Intro

If you're already working in the sector, our Early Years Education PGCert course leads to Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS). The course will enhance your skills and knowledge and your career.

You’ll train to teach with an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ provider and gain practical experiences in other settings, including a school at Key Stage 1.

Your focus will be on the critical analysis of early years research, theory and policy and leading practice in early years.

Our part-time course is designed to fit around your work. There are no fees to pay, and your employer will receive incentive payments to provide support and cover while you are studying.

Find out about postgraduate events

Key facts

Location Brighton: Falmer

Part-time 1 year

Interviews for this course are taking place online

Course fees are fully funded by the Department for Education

Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) is awarded by the Department for Education

Join us for an online event

Learn more about our EYITT course and get your questions answered at one of our drop-in online sessions. These events are suitable for employers and prospective applicants. 

There is no need to book just click on the links above to join.

The sessions will be held on Microsoft Teams and you may need to download the app if you are joining on your smartphone. (Google Play / App Store)

Apply now for your place

Please review the entry requirements carefully and if you have any questions email eyitt@brighton.ac.uk.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Getting good basic qualifications is the first step towards becoming an early years teacher and to be offered a course place you must meet the following entry requirements. If you have any questions about the requirements below contact at professionalcourseadmissions@brighton.ac.uk.

Degree or equivalent
A degree (300 HE credit points of which 60 must be at level 6) from a UK higher education institution, or equivalent qualification.

GCSE
Minimum grade C in English language, mathematics and a science. If you do not meet the GCSE requirements, we can offer an equivalence test; contact us for details.

Experience
Current experience working with young children in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Other 
Before starting the course, you will need:

  • a signed employer partnership agreement
  • to take part in a rigorous selection process designed to assess your suitability to teach
  • an enhanced DBS Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check certificate
  • We are committed to safeguarding and child protection. As part of our selection and interview process, we will undertake additional checks to confirm the suitability of candidates.

Employer partnership agreement
Your employer needs to sign a partnership agreement, which states that they agree to support you during your period of training. This is a condition of the offer we make – you cannot start until we have received the signed agreement. Your employer will receive a £7,000 financial incentive to support you during this period. This is to cover, for example, supply cover costs to enable you to engage with training and placements.

Course content

Top reasons to choose this course

  • Gain EYTS - the mark of professional recognition for those working in the early years sector.
  • The course is part-time so you can continue to work in the sector while studying.
  • Brighton is an Ofsted ‘good’ provider and you'll be educated by an expert team with their own experience as early years’ practitioners.
  • You’ll gain supported practical experiences in other settings, including a school at Key Stage 1. 
  • At university you’ll have access to over 30,000 specialist resources including books, DVDs, games and an online catalogue in our curriculum centre.
  • There are no fees to pay and your employer is supported with training and a financial incentive to provide cover while you are on placement.
  • You'll gain masters level credits which can be used towards further study.

How you will benefit

  • Achieve a professional status (EYTS) and academic award at masters level (Postgraduate Certificate Early Years Education)
  • Improve and change practice in your setting.Lead practice across the Early Years Foundation Stage.
  • Support and mentor your colleagues and others.
  • Model skills and behaviours that safeguard and promote good outcomes for children.

How your setting will benefit

  • Early years teachers are leaders of change and can manage and inspire those they work with.
  • Early years teachers have a wealth of up to date knowledge of effective practice that they have developed through training.
  • Ofsted recognises the difference graduates are making and you will be contributing to its vision for a highly skilled workforce.
  • Parents may be influenced to choose a setting that employs an early years teacher over one that doesn't.

Course structure

On this programme you will spend the majority of your time in your current workplace, with two other placements working with other age ranges including at Key Stage 1. In your workplace and on your placements you will put into practice the skills you learn through your training, with regard to current research and relevant theories.

You will typically attend university for one to two days per month; there are also five induction days in September. This is in addition to placement requirements.

During university taught sessions you will engage with two masters level modules that will focus on:

  • critical analysis of early years research, theory and policy
  • reflecting on early years professional practice
  • leading practice in early years.

These sessions will support you to reflect on and analyse your own practice, as well as develop practice within your setting. The training programme is dynamic, tailored to your professional development needs.

You will be assessed via:

  • module assessment tasks such as written assignments in response to current research and policy in early years
  • a formative review to determine your progress in meeting the Early Years Teachers' Standards
  • a portfolio of evidence which relates to your practice against the Early Years Teachers' Standards
  • direct observation of your practice.

