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Early Years Initial Teacher Training (EYTS) - Graduate Employment Route PT

2025-26 (also available for 2026-27)

How to apply Order a prospectusPostgraduate Open Days
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Start date

1 September 2025

Duration

12 months part-time

Places available (subject to change)

10

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About the course

Reasons to study

  1. Progress your Career - Upon completion of this course, you'll be awarded Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS).
  2. Work Placement Opportunities - Develop your teaching and leadership skills.
  3. Part-time Course - Fit your studies around your existing job in the sector.

Are you aspiring to be an early years specialist? Are you passionate about working with children and their families? Do you value high-quality early years provision and childhood development? Then this course is the right match for you. We will help you develop high quality practice while keeping you up to date with current government reforms in education. This course gives you an opportunity to play an important role in preparing young children for the best start in life.

Why Early Years Initial Teacher Training?

  • Upon completion of the course you’ll be awarded Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS). This reflects the significant role you’ll have in working with young children. EYTS is awarded by the Department for Education and the Teaching Regulation Agency.
  • You’ll have the opportunity to gain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of early childhood; looking at the role of play, considering different curriculum models and examining the impact of early childhood research and theories on current government perspectives and policies.
  • We work in partnership with a strong network of Early Years settings and schools to deliver EYTS training. These settings offer placements for graduate employed trainees who undertake a placement of four weeks in a setting that is different to their own. This forms a key element of your course. Your placement can provide you with opportunities to enhance your learning and to develop your skills of teaching and leadership in a different work context.

Course detail

In order to achieve EYTS you will experience a range of training, development and assessment activities that vary according to your individual learning and development needs. To ensure national consistency, all trainees, irrespective of their training and pathway, are assessed for competence against the 8 Teachers’ Standards (Early Years) at the end of their course.

The University of Huddersfield aims to support you through personalised provision that supports you to demonstrate your abilities across the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). You will take part in work-based learning, workshops and training events. You will have access to a range of mentoring opportunities, with mentors who have experience of delivering and leading practice in the EYFS.

All the training and assessment we deliver will be based on the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (DfE 2021). You are required to be proactive in reviewing taught sessions with peer groups, tutors and mentors to ensure you deepen your knowledge and understanding of quality practice and how this supports your understanding of the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years).

You will be offered ideas to structure your work-based learning, which you will need to negotiate with colleagues in the work place. Additional reading and desk-based research will be suggested. You are strongly recommended to use timetabled study days to build your underpinning knowledge and understanding of theory and practice in the Foundation Stage.

**The course is delivered through a blended approach consisting of taught days in the university and online live webinars and guided learning tasks. This equates to 20 days in which you will need to be released from you setting to engage in face to face teaching sessions (in university or online) and guided learning tasks.

You’ll be required to undertake a four-week placement in a setting that is different to your own plus an additional two week placement in a Key Stage one class in school.**

The course is assessed through course work, including observations of your practice in the workplace. You’ll typically be assessed against the eight professional standards for Early Years Teachers (NCTL, 2013). There are no timed tests or exams. The assessment on the course allows you to demonstrate your practical knowledge and skills alongside developing your critical and theoretical understanding of the subject. The assessment builds on your particular interests and context and is likely to have outcomes that will be of benefit to your professional life and to your employer. You will be provided with guidance to help you develop your assignment work.

Feedback (usually written) is normally provided on all coursework submissions within three term time weeks – unless the submission was made towards the end of the session in which case feedback is available after the publication of results.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this course are normally:

  • Ordinary or Honours degree

In addition you must also:

  • Have GCSE or equivalent in English, Maths and Science at grade 4 or above, or grade C if awarded under the previous GCSE grading scheme, prior to application.
  • undergo Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and health clearances
  • currently be working with children up to the age of five in either an early years setting or in a school nursery/reception class, or as a registered child minder
  • be able to communicate in standard spoken and written English
  • complete a satisfactory interview

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

All conditions must be met by 31 August for entry in September in the year of application.

Postgraduate Open Days

Learn more about Postgraduate Study at one of our upcoming Open Days

Come along to an on-campus Postgraduate Open Day and discover all there is to know about our wide range of postgraduate taught courses, research degrees and professional development options at the University of Huddersfield. 

Book now

Placements

During your time on the course, you will be required to undertake two compulsory placements.

  • Placement one: A four-week placement in a classroom setting different from your current role.
  • Placement two: A two-week placement within a Key Stage 1 classroom.

Throughout these placements, your progress will be assessed through classroom observations and the contributions you make to your online portfolio.

Your career

Previous graduates from courses in this subject area have gone on to work in a variety of roles such as Early Years Teacher, Community Education Officer, Learning Mentor, Education Consultant, Family Support Worker and Education Mental Health Practitioner.*

*Source: Prospects
**Percentage of graduates from the School of Business, Education and Law who are in work and/or further study fifteen months after graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 21/22, UK domiciled graduates).

91.3%** Graduates employed

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Important information

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

Changes to option modules:

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes:

We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment, or pandemics.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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