Changes to the EYFS requirements from September and Education Updates

The Department for Education (DfE) has introduced several changes that will come into effect in September 2025. We have seen lots of teachers, nursery managers, childminders and headteachers seeking this information on social media so we have put together a summary of the key documents and updates.

Enhanced Safeguarding Measures

Safer Recruitment Practices: Providers will be required to: Obtain references for all new staff members.
Include procedures in safeguarding policies to ensure only suitable individuals are recruited.

Mandatory Paediatric First Aid: A qualified paediatric first aider must be present in the room during all meal and snack times.

Enhanced Supervision Practices: Staff should sit facing children while they eat to monitor for chocking hazards, prevent food sharing and quickly identify allergic reactions.

Monitoring Child Absences: Providers must: Follow up on prolonged or unexplained absences.
Maintain additional emergency contact details for each child.

Safeguarding Training Requirements: Policies must detail: How safeguarding training is delivered.
Support mechanisms for practitioners to implement safeguarding practices effectively.

Whistleblowing Procedures: New requirements will support and protect staff who raise concerns about unsafe practices or misconduct.

Paediatric First Aid (PFA) Training: Early years students and trainees must have PFA training to be included in staff-to-child ratios at the level below their qualification level.

Early Years Staffroom’s Safeguarding Policy  and Health and Safety and Health and Safety Audit is just been updated this week to reflect these changes.

Key Updates on Toileting and Privacy

Balancing Privacy and Safeguarding: Providers must ensure that children’s privacy is considered and balanced with safeguarding and support needs during nappy changing and toileting.

Safe and Hygienic Facilities: Nappy changing and toileting areas should be safe, hygienic, and appropriately supervised.

Policy Implementation: Providers are expected to review and, if necessary, update their policies and procedures to reflect these changes, ensuring that staff are trained and aware of the new requirements.

These updates are part of a broader effort to strengthen safeguarding practices within early years settings. Providers should consult the updated EYFS framework and accompanying guidance to ensure full compliance with the new requirements.

Report Card

Ofsted plans to replace the overall effectiveness grade with a new report card, starting in September 2025. This significant reform aims to provide a more comprehensive and nuanced evaluation of schools, moving away from the simplistic labels like “Outstanding” or  “Inadequate.”

This reform represents a significant change in how school performance is assessed and reported, aiming to foster a more supportive and developmental approach to school inspections.

For more information click here. 

Early Years Nutrition Guidance

The DfE has published new guidance on early years nutrition, which will come into effect in September 2025. This guidance aims to support providers in ensuring that meals, snacks, and drinks provided to children are healthy, balanced, and nutritious.
Nutrition from Birth to One Year: Guidance on breastfeeding, infant formula, and weaning.

Menu Planning: Advice on portion sizes and menu planning.

Food Safety and Hygiene: Guidelines on food safety, including for food brought in from home.

Cultural and Dietary Needs: Considerations for allergies, intolerances, and food for religious faiths and beliefs. Early Years Staffroom have created a Food and Nutrition Policy including these updates.

Climate Change

The sustainability and climate change strategy for education (Gov.uk published in 2023) states: “By 2025, all education settings will have nominated a sustainability lead and put in place a climate action plan”. This includes early years settings,
schools, multi-academy trusts, colleges, and universities.

We are passionate about nurturing a love for the natural world and building a sustainable future. As part of our commitment to environmental responsibility. Early Years Staffroom have developed a Climate Action Plan tailored to early years
education for all Early Years Settings and Schools to use which is fully editable.

Expanded Childcare Entitlements

From September 2025, eligible working parents will be entitled to:

• 15 hours per week of funded childcare for children aged 9 months to 2 years.
• An additional 15 hours per week if they also qualify under the disadvantaged 2-year-old entitlement, totalling 30 hours per week.

This expansion aims to support working families and promote early childhood development.

Clarifications in the EYFS Statutory Framework

The EYFS statutory framework has undergone minor clarifications to existing policies, including spelling and grammar corrections. These updates aim to enhance the clarity and understanding of the framework for practitioners.

Notably, separate versions of the framework have been provided for childminders and for group and school-based providers, ensuring that guidance is tailored to different types of early years settings .

Experience-Based Route (EBR) for Practitioner Qualification

In March 2025, the Department for Education (DfE) introduced a new Experience- Based Route (EBR) for eligible early years practitioners to gain approved status. This pathway allows practitioners with substantial experience but without formal qualifications to demonstrate their competence and achieve recognition. The EBR aims to broaden the pool of qualified professionals in the early years sector .

Updates to the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA)

For the academic year 2025 to 2026, the statutory requirements for the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) have been outlined. While the core purpose of the RBA remains unchanged—to assess the starting point of pupils in reception—the
assessment and reporting arrangements have been updated to provide clearer guidance on administration, participation, and reporting procedures .

References:

•  EYFS Statutory Framework: Outlines all requirements for group and school based early years providers.
• EYFS Statutory Framework: Outlines all requirements for childminders
•  Early Years Nutrition Guidance: Provides detailed information on nutritional standards and practices.
•  Early Years Inspection Handbook: Details how Ofsted will inspect early years providers under the updated framework.
• 2025 reception baseline assessment: assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA)
• The Experience Based Route for Early Years
• The sustainability and climate change strategy for education