Do you want to work with children from birth to five years old (including Reception) in the public and private sectors? Achieve Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) in just one year with this Masters-level course.

Early Years learning primarily focuses on the following ideas:

• what constitutes quality in Early Years education?
• equity, inclusion and justice for the pre-school child and the wider family
• ideas of communication, imagination, language and literacy, and provision for the bi/trilingual child
• understandings of early mathematical and scientific development
• discourses of nurture, care, and attachment.

On this MA, there are two routes available:

• an employment-based route for people already working in an Early Years setting
• a placement route for those not currently working in the sector.

As a student on the employment-based route, you’d normally work in an Early Years setting within about 90 minutes’ travelling distance from our campus. This is so you can attend teaching on campus as well as work within your placement setting. University staff also need to be able to support you on your placement.

As a student on the graduate route, we’d seek to place you within similar travelling distance of our campus. We welcome applicants currently not living within 90 minutes of campus. Please note that, if your application is successful, we would expect you to relocate so we can give you the appropriate level of support in your work and studies.

Careers

This MA with Early Years Teachers Status (EYTS) offers the opportunity to combine Masters-level study with practical experience of teaching and researching in the Early Years Foundation Stage. You deepen your knowledge and understanding of educational theory and practice, and develop your skills in:

• research and analysis
• presentation and communication
• critical reflection.

With these skills you’ll have a wide range of educational careers open to you - nationally and internationally.

If you are a professional in employment, this course gives you excellent opportunities for career development and progression into Early Years leadership in a range of private and state-maintained settings.

If you are a new graduate, it provides a springboard into Early Years teaching in both the public and private sector.

As a qualified Early Years Teacher with EYTS, you can teach within private nursery and day-care settings. Free Schools and Academies can employ you to teach Reception children as a full class teacher, while in state-maintained nurseries or Reception classes, you will be qualified to teach with the support of a member of staff with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

The terrain of Early Years educational provision is fast changing. This Masters course has been designed to equip you with all the necessary skills and dispositions to lead in this sector.