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

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 be expected to work with a mentor of your choice that is part of your existing workplace team. Your chosen mentor should 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 2024). 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 online every two weeks for a duration of 6 hours per session. There are also tutorials and face-to-face engagement during workplace and additional placement visits. This equates to no more than 20 days, across the academic year in which you will need to be released from you setting to engage with the course.

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.

Further information

The teaching year for most courses normally starts in September with breaks at Christmas and Easter, finishing with a main examination/assessment period around May/June. Teaching on other courses including professional courses, postgraduate taught, research, distance learning and apprenticeship may have other start dates including January and May. All start dates can be found on each course page and term dates are also available. Timetables are normally available one month before registration.

Our courses are taught at our University campus and you can expect that your lectures and seminars will be held face to face, except in cases of emergency or if specifically stated otherwise in the module description.

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 would be available on request after the formal publication of results. Feedback on exam performance/final coursework is available on request after the publication of results.

You may progress to the next stage of your course or research degree, subject to meeting University assessment criteria and professional, statutory or regulatory body guidelines.

1. Triple proof of teaching excellence: our staff rank in the top three in England for the proportion who hold doctorates, who have higher degrees, and hold teaching qualifications (HESA 2024). So, you’ll learn from some of the best, helping you to be the best.

2. We are joint first in the country for National Teaching Fellowships, which mark the UK’s best lecturers in Higher Education, winning a total of 23 since 2008 (2024 data).

3. We won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award, recognising the University’s commitment to world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners and critical thinkers (Higher Education Academy, 2017).

Read more about academic staff at the University of Huddersfield