The EYFS profile assesses children’s progress across 17 early learning goals at the end of reception.
The EYFS profile assesses children’s progress across 17 early learning goals at the end of reception.
Author
Mhairi
Published
October 2025
Key takeaways
In their reception year, students are assessed twice; once at the start of the year in the Reception Baseline Assessment and again at the end in their Early Years Foundation Stage Profile.
But what is the EYFS profile and what’s involved in this assessment? We’ve put together this comprehensive guide that covers everything including how children are assessed, what they’re assessed on, and what happens with the assessment outcome!
The EYFS profile is an assessment tool teachers will complete at the end of the reception year for each student. It is a statutory assessment that measures learners’ development against 17 early learning goals (ELGs) across the seven EYFS curricular areas:
Learners won’t have to complete an exam paper or specific tasks for the EYFS profile assessment. Instead, the profile is completed by teachers who will take a holistic view of the child’s progress and abilities that they have witnessed day-to-day.
Students won’t need to complete any test papers for their EYFS profile. The profile is formed from teachers’ professional judgement on kiddos’ abilities against the 17 early learning goals.
For each of the ELGs, students are marked as either ‘expected’ or ‘emerging’. If a child is marked as ‘expected’ the teacher feels they have achieved the level expected for their age. A result of ‘emerging’ indicates that the child hasn’t achieved this ELG yet.
The EYFS profile must be completed by the end of the school year before the child moves on to Year 1. As well as being passed on to the learner’s Year 1 teacher, the profiles must also be submitted to the local authority who then report results to the Department of Education for reporting purposes.
The EYFS profile deadline 2024 was the 30th of June. By this date, all EYFS profiles must have been completed by reception teachers and submitted to local authorities by the schools.
We’ve mentioned the 17 ELGs that learners are assessed against in their EYFS profile. Let’s take a closer look at what these are.
Communication and Language
Personal, Social, and Emotional Development
Physical Development
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design
The EYFS profile is shared with Year 1 teachers, local authorities, and the Department for Education.
Year 1 teachers will use students’ EYFS profiles to inform their planning, ensuring they meet the needs of all the kiddos in their new class. This allows the Year 1 teacher to assess if a learner struggles with any aspects and how they can address or support this!
Schools will send the recorded outcomes for their reception learners’ EYFS profiles to the local authority, who then report these results to the Department for Education (DfE). The DfE report this data in November each year, showing a national overview of how kiddos have performed in the EYFS curriculum.
Finally, parents will receive a written report with the outcomes the teacher has recorded on their kiddo’s EYFS profile.
Ultimately, where an ‘emerging’ outcome is recorded, the Year 1 teacher and school will aim to offer your child support to help them in this area!
Teachers will record additional information including what the teacher feels is holding the child back, or any strategies they’ve used that help the child overcome the issues.
Kiddos are not required to prepare for their EYFS profile, as teachers will make the assessments based on what they’ve seen throughout the year. However, it’s always a good idea to reinforce the skills they’re learning in school, at home.
There are so many great ideas for supporting your learner’s development through play from the NHS! You could also check out this list of 50 Things to Do Before You’re Five for inspiration!
In addition to this, from the age of four, our Doodle Learn apps are the perfect way to have your kiddo build those all-important early maths and English skills. Our maths app and English app are aligned with the curriculum and tailor the programme of activities to each learner!
So, what is the EYFS profile? Now you know! Although it can seem daunting for kiddos to be assessed at such a young age, it’s nothing to worry about. The EYFS profile is a great way for reception teachers to pass on vital learning information to Year 1 teachers to ensure kiddos are supported!
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