As the 2023 Early Years Foundation Stage profile (EYFSP) assessment period approaches, the Department for Education (DfE) want to provide teachers and school and Multi Academy Trust (MAT) leaders with important information on completing the EYFSP this year. This includes:
- An overview of the EYFSP
- Guidance on administering the EYFSP
- An update on exemptions and exceptions from the EYFSP
- Frequently asked questions on the EYFSP
Overview the EYFSP
The main purpose of the EYFSP is to support a successful transition to Key Stage 1 by informing the professional dialogue between EYFS and year 1 teachers.
Practitioners are expected to use their professional judgement to make these assessments, based on their knowledge and understanding of what the child knows, understands, and can do.
This should inform year 1 teachers about each child’s stage of development and learning needs and help them to plan the year 1 curriculum to meet the needs of all children. The EYFS profile is also used to inform parents about their child’s development.
The EYFSP must be completed for each child and submitted to the local authority no later than 30 June 2023.
Guidance on administering the EYFSP
The DfE has published a range of guidance and support to help reception teachers and leaders complete the EYFSP this year.
- The EYFSP handbook sets out the statutory requirements for the EYFSP assessment in the 2022/23 academic year.
- Exemplification materials are designed to help schools understand and use the early learning goals (ELGs) and profile assessment under the 2021 EYFS framework. The videos show how practitioners can draw on their knowledge of each child and their own expert professional judgement to make an accurate summative assessment at the end of the year and include a combination of children who have met and not met the expected levels of development across the ELGs.
- Reception teachers and leaders are encouraged to use the exemplification materials in conjunction with this context note, which provides context for the videos and EYFSP assessment.
- The DfE myth-busting page aims to dispel some of the common misconceptions about the EYFSP and gives clarity on what is required from teachers and leaders.
Please use these resources and this information to ensure you are confident and well informed ahead of the assessment period.
An update on exemptions and exceptions from the EYFSP
In previous years when a child had not spent a long time in a setting (for example due to illness or not starting at a setting until a substantial part of the year had gone by) teachers could decide to exempt the child from the EYFSP.
Following the 2021 reforms to the EYFS and changes to the administration and moderation of EYFS profile data, DfE has taken the decision that the EYFS profile must be completed in all instances unless:
- an exemption has been granted by the secretary of state for the setting or an individual child. In these cases only, an ‘A’ should be recorded for every ELG within the profile.
- the child is continuing in EYFS provision beyond the year in which they turn 5. In these exceptional cases, the EYFS profile should be completed once only, at the end of the year before the child moves into year 1.
DfE is aware that the EYFSP has previously been used by LAs, school leadership and MATs to compare individual schools or as a means for holding teachers or schools to account, for which it was not designed. This change to exemptions and exceptions from the EYFSP is part of our efforts to discourage the use of the EYFSP as an accountability measure.
We recognise that in some cases practitioners may have a more limited knowledge and understanding of what a child knows, understands, and can do and it may be more difficult for an accurate EYFSP assessment to be made.
However, if practitioners have seen no evidence that a child has met an early learning goal, for whatever reason including absence, it is important that they report the child as emerging and then communicate to the year 1 teacher why the assessment has been made. This will ensure that all children are supported as much as possible in their transition to year 1.
For further information on exemptions and exceptions from the EYFSP, practitioners should refer to section 3.2 of the EYFSP 2023 handbook.
Frequently asked questions on the EYFSP
Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions from the sector about administering the EYFSP can be found on the FAQ page