The early years are critical in children’s development. As an early years teacher you’ll work with young children up to the age of 5. You’ll use your knowledge and skills to help young children enjoy high standards of teaching and open their minds to new ideas every day.
You’ll need to do early years initial teacher training (EYITT) to achieve early years teacher status (EYTS). This will allow you to work in a nursery or early years setting.
If you want to teach in a primary school, including in a reception class, or secondary school then you will need to achieve qualified teacher status (QTS). Find out more about training to teach primary and secondary pupils.
If you’re interested in exploring other opportunities to work with pre-school children, you can find out more about a range of careers in early years education.
What you need to become an early years teacher
There are 2 ways to train to become an early years teacher, either as a postgraduate if you already have a degree, or as part of an undergraduate degree.
To do postgraduate training, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent, for example, a vocational or professional qualification, or equivalent qualification you gained outside the UK.
To start early years teacher training, you’ll need these GCSE qualifications:
- maths grade 4 (C)
- English grade 4 (C)
- science grade 4 (C)
If you do not have GCSEs, you’ll need an equivalent qualification, such as a vocational or professional qualification, or an equivalent qualification you gained outside the UK.
If you're a non-UK candidate, you can apply for early years initial teacher training, if you meet all the academic entry criteria and immigration permissions for non-UK candidates.
Routes to early years teacher status
Postgraduate training
This route is designed for people who have an undergraduate degree and want to continue full-time study to achieve early years teacher status.
- Cost
- Your course fees of up to £7,000 are covered by the Department for Education and are paid directly to the training provider. You do not need to do anything to access this funding.
- Salary
- No
- Length of training
- Typically 1 academic year
- Qualification
- Early years teacher status
Bursaries are only available for this route as follows:
- £5,000 if you have a first class degree
- £4,000 if you have a 2:1 degree
- £2,000 if you have a 2:2 degree
You are not eligible for a bursary if you do not have these qualifications or if you’re completing any other EYITT routes.
You do not need to do anything to access this funding. You can learn more about early years initial teacher training funding.
Postgraduate employment-based training
This route is for graduates working in an early years setting who want to achieve early years teacher status.
- Cost
- Your course fees of up to £7,000 are covered by the Department for Education and are paid directly to the training provider. You do not need to do anything to access this funding.
- Salary
- Provided by employer
- Length of training
- Typically 1 academic year
- Qualification
- Early years teacher status
Undergraduate training
This route is for people who want to study for a full-time bachelor’s degree in an early-childhood related subject leading to EYTS.
- Cost
- Up to £9,535 per year
- Salary
- No
- Length of training
- 3 or 4 years
- Qualification
- Early years teacher status
Undergraduate tuition fee loans are available from Student Finance England (SFE).
Postgraduate assessment only training
This self-funded route is ideal for graduates with early years experience. If you already meet the early years teachers’ standards you may be able to gain EYTS without the need for further training.
- Cost
- This could be around £2,500 or £3,000 depending on the provider
- Salary
- No
- Length of training
- 3 months
- Qualification
- Early years teacher status
How to apply for early years teacher training
Contact accredited early years training providers directly to apply for a place.