There are no written examinations on this course.

boy_playrole_cooking

Areas of study 

Your training may include aspects of the following:

  • placement experience with the 0–5 age group including 14 days in a school at Key Stage 1 and 16 days with an alternative age range
  • development and learning in the 0–5 age group
  • presentation skills
  • reflective practice
  • leadership skills
  • working with sector professionals. University-based training is supplemented by experienced and renowned researchers and outside expertise such as speech and language therapists and movement and play specialists.
Female teacherand_toddlers_water_play

Meet the team

Holly's core belief that all babies and children are unique, capable and should have access to the highest quality learning experiences extends beyond working in the Early Years to supporting learners of all ages. Her passion has developed from previous experience as a nursery employee, nanny of a child who had complex needs, teacher and EYFS leader in a primary school.

Holly completed her Diploma in Childcare and Education (NNEB) before qualifying as a teacher for children aged 3–7 years (QTS) at the University of Brighton and now works as a senior lecturer in the school. Holly supports teaching on the Early Years Education PGCert with Early Years Teacher Status programme, undergraduate BA(Hons) Primary Education with QTS programme, and the PGCE Primary Education programme.

Dedicated to excellence within the Early Years sector, Holly carries her enthusiasm into the EYITT Programme Leader role as well as that of Support Tutor.

Holly Kilvington

Placements 

As well as gaining further experience in your early years workplace, you will have the opportunity to undertake placements in other settings, including in a school at Key Stage 1 for 10 days over two weeks.

In addition you will also undertake a work placement with an alternative age range. So, for example, if you normally work with children aged 3–5, you would have a placement working with under 3s. This placement is also for 10 days over two weeks.

At the university we have close partnerships with local schools and early years settings to support your placements. The EYITT course team will help you to arrange them and you will have the support of mentors throughout.

Female teacher and child playing with number puzzle

Facilities

Curriculum Centre
Our specialist Curriculum Centre on the Falmer campus houses more than 30,000 specialist resources, spanning all the subjects in the national curriculum. The collection includes games, DVDs, CD-ROMs, pictures, charts, education packs and an extensive collection of children’s books.

Falmer library
The Falmer library houses an extensive array of literature and resources related to early childhood education and care.

View our Curriculum Centre tour

male teacher reading book with group of toddlers

Ofsted

Graded 'good' by Ofsted for early years in our 2024 Initial Teacher Education inspection.

Ofsted commended us on many aspects of our courses saying:

  • Trainees shine at Brighton’s long-established and highly impressive teacher training programmes.
  • The care and dedication shown by staff towards trainees is superb.
  • Trainees are at the heart of everything. They are valued and expertly supported throughout the course.
  • The curriculum skilfully equips trainees in safeguarding, behaviour management and supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
  • Trainees impress the placement settings they work in because of their professionalism and aptitude to apply what they have learned.
Ofsted GOOD provider logo

Careers

Preparing for your career

You will graduate from this course with enhanced skills and knowledge to become a confident and competent early year’s teacher.

As well as being awarded a Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in Early Years Education you will graduate with Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) which will demonstrate that you have met the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years).

Your benefit from placement opportunities in two contrasting settings where your gain further experience including in a school at Key Stage 1.

Learning from experienced professionals and renowned researchers, you'll be equipped to make decisions based on the depth of your knowledge of the EYFS framework and of relevant theories and research.

male and female teacher with group of toddlers in reception classroom

Placements

In addition to your current work place, you will undertake two other placements in contrasting settings. This will include a school at Key Stage 1, to give you supported experience and help you gain confidence in your teaching ability.

Our staff will ensure that you are well prepared before your placements, and that you have all the support and guidance needed to make the most of these opportunities.

female teacher and two girls playing in mud kitchen

Graduate destinations

There is great demand for early years teachers to provide high-quality education for young children.

Our graduates are specialists in early childhood development and many go on to lead practice across the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

Achieving EYTS means that you’ll be able to take on higher level and leadership roles to improve the experiences and life-chances of young children, providing them with the best start in life.

By becoming an early years teacher, you’ll make a lasting, positive impact on children’s wellbeing and development through play and care, creating a secure base from which they can safely explore their world.

If you wish to teach at primary level in the maintained school sector, you will require Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) not Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS). Find out more about our Primary 3-7 years PGCE.

Babies playing with instruments at toddler group

Further study

After completing your PGCert we offer opportunities for you to continue your studies.

