Nursery World - Training Today: Early Years Degrees

Thousands of people do early childhood degrees each year – and unlike EYT status, they usually have to fund it themselves through a loan. Why do they do it? Charlotte Goddard reports

When Suffolk College (now University Campus Suffolk) launched a full-time early childhood studies degree in 1993, it was the first of its kind. Although early years policy and practice have undergone significant changes since that first degree was launched, and new statuses such as the Early Years Teacher (EYT) have emerged as part of a continuing drive to professionalise the early years workforce, early childhood studies degrees are popular: approximately 20,000 students at around 50 institutions are engaged in a range of early childhood studies degrees in the UK.

Carolyn Silberfeld, chair of Early Childhood Studies Degrees Network, which came up with the estimate, says, ‘Early childhood degrees continue to increase in popularity – they appeal to such a broad spectrum of applicants.’

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