The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes everything that happens in a registered early years setting in England — the learning, development and wellbeing of children from birth to five, and the legal requirements every provider must meet. This course gives everyone in your setting a thorough, practical grounding in the EYFS as it stands today: the content reflects the current framework, including the 2025 safeguarding updates.
Rather than reciting the framework document, the course explains it the way practitioners actually meet it — the principles behind it, the prime and specific areas of learning, how children learn, what assessment really requires, and the safeguarding and welfare duties that keep children safe — finishing with what it all looks like in an ordinary, excellent day.
What you’ll learn
- What the EYFS is, who it applies to and why it matters to every member of staff
- The four overarching principles, from the unique child to learning and development
- The three prime areas — communication and language, physical development and PSED — and why they come first
- The four specific areas: literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design
- The characteristics of effective learning and how to spot them in play
- Observation and assessment done properly — including the progress check at age two and the EYFS Profile
- The safeguarding and welfare requirements, from the designated safeguarding lead to the key person
- How to live the framework in daily practice, not just hold a copy of it
Who this course is for
Everyone who works with the EYFS: early years practitioners, nursery managers and owners, childminders, apprentices and students of early childhood education. Because the framework applies to all registered provision, it works well as whole-team training and induction as well as individual CPD.
Why this training matters
The EYFS is a statutory framework — a legal requirement, not guidance. A team that genuinely understands the current framework, rather than working from memory of an older version, delivers better outcomes for children, acts earlier on concerns, and is far better prepared to evidence its practice for compliance and Ofsted inspection.
How the course works
The course is delivered fully online in eight focused lessons, completed at your own pace on any device. Each lesson includes practical reflection tasks for your own setting, and the course ends with a short assessment to confirm your learning.
Your certificate
On successful completion you will receive a National Nursery Training completion certificate, giving you recognised evidence of your professional development for compliance and Ofsted audit. National Nursery Training is an NFAQ-accredited provider.
