Assessment plays an important part in helping parents, carers and practitioners to recognise children’s progress, understand their needs, and to plan activities and support.
The statutory assessment requirements in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework are:
- ongoing assessment;
- the progress check at age two;
- the reception baseline assessment (RBA); and
- the EYFS Profile.
It is important to remember that assessment in the EYFS should not require prolonged breaks from your interactions with children or excessive paperwork.
Ongoing assessment
Ongoing assessment, which is also known as formative assessment, is an integral part of the learning and development process. It involves practitioners understanding children’s interests and what they know and can do, and then shaping teaching and learning experiences for each child reflecting that knowledge. This should be happening across the EYFS.
In your interactions with children, you should make and act on your own day-to-day observations about children’s progress, as well as the observations that parents and carers share.
There is no requirement to keep written records of your day to day observations.
Progress check at age two
The progress check happens in an early years setting when a child is aged between two and three. This involves practitioners reviewing a child’s progress and providing parents and/or carers with a short written summary of their child’s development in the prime areas.
It is up to you what further information, beyond the prime areas, you would like to include within the summary. The summary must celebrate the child’s progress, identify areas where further support might be needed and where there might be a development delay, and describe how you will address any concerns.
The progress check at age 2 guidance supports practitioners in completing the progress check.
Reception baseline assessment
The reception baseline assessment is conducted by a child’s teacher in the first six weeks of a child starting reception. It is used to form the starting point for cohort-level school progress measures. Data from the RBA is compared to key stage 2 outcomes to form the overall progress measure for a school.
The reception baseline assessment framework provides further information on the RBA.
Early Year Foundation Stage Profile
The EYFS Profile should be completed by a child’s teacher in the final term of the year a child turns five, this is usually reception year.
You must assess each child’s level of development against the 17 early learning goals set out in the EYFS. You must indicate whether children are meeting expected levels of development, or if they are not yet reaching expected levels and are assessed as ‘emerging’. The purpose of this is to support a successful transition to year 1.
The EYFS Profile handbook helps support teachers to complete the EYFS Profile.