Early years assessment

When a child is aged between 2 and 3, practitioners must review their progress, and provide parents and/or carers with a short written summary of their child’s development in the prime areas.

This progress check must identify the child’s strengths, and any areas where the child’s progress is less than expected. If there are significant emerging concerns, or an identified special educational need or disability, practitioners should develop a targeted plan to support the child’s future learning and development involving parents and/or carers and other professionals (for example, the provider’s Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) or health professionals) as appropriate.

The progress check at age two has three main purposes:

1. Partnership with parents – while practitioners and other professionals can support children’s development and wellbeing individually, they can achieve so much more by working together.
2. Action for every child – writing down observations and sharing reports do not help children. Practitioners need to listen to the child, talk with each other and then plan together. Working together can make a difference.
3. Early identification – some children need extra help for a while as they grow and develop – for example, with their communication. Other children may have long-term developmental needs. Some families may struggle and need support. Whatever the circumstances, sensitive early intervention can make a big difference. Children develop rapidly between the ages of 2 and 3 – practitioners need to be quick to support and identify help where it is needed.

You can view guidance for early years practitioners when completing the progress check at age 2.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP)

In the final term of the year in which the child reaches age five, and no later than 30 June in that term, the EYFS Profile must be completed for each child.

The Profile provides parents and carers, practitioners and teachers with a well-rounded picture of a child’s knowledge, understanding and abilities, their attainment against expected levels, and their readiness for year 1.

Each child’s level of development must be assessed against the early learning goals for the seven areas of learning and development.

Year 1 teachers must be given a copy of the Profile report. Settings must share the results of the Profile with parents and/or carers, and explain to them when and how they can discuss the Profile with the practitioner who
completed it.

The Profile must be completed for all children, including those with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND). Reasonable adjustments to the assessment process for children with SEND must be made as appropriate. Providers should consider whether they may need to seek specialist assistance to help with this.

More information

• Early years foundation stage profile handbook
• Early years foundation stage: exemplification materials
• Implementing the early years foundation stage reforms
• Exemplification materials for schools

Listening, attention and understanding

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions
• Make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding
• Hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers

Speaking

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Participate in small group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary
• Offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate
• Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher

Self-regulation

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Show an understanding of their own feelings and those of others, and begin to regulate their behaviour accordingly
• Set and work towards simple goals, being able to wait for what they want and control their immediate impulses when appropriate
• Give focused attention to what the teacher says, responding appropriately even when engaged in activity, and show an ability to follow instructions involving several ideas or actions

Managing self

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Be confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge
• Explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly
• Manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs, including dressing, going to the toilet and understanding the importance of healthy food choices

Building relationships

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Work and play cooperatively and take turns with others
• Form positive attachments to adults and friendships with peers
• Show sensitivity to their own and to others’ needs

Gross motor skills

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Negotiate space and obstacles safely, with consideration for themselves and others
• Demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing
• Move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing

Fine motor skills

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases
• Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery
• Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing

Comprehension

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories
• and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary
• Anticipate – where appropriate – key events in stories
• Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role-play

Word reading

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs
• Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending
• Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words

Writing

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed
• Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters
• Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others

Number

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Have a deep understanding of number to 10, including the composition of each number
• Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to five
• Automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to five (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including double facts

Numerical patterns

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system
• Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity
• Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally

Past and present

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society
• Know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class
• Understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling

People, culture and communities

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps
• Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class
• Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and – when appropriate – maps

The natural world

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants
• Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class
• Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter

Creating with materials

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function
• Share their creations, explaining the process they have used
• Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories

Being imaginative and expressive

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher
• Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs
• Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and – when appropriate – try to move in time with music