EYFS Report Writing Guide — Tips, Templates & Examples for 2026

Writing Early Years Foundation Stage reports can feel overwhelming, especially if you're new to reception or nursery. The framework is different from Key Stage assessments, the language is developmental, and you're reporting on the whole child — their social and emotional development, their physical skills, and their approach to learning, alongside the academic basics.

This guide covers everything you need to write clear, professional EYFS reports in 2026.

What Are You Required to Report?

In England, the statutory requirement is straightforward: at the end of the EYFS (typically the end of reception), you must complete the EYFS Profile. This involves assessing each child against the 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs) and recording whether they are:

• Emerging: Not yet meeting the ELG
• Expected: Meeting the ELG
• Exceeding: (Note: the “exceeding” judgement was removed in the 2021 reforms. Children either meet or do not meet each ELG.)

Many schools also write a narrative report for parents alongside the profile. This is where the real skill lies — translating your assessments into meaningful, readable comments.

The Seven Areas of Learning

Prime Areas

• Communication and Language: Listening, attention, understanding, speaking
• Physical Development: Gross motor, fine motor
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Self-regulation, managing self, building relationships

Specific Areas

• Literacy: Comprehension, word reading, writing
• Mathematics: Number, numerical patterns
• Understanding the World: Past and present, people culture and communities, the natural world
• Expressive Arts and Design: Creating with materials, being imaginative and expressive

Writing Structure That Works

For each area, aim for 2–4 sentences that cover:

1. What the child can do — a specific, observable skill or behaviour
2. How they demonstrate it — an example from their learning
3. Their attitude or approach — how they engage with this area
4. Next step (if appropriate) — what they're working towards

Example: Complete Reception Report

Here's what a full reception report might look like, condensed for illustration:

Communication and Language: “Willow is a confident and articulate speaker. She listens carefully during whole-class sessions, responds to questions with thoughtful answers, and enjoys retelling stories using her own words. She is beginning to use more complex sentence structures and her vocabulary is growing rapidly.”

Physical Development: “Willow holds her pencil with a secure tripod grip and forms all letters correctly. She uses scissors with precision and can thread small beads independently. Outdoors, she runs, jumps and climbs with confidence and spatial awareness.”

PSED: “Willow has formed strong friendships and is kind and inclusive in her play. She manages her emotions well and can explain how she is feeling when she is upset. She follows classroom routines independently and takes responsibility for tidying up.”

Literacy: “Willow reads simple sentences fluently and can retell key events from a story. She writes short sentences independently, using her phonic knowledge to spell unfamiliar words. She is beginning to use finger spaces, full stops and capital letters with increasing consistency.”

Mathematics: “Willow counts reliably to 20 and can solve simple addition and subtraction problems using objects and a number line. She recognises and names common 2D and 3D shapes and is developing her understanding of patterns.”

Characteristics of Effective Learning

Don't overlook this section — it's a statutory part of the EYFS Profile and tells parents something genuinely important about their child:

• Playing and Exploring: Does the child investigate, try new things, and have a go?
• Active Learning: Do they concentrate, keep trying when things are difficult, and enjoy achieving?
• Creating and Thinking Critically: Do they have their own ideas, make links between things, and choose ways to do things?

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using KS1 language: “Working at age-related expectations” isn't EYFS terminology. Use “meeting” or “emerging.”
• Being too generic: “She is doing well in maths” doesn't tell parents anything specific.
• Forgetting the prime areas: Communication, physical development and PSED are the foundations. Don't rush through them to get to reading and maths.
• Neglecting interests: Early years assessment is observation-based. Mentioning what a child loves to do shows that you've truly observed them.

For more reception-specific examples, see our reception report examples article. Or try Reportify to generate EYFS-appropriate reports in seconds — 5 reports free, no card needed.