Early Years Professional Status
Why choose this course?
- Early Years Professionals are key to raising the quality of early years provision.
- Once you've successfully completed this course, you'll be able to lead practice across the Early Years Foundation Stage, support and mentor other practitioners, and shape the skills and behaviours that safeguard and support children.
- You'll be able to help children achieve their potential and support parents and families.
- This course is fully funded by the local authority, so you won't need to pay anything.
- You will be given a mentor to provide encouragement as a 'critical friend'.
- Click here for details of how to apply.
About the course
To achieve Early Years Professional Status, you'll need to demonstrate that you meet a set of national standards that indicate what you must know, understand and be able to do. They cover working safely with babies, toddlers and young children from birth to the end of the new Early Years Foundation Stage (five years old).
There are 39 standards in total, which are organised into six areas:
- knowledge and understanding
- effective practice
- relationships with children
- communicating and working in partnership with families and carers
- teamwork and collaboration
- professional development.
The Early Years Professional role is a new one. It means more than just meeting a series of individual standards - you'll need to have the skill, creativity, commitment, energy and enthusiasm that's essential for leading practice in the early years. You'll also need effective intellectual and leadership skills. It involves being someone who brings about change within a setting, so that the quality of services for children and the outcomes that these services bring about, improve.
As an Early Years Professional, you'll:
- be part of the team working with children in early years settings or wider children's services
- take responsibility for leading and managing play, care and learning
- have a secure and up-to-date knowledge and understanding of early years practice with children from birth to five
- lead and support other staff by helping them develop and improve their practice
- establish and maintain positive relationships with children
- communicate and work in partnership with families, carers and other professionals.
There are three ways you can achieve Early Years Professional Status:
- the three month part time validation pathway
- the six month part time extended professional development pathway
- the fifteen month part time extended professional development pathway.
We'll help you work out which pathway is right for you.
Click here for a detailed study timetable.
Costs
If you currently work in a private, voluntary or independent early years setting, your employer will receive support with supply cover to allow you time to complete your EYPS. You could also receive support from the local Graduate Leader Fund. For further information, talk to your employer who can get advice from their local authority. Or visit the Every Child Matters website for information on the Graduate Leader Fund.
Find out more about what subjects and modules you'll be studying...Your career
As everyone must demonstrate the same standards to achieve Early Years Professional Status, your current and future employers will be confident that you've reached a high level of professional competence. So you'll be able to work in a range of early years settings.
It's the Government's aim to have Early Years Professionals in all children's centres that offer early years services by 2010, and in every full day care setting by 2015. So your skills will be in demand.
What our students say
"The staff at Derby were friendly, knowledgeable and efficient. They supported me well throughout the pathway I chose."
"Early Years Professional Status was an opportunity to reflect on my practice, a chance to step back and consider my strengths and the areas of my work I would like to develop. I now feel I am a more confident leader."
"Although I was daunted by the amount of writing, initially, I found that the actual process of drafting my work was a useful one: an opportunity to reflect on my practice. Reading witness statements was a positive experience, too, as my colleagues wrote about how well I had supported them."
Anything else?
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Which pathway is right for me?
On your application we will invite you to an informal chat where we will discuss your experience and determine the best pathway for you.
If you are a graduate working in an early years setting, you could be eligible for the validation or short training pathways.
If you have a Level 5 qualification, such as an Early Years Foundation Degree or require longer training to meet the knowledge and experience, then the Long pathway would be for you. Candidates with Level 5 qualifications will be able to top up to a full degree on this pathway.
Not got the entry requirements?
We can help you develop your skills and expertise to allow you to achieve EYPS. The University offers a Foundation Degree in Children and Young Peoples Services which allows people with level 3 qualifications or A levels the opportunity to gain a qualification in early years and then go onto the Long pathway of EYPS.
You need to be a graduate and you must also have GCSE grade C or above (or equivalent) in English and Mathematics. If you don't have these qualifications, contact us for details of local providers, online equivalency agency or our free of charge maths exam.
Fees*
The course is fully funded depending on eligibility.
CWDC: EYPS funding eligibility
- Candidates from a private, voluntary, independent setting (PVI) full daycare and children's centres are the priority for this funding and are eligible for all elements of the funding package.
- Candidates from sessional care or childminders are eligible for all elements of the funding package.
- Candidates from maintained full daycare settings such as social services family centres are eligible for all elements of the funding package.
- Candidates involved in training the early years workforce in PVI settings and children's centres, such as advisory teachers, LA early years development people and FE teachers, are eligible for the fee support only - they are not eligible for mentor costs or supply cover.
- Candidates from maintained settings are currently not eligible for EYPS training. If you're unsure please contact us.
Entry requirements
If you already have an undergraduate degree or equivalent level 6 qualification, depending on ...
