Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information on a child’s educational profile and progress is passed from a nursery to their next educational setting.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years providers in England must follow. This includes statutory assessment arrangements for measuring progress of all children in early years provision, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

As set out in the EYFS framework, when a child is aged between two and three, practitioners must review their progress, and provide parents and/or carers with a short written summary of their child’s development in the three prime areas of learning and development. This is the ‘progress check at age two’. The progress check must identify the child’s strengths and any areas where progress is less than expected. If there are significant emerging concerns, or an identified SEND, practitioners should develop a targeted plan to support the child’s future learning and development, involving parents and/or carers and other professionals as appropriate.

Practitioners should encourage parents and/or carers to share information from the progress check with other relevant professionals, including the staff of any new provision the child may transfer to.

Additionally, the EYFS requires early years providers, ordinarily schools, in England to complete the EYFS profile assessment for all children, including those with SEND, at the end of the academic year in which they turn five, usually reception year.

Each child’s level of development is assessed against 17 early learning goals (ELGs). For each ELG, practitioners must assess whether a child is meeting the level of development expected at the end of the EYFS, or if they are not yet reaching this level and should be assessed as ‘emerging’.

Year 1 teachers must be given a copy of the EYFS profile report. The main purpose of the EYFS profile is to support a successful transition to key stage 1 by informing the professional dialogue between EYFS and year 1 teachers regarding each child’s stage of development and learning needs, and helping them to plan the year 1 curriculum to meet the needs of all children.

For children attending more than one setting, the profile must be completed by the school where the child spends most time. If a child moves to a new school during the academic year, the original school must send their assessment of the child’s level of development against the ELGs to the relevant school within 15 days of receiving a request. If a child moves during the summer term, relevant providers must agree which of them will complete the profile.