Not working in a setting? See the EYITT Full Time Graduate Entry programme

Funding

Course duration Course Duration
up to 12 months

Master credits Awards EY Teacher Status (EYTS)

Face-to-face events Online Training & Setting Placements

Dates Nine Live Training Days

Coaching Personal Tutor Support

 

What are the benefits?

Obtaining Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) through Early Years Initial Teacher Training (EYITT) offers multiple benefits. 

  • Become an Early Years Teacher - gain a qualification to teach children from birth to five years
  • Be a core element of your setting's team development
  • Train for free, thanks to the DfE funding, and get a £7,000 grant for your setting
  • Improve early years provision and practice in your setting
  • Meet the high standards of employers in the early years sector
  • Increase children’s outcomes and life chances

With the EYTS qualification, you can teach children up to the age of 5 in various settings, including private nurseries, children's centres, and reception classes in academies and independent schools.

Please note that leading teaching in reception classes in maintained schools requires additional qualifications, such as Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

Apply for EYITT now!


Attainment gap statistics


"29% of children start school without the basic skills they need to learn. For the most disadvantaged children, this grows to 43%.”

Department for Education, 2018

“Disadvantaged children are 4 months behind at age of 5, 10 months behind by the age of 11, and 19 months behind when they reach 16.”

Sutton Trust, 2020

"After completing EYITT I now want to become a senior or a room manager within my setting. The knowledge and experience I have gained from the course have given me the confidence to set these as my professional goals."

EYITT Graduate

How is EYITT delivered?

EYITT is a 12-month part-time training programme designed for graduates already working in paid employment across the birth to five age range. Upon completion, you will be awarded Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS).

Table illustrating part-time route

 

Features

  • Fully-funded by the Department for Education
  • £7,000 employer incentive to cover release and other costs
  • A minimum of 25 days placement, delivered in blocks of no less than 2 working weeks (dependent on experience to ensure 0-5 age range is covered)
  • Completed over an academic year
  • 1 or 2 training days a month (9 in total), held regionally or online
  • Personal Tutor to support you
  • Mentor and Lead Trainer assigned within your employment setting
  • Assistance with assignments and an eportfolio

Who is it for?

EYITT leads to Early Years Teacher Status and is designed for individuals seeking to specialise in early childhood development and work with children across the birth to five age range. It is suitable for:

  • Graduate early years practitioners working in various settings (nurseries, schools, home-based settings) across the birth to five age range
  • Graduates interested in joining the early years sector.

If you are a graduate looking to enter the early years sector, please visit the page dedicated to full-time training (also known as the Graduate Entry Route).

To be eligible for EYITT, you must meet the following entry requirements set by the Department for Education (DfE):

  • GCSE Grade C/4 or above (or recognised equivalent) in English, maths, and science. Equivalency exams are accepted if you do not have GCSEs
  • Bachelor's degree in any area of study
  • Right to study and work in the UK
  • Competence in spoken and written English

Prospective EYITT candidates must attend an interview to assess their suitability and readiness for the programme. Interviews are conducted remotely via Zoom or phone call.

Please note: The pay and conditions for working in early education and childcare settings outside maintained schools are determined by employers at a local level.

Research has shown that employing graduate-trained staff improves teaching standards and has a positive impact on the whole setting. Early Years Initial Teacher Training (EYITT) is fully-funded by the Department for Education (DfE) as a part of Government's recovery plan.

  • Train your graduate practitioners to become Early Years Teachers for free
  • Receive £7,000 employer incentive to cover any costs associated with having a trainee on the programme
  • Enhance practice of all your Early Years Practitioners by promoting graduate leadership
  • Raise the standards of Early Years provision in your setting

Benefits for your setting

  • Early Years Teachers are early childhood development specialists prepared to work with children from birth to five
  • To meet the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years), trainees will experience working in variety of early years settings and school
  • Trainees will have to teach children from different backgrounds, and across the 0 to 5 age range
  • As a part of curriculum, they will learn about early years settings' organisation and management

How can you support your employee?

Documents required at the application stage:

  • Completed Employer Declaration - which we will email to you once your trainee will apply for a place on the programme

On-programme support

Employment-based trainees should have no more than a 90% timetable directly working with children giving them a 10% minimum release time. This will enable trainees to time complete their planning, reading and assessment, have discussions with their mentor or complete written tasks.

Mentoring and Support

Identify the mentor and a lead trainer within the employment setting to provide guidance and support to the trainee. Mentors are expert colleagues who enable trainees to develop the ability to reflect on their practice, provide specific support for the development of subject knowledge with professional skills and behaviours and will monitor the effective use of funding to ensure that the employee incentive grant is fully utilised to support trainees. For more information about the Lead Trainer and Mentor's role in the Early Years Initial Teacher Training, please check the document below.

Mentor and Lead Trainer Responsibilities

Personal tutor

Best Practice Network will assign a personal tutor to your trainee. The personal tutor and QA team can make visits to the trainee and will facilitate the release of the trainee and mentor for face-to-face or remote discussions on the day of the appointment.

Further information

It is important that you know everything about the benefits of the Early Years Initial Teacher Training (EYITT) as well as the commitment expected from the trainees and employers. To keep you informed please watch this webinar for employers. Should you have any further questions don't hesitate to get in touch on 0117 920 9200.

How to apply?

  1. Click Apply Now button above and create your account on our application portal. 

  2. Pop your details into the application form and upload the required documents. You can save it at any stage and finish later.

  3. We will process your application and arrange for a remote interview. If you are eligible for a place on the programme, our early years team will arrange a remote interview.

  4. To ensure that we meet the DfE's standards our friendly Quality Assurance Team conducts a remote interview. The decision will be made within 3 weeks.

  5. If offered a place we will send you an electronic contract and a welcome pack with all information and next steps.

FAQs

Equivalency with QTS & teaching in schools

Employment

Specialism in early years - birth to five

Eligibility

Qualification Requirements

Placements

Funding and bursaries

Training Sessions

Experience and commitment


What our EYITT trainees and graduates say

Hear directly from some of our EYITT participants and graduates about why they chose to complete EYITT and the impact it is having on them and their settings.

View our Early Years candidate case studies

View Case Studies

National Early Years Teacher of the Year 2023 winners

 

Jessica Reeds National Early Years Teacher

Jessica Reeds
National Early Years Teacher

Iwan Eley Men in the Early Years (MITEY)

Iwan Eley
Men in the Early Years (MITEY)

Charlotte Barry Trainee Early Years Teacher

Charlotte Barry
Trainee Early Years Teacher

Katie Davies Experienced Early Years Teacher

Katie Davies
Experienced Early Years Teacher

 

Find out more about EY Teacher Day

How to apply

We are accepting applications for the EYITT September 2024 Intake

Apply for September 2024

 

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