Do you have to write EYFS observations? What the framework actually says

Short answer: no. The statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage does not require you to write observations, keep a learning journal, or collect evidence for day-to-day assessment. That has been true since the 2021 reforms, and the framework that took effect on 1 September 2026 says it again, in plain words. What the framework does require is that you know your children well, act on what you notice, and produce two specific written things at two specific points. This guide gives you the exact wording so you can stop second-guessing.

The exact wording

The childminder edition of the EYFS statutory framework (dated 13 July 2026, effective 1 September 2026) puts it like this in paragraph 2.2:

"Assessment should not involve long breaks from interaction with children or require excessive paperwork. When assessing whether an individual child is at the expected level of development, childminders should draw on their knowledge of the child and their own expert professional judgement. Childminders are not required to prove this through collection of any physical evidence."

And paragraph 2.4, on ongoing assessment:

"In their interactions with children, childminders should make and act on their own day-to-day observations about children's progress and observations that parents and/or carers share. However, there is no requirement to keep written records in relation to this."

The group and school-based edition makes the same points for nurseries and pre-schools. So the position is clear: you must observe, in the sense of noticing and responding. You do not have to write it down.

What you do have to produce

There are only two statutory written assessments in the EYFS, and most settings only ever do the first.

• The progress check at age two. When a child is between two and three, you must give parents a short written summary of their development in the three prime areas. Paragraph 2.7 sets out what it must contain. Our guide to the progress check at age two walks through it.
• The EYFS Profile. Completed in the final term of the year a child turns five, no later than 30 June. This is almost always done by reception teachers. A childminder or nursery only completes it if a child is finishing the EYFS with them rather than at school, which the framework describes as very rare.

Everything else, from learning journals to tracking spreadsheets to termly summaries, is a choice. It might be a good choice for your setting. It is not a statutory one.

Why the paperwork built up in the first place

For years, many settings believed Ofsted wanted a thick file on every child. The Department for Education now says the opposite on its Help for early years providers site: "Reducing unnecessary paperwork is a key aim of the early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework." It tells practitioners to "gather useful information, rather than producing lots of tracking data and documentation, or following checklists."

On inspection, the same page says inspectors will ask what children could do when they arrived, what they are working on now, and what they should be able to do by the time they leave, and that inspectors "will not expect this information to be recorded in any particular way." Our guide on what Ofsted actually asks about observations covers this in more detail.

What is still worth writing down

None of this means you should write nothing. It means you should write things that are useful to you, to the child and to parents, and stop writing things that are only useful to a filing cabinet. In practice, most good settings keep a small amount of writing for four reasons.

• Memory. You cannot hold detailed knowledge of twelve, thirty or sixty children in your head. A quick note of a significant moment lets you plan next week with the real child in mind rather than a vague impression.
• Continuity. If you are off sick, if a child moves rooms, or if a new key person starts, a short record means the child does not start from scratch.
• Parents. A photo with two lines of what it shows tells a parent more about their child's day than any chart. It is also the most powerful trust-builder you have.
• The progress check. The written summary at age two is far easier to write when you have a handful of real moments to draw on from the preceding months.

What this does not justify is writing an observation for every child every day, linking every note to a Development Matters statement, or tracking children against age bands every half term. Those habits came from a misunderstanding of what was required, and the framework now says so in terms.

A reasonable minimum

If you want a rule of thumb, this one works for most childminders and small nurseries: capture a handful of genuinely significant moments per child per month, write a short reflective note when something changes or concerns you, and produce the progress check at two. For reception-age children the balance shifts towards the specific areas and towards preparing for the Profile, but the principle is the same. Our guide to how often you should do observations goes into the numbers.

If you are using a system that makes you fill in boxes you do not need, that is the system's problem, not the framework's. The whole point of Taylormade Care's observations is that a photo and two sentences, tagged to an area of learning, takes about thirty seconds, and the progress check pulls itself together from what you already noticed.

Common questions

Does the EYFS require a learning journal?

No. Learning journals are a popular way of sharing children's experiences with parents, and many settings keep them for that reason. The statutory framework does not mention them and does not require any written record of ongoing assessment.

Do observations have to be linked to Development Matters or Birth to 5 Matters?

No. Both Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters are non-statutory guidance. You can use either, both or neither to inform your judgement, and there is no requirement to tag observations to their statements.

Will Ofsted mark us down for having no written observations?

Inspectors evaluate what children know and can do and how you build on it. They gather that from watching practice, talking to you about individual children, and discussing your curriculum, not from counting observations. A setting with no written records but practitioners who know their children in detail is in a far stronger position than one with full folders and vague answers.

Does this apply to nurseries as well as childminders?

Yes. The group and school-based edition of the framework carries the same requirements. The only differences are in wording about who does the assessing.