What is an Early Years Teacher?
Early Years Teachers are specialists in early childhood development, trained to work with children from birth to the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Teachers will be graduate leaders responsible for organising and leading high quality teaching in early years settings.
Find out more from the Get into Teaching website.
How to achieve Early Years Teacher status
Early Years Teachers are required to meet the same entry requirements and pass the same skills tests as trainee school teachers. In addition, it is necessary to have at least C grade GCSEs in English, Maths and Science.
Training pathways
To become an Early Years Teacher you must follow one of four pathways:
- graduate entry mainstream (full-time)
- graduate entry employment based (part-time)
- undergraduate entry (full-time)
- assessment only.
Find more information on the Get into Teaching website.
Funding for Early Years Teacher training
Universities have funding available to cover the costs of training for some applicants - enquire directly with the university. A list of accredited providers and lead organisations can be found on the GOV.UK website.