What does the Early Years Teacher Status entail?

Following the introduction of the Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) scheme in September 2013, the government has announced a substantial increase in the number of well qualified early years practitioners who can apply for the programme from September 2014. Building on the Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) programme which it replaced, the Early Years Teacher programme is open to graduates wishing to specialise in taking on a major role in organising and leading high-quality teaching practice in early years settings.

Early Years Teachers will be graduate specialists in early childhood development and they will hold EYTS reflecting the specialist role that they have in working with babies and children from birth to five years.

To become a trainee Early Years Teacher, practitioners will need to meet the same entry requirements and pass the same skills tests as trainee primary school teachers. Trainees will then need to complete an Early Years Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course, fully complying with the National College for Teaching and Leadership’s Teachers’ Standards (Early Years) which operate in parallel with the current Teachers’ Standards.

Why EYTS?

The Education and Childcare Minister, Elizabeth Truss, has stressed that the move to introduce the EYTS is largely in order to raise the profile of the early years and childcare profession by ensuring career progression for individual practitioners. The DfE’s website states that the government’s intention is that the Early Years Teacher programme will ‘introduce one title of “teacher” across early years and schools, which can be easily recognised by parents and colleagues in other agencies working with children.’ The website also says that those practitioners who have achieved EYPS will be seen as the equivalent of Early Years Teachers who can, it is implied, use the title ‘teacher’ in their setting. It is important to note, however, that EYTS does not carry qualified teacher status.

Ms Truss has addressed the issue of higher salaries for practitioners with EYTS – which has been raised by well qualified early years practitioners since the introduction of EYPS – by saying that it is surprising that many early years settings employing suitably qualified graduates have not taken advantage of the 1:13 ratio for those working with children aged three to five. This would enable employers to use the savings on staff payments to raise the salary levels of early years graduate leaders. Any practitioner who is successful in gaining Early Years Teacher Status will have demonstrated the necessary skills and professional capabilities to ensure high standards for children aged three to five within the staffing ratios found in early years provision in nursery and primary schools.

Routes to EYTS

From September 2014 there will be four routes to Early Years Teachers Status. Practitioners hoping to become trainees should be making enquiries in the very near future about appropriate provision for them, depending on their qualifications and circumstances. The four routes are:

• a mainstream graduate entry route – 12 months full time for those already holding a degree at honours level
• an undergraduate entry route by which trainees will attend an early childhood related degree combined with additional preparation for Early Years Teachers Status for three years on a full time basis
• an employment based route to encourage employer engagement  for 12 months part time
• a graduate assessment only route which is three months part time.

Entry requ​irements for all routes

• All entrants must have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade C in GCSE English, mathematics and a science subject.
• In the case of graduate programmes of Early Years ITT, all entrants will hold a first degree of a United Kingdom higher education institution or an equivalent qualification.
• All entrants, as part of the programme providers’ selection procedures, will take part in a rigorous selection process designed to assess their suitability to teach.
• As for all students beginning ITT, Early Years ITT applicants will now be required to have passed the Professional Skills Tests prior to entry.

Teachers’ Standards​ (Early Years)

In order to gain Early Years Teacher Status, all trainees must be able to demonstrate that they have met all of the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years) in practice from birth to the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

Any early years practitioners who are considering applying for a place to study for Early Years Teacher Status will find it useful to study the detail of the Standards which set out in detail the expectations of successful candidates. The eight Standards may appear at first glance to be straightforward but it is important for aspiring professionals to consider the complexity of how to evidence success in each of the statements before embarking on the process. Giving serious consideration to the full implications of Standard 1 ‘Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge all children’, will help prospective candidates to decide whether or not the EYTS programme is for them.

On the Early Years Hub over the next few months we will be considering the detail of each of the Early Years Teachers’ Standards in order to help trainees on the programme build a full picture of what they entail.