A Curriculum in Conflict
England’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for Reception is built on a fundamental tension. It champions a holistic, play-based philosophy but is driven by a high-stakes accountability system that narrows focus to academic outcomes. This interactive report explores that conflict, the data behind it, and what the research suggests for a way forward.
The Framework at a Glance
This section breaks down the architecture of the EYFS. The curriculum is built on four core principles which guide practice, and is delivered through seven distinct areas of learning. Click on any element to see its official description and understand the foundational philosophy of the curriculum.
4 Guiding Principles
Click an item to see details here.
7 Areas of Learning
3 Prime Areas
4 Specific Areas
The “Play Paradox” in Practice
This section explores the core pedagogical conflict within the Reception year. The EYFS framework officially endorses a philosophy of learning through play. However, the practical pressures of assessment and accountability often lead to a reality where play becomes a means to an end, rather than a process of discovery.
The Philosophy: Learning How to Learn
The framework values the *process* of learning through the “Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning” (CoETL), which are not assessed but are considered vital for development.
- โบPlaying and Exploring: Children’s engagement. They are encouraged to find out, explore, and be willing to ‘have a go’.
- โบActive Learning: Children’s motivation. They are supported to be involved, concentrate, and persevere through challenges.
- โบCreating and Thinking Critically: Children’s thought processes. They are taught to have their own ideas, make links, and develop strategies.
The Practice: Pressure to Perform
The high-stakes assessment system incentivises practitioners to steer play towards measurable outcomes against the 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs), often at the expense of the CoETL.
- โGoal-Oriented Play: Practitioners report feeling pressure to ‘hijack’ children’s play to ensure it is ‘purposeful’ in relation to specific ELGs.
- โDe-prioritising Process: Because the CoETL are not part of the final summative judgement, they risk being valued less than the content-based ELGs that are measured.
- โThe “Ghost Curriculum”: The curriculum is often reverse-engineered from the end-point goals, undermining child-led discovery and turning the ELGs into a checklist.
The Assessment System Explained
Assessment in Reception is a three-part system. Two parts are statutory tools primarily for school accountability, while one is for the teacher’s use. This creates a disconnect between assessment *for the system* and assessment *for the child*, with practitioners often serving two masters.
1. Reception Baseline (RBA) (Start of Year)
A statutory assessment of early literacy and maths. The data is not for teachers; it is a baseline to measure school progress by Year 6. Critics argue it is unreliable, narrow, and consumes valuable settling-in time during a critical transition period.
2. Formative Assessment (Ongoing)
The day-to-day practitioner observation and professional judgement used to understand a child’s progress and plan next steps. This is the most useful assessment for teaching, but carries no external weight and is explicitly not for generating tracking data.
3. EYFS Profile (EYFSP) (End of Year)
A statutory summative judgement of attainment against 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs). This generates the key ‘Good Level of Development’ (GLD) metric used for school accountability and national data comparisons.
The “Good Level of Development” Metric
The GLD is the government’s measure of ‘school readiness’. A child achieves GLD if they meet goals in all Prime Areas, plus Literacy and Mathematics. This creates what the report calls a “perverse incentive structure”.
Notice that Understanding the World and Expressive Arts & Design are excluded. This incentivises schools to de-prioritise them, directly contradicting the EYFS principle that all areas of learning are “equally important”.
Explore the 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs)
These 17 goals are the benchmarks for the end-of-year EYFS Profile. While the DfE states they are not a curriculum, the pressure to meet them means they often function as one. Filter by area to explore.
The 2021 Reforms: A Divided Sector
The 2021 EYFS reforms were highly contentious, creating what the report calls a “deep ideological schism”. The government presented the changes as a way to reduce workload, but critics saw this as a “strategically astute political manoeuvre” to push through unpopular pedagogical changes. Use the tabs to see the opposing views.
UK Comparison: England the “Accountability Outlier”
England’s approach is not the only way. This section compares the EYFS to the frameworks in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, revealing that England’s model is a specific policy choice, not a universal standard, defined by its early formality and reliance on high-stakes data.
Formal Schooling Start Age
This chart shows the age at which the play-based early years phase ends and more formal, subject-based learning typically begins in each UK nation.
Key Differences in Approach
Click on a nation to see its key curriculum features and philosophy.
The Way Forward: Key Recommendations
The report concludes with key recommendations to realign the Reception curriculum with the evidence on how young children learn best. The recommendations are targeted at policymakers, schools, and researchers to address the systemic issues identified.