On successful completion of this course you will achieve 60 masters-level credits which can be used towards our Education MA which further integrates academic study with work-based learning and research.

early years teacher showing plant to children

Supporting your employability

Outside of your course, our Careers Service is here to support you as you discover (and re-discover) your strengths and what matters to you. We are here for you throughout your university journey as you work towards a fulfilling and rewarding career.

Connect with our careers team

  • Find part-time work that you can combine with your studies.
  • Find, or be, a mentor or get involved with our peer-to-peer support scheme.
  • Develop your business ideas through our entrepreneurial support network.
  • Get professional advice and support with career planning, CV writing and interview top tips.
  • Meet potential employers at our careers fairs.
  • Find rewarding volunteering opportunities to help you discover more about what makes you tick, and build your CV.

Whatever your career needs, we are here to help. And that's not just while you are a student, our support carries on after you've graduated.

Find out more about our Careers Service...

Coloured background with the words Be More, Connected, Skilled, Employable

Fees and costs

Course fees

There are no fees to pay on this course. We also work in partnership with your current employer to provide training and support and offer your employer a £7,000 financial incentive to provide for your cover while you're at university and on placement.

You can find further information on the Department for Education website.

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2025–26.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

What's included

Here you’ll find details of specific resources and services that are included in the tuition fee for our education and teaching students. To help you to budget for your studies, there is also information on any additional costs that you may have to pay or can choose to pay in addition to your tuition fee.

Check out our finance pages for info about fees, funding and scholarships along with advice on international and island fee-paying status.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information.

What’s included in your tuition fee

  • Course books, magazines and journals are available in the university libraries. You do not need to have your own copies. See the subject area guides in the library for an up-to-date list of key subject journal databases.
  • You will have access to computers and necessary software on campus – and can borrow a laptop from us if yours is broken or you don’t have a computer at home. Specialist equipment is provided to cover essential learning.

Find out how tuition fees enable us to support all of our students with important services, facilities and resources across the university.

Additional course costs

  • For courses which require a placement, you’ll be expected to pay for your travel expenses but you may be able to claim some travel costs back from the university, depending on where your placement is in relation to where you live.
  • You’ll need to budget for printing and stationery for personal study, and books if you decide to buy your own.
  • You may wish to budget up to £25 for stationery/teaching materials.
  • Many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices, but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Falmer campus

Set in the South Downs, our Falmer campus is around four miles from Brighton city centre. Students based here study a range of subjects including education studies, teaching, sport and exercise, nursing and midwifery, allied health professions and medicine. Brighton and Hove Albion's Amex stadium and beautiful Stanmer Park are right next door.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence on site, as well as a library, restaurant, cafes and the students' union shop and bar.

The campus has extensive sport and leisure facilities including a fitness suite, swimming pool, outdoor grass football and rugby pitches, sports hall, tennis and badminton courts, and dance and spin studios.

Specialist learning facilities at Falmer include the curriculum centre used by teaching and education students, which houses over 30,000 teaching resources, clinical skills and simulation suites used by health students, and labs and a strength and conditioning suite used by sport students. We’ve recently redeveloped the Falmer campus - learn more about the many facilities our students have access to.

Cycle lanes link Falmer with our other campuses and the city centre. There are regular bus services to the city centre and other campuses. Falmer train station is right next to campus and a nine-minute journey to central Brighton.

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Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students. So if you applied for halls by the deadline you are guaranteed a room in our halls of residence.

Brighton: Falmer

Halls of residence
We have self-catered halls on all our campuses, within minutes of your classes, and other options that are very nearby.

  • You can apply for any of our halls, but the options closest to your study location are:
    • Paddock Field and Great Wilkins halls offer a range of rooms on our Falmer campus, minutes from your classes, and on the edge of the South Downs.
    • Varley Park is a popular dedicated halls site, offering a mix of rooms and bathroom options at different prices. It is around two miles from Falmer campus and four miles from the city centre, and is easy to get to by bus.

Want to live independently? We can help – find out more about private renting.

Outside views at Falmer accommodation

Outside views at Falmer accommodation

student outside the sport and health complex at Falmer

Extensive facilities at Falmer sports centre

Students dining at Westlain

Students dining at Westlain

Local area

About Brighton

The University of Brighton is at the heart of our city's reputation as a welcoming, forward-thinking place which leads the way when it comes to the arts, music, sustainability and creative technology. Brighton is home to a thriving creative community and a digital sector worth £1bn a year to the local economy, as much as tourism.

