%.
Reflecting on the challenge, Early Years Apprenticeship Lead Michele Falconer explains:
We’d tried the usual recruitment routes and the numbers just weren’t dropping. We knew we had to look at things differently.
A fresh approach
Rather than continuing with the same recruitment methods, Family First began exploring how apprenticeships could play a bigger role in their workforce strategy.
We started by asking how we could bring more people into the sector and support them properly. We began with around 40 to 50 apprentices, and once we saw them progressing and qualifying, it gave us the confidence to think bigger. That's when we said, let's really go for this." Michele said.
Partnering with Realise
In May 2025, Family First approached Realise with an ambitious challenge - to recruit at scale and build a sustainable pipeline of apprentices across the organisation. Working together, we set a target of 150 learners, ensuring at least 100 successful starts.
Realise supported everything - sourcing, advertising, screening, interviews and onboarding,” Michele explains. “But more than anything, it was the way the team worked with us.
The people behind the process
Lisa, Laura and Sarah Jane were phenomenal. It didn’t run perfectly at first, and that’s to be expected at this scale, but everyone just kept asking, how do we make this work?
Making it happen
Vacancies went live at the end of May and interest was immediate. After some early challenges, the team found a strong rhythm using remote interviews followed by stay-and-play sessions in settings.
Amazing achievement over 12-14 weeks!
- Nearly 300 candidates were interviewed
- Around 200 progressed to stay-and-play sessions
- Over 100 apprentices were successfully recruited!
Flexibility and trust
As the programme scaled, flexibility and trust were essential. When application forms or academic references became a barrier, Michele spoke of how the Realise team adapted quickly - supporting candidates over the phone to keep things moving:
That flexible thinking made such a difference. Nothing felt like a blocker, it was always about finding a solution. Nola was instrumental in keeping everything on track, her attention to detail, reporting and organisation meant I could do this alongside my role. I genuinely couldn’t have done it without her.
Impact in settings
The impact of apprentices joining settings has been extremely positive.
There are some absolute superstars coming through,” Michele says. “Some need more coaching and support, but seeing their confidence grow is incredibly rewarding. When you look at the programme they’re on, they’re being set up to succeed.
Looking ahead
What began as a response to recruitment pressures has become a core part of Family First’s long-term workforce strategy. The organisation is now working towards 200 learners, with ambitions to reach 300 across its settings.
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