Early Years Professional Status
The first five years of life are critical in children’s development. To support this development - and to give every child the best possible start in life - the Government wants an early years professional in every children’s centre and every full daycare setting by 2015. The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has worked with its partners to develop Early Years Professional Status and to support and fund organisations to offer training and assessment.
Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) is:
- A status open to graduates awarded by CWDC
- An important role for those who work with young children and their families
- Concerned with improving the quality of the day-to-day care and education of babies and children in early years settings
What is Early Years Professional Status (EYPS)?
Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) is the graduate level professional accreditation programme for leading practitioners in the early years sector. Since its launch in 2007, EYPS has become recognised as the gold-standard in early years training and the only government endorsed accreditation for the early years workforce.
What is an early years professional (EYP)?
- EYPs are early years practitioners who can demonstrate they are leading and delivering excellent practice in line with a set of national standards and the ethos of the Early Years Foundation Stage
- EYPs are key to raising the quality of early years provision, modelling the skills and behaviours that safeguard children and promoting good outcomes for children.
What are the new Pathways to EYPS from January 2012?
1. Graduate Practitioner Pathway (GPP) – six months
This pathway is for experienced practitioners currently working in the sector who require a small amount of learning or experience in order to demonstrate their personal practice and leadership across the EYFS with children from birth to five years.
2. Undergraduate Practitioner Pathway (UPP) - twelve months
This pathway is for experienced practitioners who are employed in an early years setting and have an Early Years Sector Endorsed Foundation Degree or an equivalent early years qualification at level 5. Candidates are required to top up to degree level in order to access the Early Years Professional Status assessment process.
3. Graduate Entry Pathway (GEP) – twelve months
This pathway is for graduates who have limited experience of working with children from birth to five. This is a full time programme and during the 12 months candidates are required to attend university-based sessions and spend at least eighteen weeks in placement gaining experience of professional practice and leadership. CWDC funded candidates on this pathway will receive a bursary of £3,500.
4. Undergraduate Entry Pathway UEP – twelve months
The EYPS Undergraduate Entry Pathway (UEP) offers students who are studying in the final or penultimate year of a degree in Early Childhood Studies to work towards EYPS. This pathway is for new entrants to the workforce and students who are already employed in the early years sector are not eligible. CWDC funded candidates on this pathway will receive a bursary of £3,500.
What standards do I have to meet to become an EYP?
The EYPS standards indicate what you must know, understand and be able to do in order to achieve EYPS. Because everyone has to demonstrate the same standards, employers can be confident that anyone with EYPS has reached the same high level of professional competence. Being an EYP implies more than meeting a series of individual standards. You will need to have the skill, creativity, commitment, energy and enthusiasm that leading practice in the early years requires.
There are 39 standards in total and they 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
Funding
Please see the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) website for information about funding for the EYPS courses.
Entry requirements
Candidates applying for the Graduate Entry (GEP) and the Graduate Professional (GPP) Pathways must hold a UK degree (or a recognised overseas equivalent) in order to start the pathway. Candidates applying for the Undergraduate Entry (GEP) must be studying in the final or penultimate year of an Early Childhood Studies degree and candidates applying for the Undergraduate Professional (UPP) Pathway must hold a Foundation Degree or recognised equivalent at Level 5.
At the start of all Pathways, candidates must have achieved a standard equivalent to grade C in GCSE English and Mathematics and demonstrate that they are able to read effectively and communicate clearly and accurately in English to a standard equivalent to Level C1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. All candidates will be required to have a Criminal Records Bureau enhanced disclosure check and have the right to study and work in the UK for at least the duration of their pathway.
Enquiries and applications
In order to apply please complete the Middlesex University application form and the EYPS Supplementary application form and send to the address given on the application form. If you would like any further information or an application sent to you, please contact the EYPS office at:
EYPS Admission Office
Middlesex University
School of Arts & Education
Trent Park
Bramley Road
London N14 4YZ
Tel: 020 8411 6914
Email: a.james@mdx.ac.uk
The application pack includes a self-assessment form. It is important that you complete this as accurately as possible as it will help us determine which of these pathways meets your needs. For more information about EYPS please see the Children's Workforce Development Council.
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