Many of the work-based learning opportunities offered on our courses such as placements and guest lectures are provided by businesses and organisations based in the city.

You can also get involved with city festivals and events such as the Brighton Festival, the Fringe, Brighton Digital Festival, Brighton Science Festival, the London to Brighton bike ride, and the Great Escape festival of new music to name but a few. Other annual highlights include Pride, the Brighton Marathon, and Burning the Clocks which marks the winter solstice.

You'll find living in Brighton enriches your learning experience and by the end of your course you will still be finding new things to explore and inspire you.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and there are daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton
Brighton Beach sunset

Maps

Falmer campus

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more about how we support your wellbeing.

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Students playing frisbee

Student views  

Clare Livesey

"As a self-employed childminder, I am always looking for ways to improve and expand my knowledge within the early years. I felt the time was right to study a formal qualification and give the children in my setting the best experience and environment that I could provide.

"I found the lectures informative and incredibly useful and the visits from my mentor were helpful and reassuring. As I am self-employed, I was able to adjust and improve my setting as the course progressed so I could see the tangible improvements at every stage of the journey.

"The course team were amazing and incredibly supportive. Some students, including myself, hadn’t studied for many years and found the postgrad certificate quite challenging. The team showed great patience and compassion as they guided us through the process to ensure we all produced the very best work that we could.

"I gained so much from the course and was able to put all my new skills into practice. A key element of the experience was learning how to slow things down, giving the children more autonomy and introducing a hygge approach to establish a calmer environment and allow the children time to discover and learn at their own pace through sustained shared thinking.

"Since graduating, I have continued to grow my business into a successful company which I am very proud of. I have developed my teaching techniques and acquired a wider range of resources to introduce to the children. I am now more confident in how I teach, prepare the children for school and support their development."

Clare_Livesey_EYITT

Lou Adams  

"As a nursery owner I was looking to further my studies and this course was perfect not only because it was local, but I was able to fit studying around my busy work schedule and personal life as a mum of two.

"I chose the University of Brighton because I had attended some CPD training previously and enjoyed the teaching style, I also received excellent recommendations from colleagues.

"From the start of the course and all the way through, the teaching staff were excellent. I loved going in to the classroom and felt that every session was beneficial to my studies and for me to build my confidence.

"A highlight of the course for me was an opportunity to go on placement in another local nursery as I felt it really supported my studies and how I looked at practice in my own nursery and preschool too.

"Having this qualification has made me more confident in myself, with my new knowledge and experience I am able to support my own staff and several are now also studying their level 3 qualification.

"Although really hard work, this is far outweighed by the enjoyment of the lessons at university and spending time with like-minded professionals, the support you receive from each other and the teachers, the invaluable experience you will get from placements and the elation you will feel when you see the difference in your practice.

"To anyone thinking about doing this course, I would definitely say go for it – and if you are not 100% sure go and meet the teaching staff as they are truly inspirational."

Lou Adams

Carolynne Wilde

“I decided to embark on the Early Years Teacher Training after completing my foundation degree and the Professional Studies in Learning and Development BA. I found the course very interesting, especially in extending my knowledge on current research regarding child development and enhancing my practice and leadership skills. During the course, I carried out a placement to gain experience with babies and to utilise leadership skills with other early years practitioners, which I found enjoyable.

"Although the course is intensive, I was able to rely on the support of knowledgeable and inspirational tutors and fellow early years practitioners. The highlights of this course were attending university sessions once or twice a month to exchange thoughts and ideas around practice and coursework. I would definitely recommend studying through the University of Brighton.”

Jo Donovan

“When I began training for EYTS I was very excited but found it somewhat daunting. However my experience at the University of Brighton was fantastic.

“The tutors were extremely supportive providing invaluable information and exciting lectures to inspire us all. The practitioners I met were lovely and being together provided a supportive network through the process. The course provided the opportunity to discuss and reflect on best practice and the ways these could be effectively implemented within our individual settings.

“Having gained EYTS, I feel more confident and able to contribute towards developments in the provision at my setting to promote the children’s well being and enhance their educational experiences. This week I even led a workshop on sustained shared thinking with my colleagues, which I would never have had the confidence to do before!”

Stay in touch

Find out about postgraduate events

Find out more

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644

professionalcourseadmissions@brighton.ac.uk

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