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Welcome to our Early Years Education Department within the Faculty of Education. We offer a variety of programmes, some of which support and develop Early Years Education professionals, and others which nurture future generations wanting to work with young children in a professional context.

There are two main strands to the current early years education portfolio: Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and undergraduate early years education programmes.

This portfolio offers flexibility and choice for participants to either train to teach in early years education and gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), or to develop a graduate profile for the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce.

The overarching vision of the Early Years Education Department is to raise the status and quality of the Early Years Education and Care workforce (ECEC), and to work in partnership with employers and early years settings/schools across England. We work to ensure that high quality teaching and learning, reflective practice and leadership and research is at the heart of our early years training and professional development programmes.

Our aspiration is to lead early years research, learning and teaching on both national and international levels through a dynamic student-focused environment. You will receive high quality learning experiences that are inextricably linked to the needs and interests of young children. We aim to provide an outstanding, sustainable and inclusive learning environment by responding to identified learners’ needs, developments in the fields of research, and wider community interests (including those of employers), while ensuring a thoughtful process of reflection and evaluation.

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