Early Years Foundation Stage Profile

The EYFS profile is designed to support statutory assessment of all children in England at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage

Principles of the EYFS Profile

Assessments of the EYFS Profile are underpinned by the following principles: Group of young school children

observation of children participating in predominantly self-initiated activity
judgements based on consistent and independent behaviour
informed by a range of contributors
all scales have equal status
accurate reflection of ‘unique child’
rigorously moderated by local authorities

The principles are the means whereby the assessment process moves from a collection of observations of children in self-initiated activity towards an accurate data set reflecting children’s attainment consistently and accurately in a national context.

Purpose of the Early Years Foundation Stage profile

the primary purpose of the EYFS profile is to provide Year 1 teachers with reliable and accurate information about each child’s level of development at the end of the early years foundation stage
this will enable them to plan an effective, responsive and appropriate curriculum that will meet the individual child’s needs

Purpose of the Early Years Foundation Stage profile moderation process

to establish accuracy of practitioner judgements in line with QCDA national exemplification

Finalising the judgements

In order to make consistent and accurate judgements, practitioners need to use valid and consistent evidence to inform their assessments. These judgements are made by considering evidence of the child’s attainment against the scale points. The evidence will be collected as an ongoing process from a spectrum of circumstances in which children demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding

The definition of evidence is

any material, knowledge of the child, anecdotal incident, result of observation or information from additional sources that support the overall picture of the child’s development
there is no expectation or requirement that such evidence is always formally recorded or documented

Source: EYFS profile handbook, page 12 and 2011 ARA page 14.

Scale points

Derived from the early learning goals, this set of 13 assessment scales, each of which has nine scales, captures and describes children’s attainment at the end of the EYFS

1-3 describe the attainment of a child who is still progressing towards the early learning goals
4-8 describe the attainment of a child in the context of the early learning goals. They are not hierarchical and a child may achieve them in any order
9 describes the attainment of a child who has achieved scale points 1-8 and developed further working consistently beyond early learning goals.

Source: EYFS profile handbook, page 6

National guidelines for Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessment – July 2011

Providers should continue to assess children against the current EYFS profile in the 2011/12 academic year. The Government is currently consulting on proposals for a new EYFS profile, based on Dame Clare Tickell’s recommended changes, to be implemented from September 2012 (alongside the new EYFS ).
Arrangements for statutory data collection remain unchanged
An update to the eProfile software used for recording the Early Years Foundation Stage information for children in reception has been released (eProfile Version 3.3) and can be accessed via the school bulletin from 14th November 2011

To read the full QCDA Early years foundation stage profile (PDF, 52.4KB).