The EYFS key person
Short answer: every child in an EYFS setting must be assigned a key person (paragraph 3.42). Their job is to make sure the child’s care fits their needs, help them settle, offer a settled relationship, build a relationship with parents, and help families get specialist support where needed. You must tell parents the key person’s name and role (3.100). At a childminder’s, the key person is the childminder or an assistant.
Updated 4 November 2026, checked against both EYFS frameworks in force from 1 September 2026. For England. Where we describe common practice rather than a requirement, we say so.
What the EYFS requires
Paragraph 3.42 of the group framework (3.46 for childminders) sets out five parts to the role:
- Tailor care to the child. Make sure the child’s care fits their individual needs.
- Help them settle. Help the child become familiar with the setting.
- Be a settled relationship. Offer the child a steady, secure relationship.
- Build a relationship with parents. Work with the child’s parents or carers.
- Help families find specialist support. Where appropriate, help the family engage with more specialist support.
The other requirements:
- Every child has one, from their first day (3.42).
- Parents are told the key person’s name and role (3.100).
- Your daily record of children on the premises includes each child’s key person (3.104).
- Parents are told how staff are organised, and where practical involved in those decisions (3.43).
- At a childminder’s, the key person is the childminder, or an assistant where appropriate (childminder framework 3.46).
The framework’s introduction (1.19) explains why: children need to build an attachment with their key person for their confidence and wellbeing, and the key person promotes learning by understanding each child’s needs.
What the EYFS doesn’t say
The framework leaves these to you, so your policy should cover them:
- How many key children each person has
- Who covers when the key person is off, often called a buddy or back-up key person
- How key people are matched to children, and whether parents can ask for a change
- Who writes the progress check at age two (2.6 to 2.8), which in most settings is the key person
- How the key person handles moves between rooms and the move to school
Good practice that works
These aren’t requirements, but they’re common in well-run settings:
- Settling in: the key person leads settling-in sessions and is there at drop-off for the first weeks.
- Matching hours: the key person works most of the hours the child attends.
- Intimate care: for babies, the key person does most nappy changes, feeds and naps.
- A named back-up the child also knows well.
- Regular two-way updates with parents, which also helps meet 3.95 on sharing information.
- Planned handovers when a child changes room or key person, including a meeting with parents.
Explaining it to parents, and on your website
Parents choosing a nursery ask who will look after their child. A short “your child’s key person” section on your website answers that before they visit, and shows inspectors, who read your website first, how you work.
- What a key person does, in two or three sentences
- How you match key people to children, and how settling in works
- Who covers when the key person is away
- How parents hear from their key person: a daily chat, an app, a diary
- Staff photos and first names, if staff agree, so parents recognise faces
See also everything the EYFS says you must share with parents and EYFS ratios.
Questions
What is a key person in the EYFS?
The member of staff assigned to a child to make sure their care meets their individual needs, help them settle, offer a settled relationship, and build a relationship with their parents. Paragraph 3.42 of the group framework says each child must be assigned one.
Is a key person a legal requirement?
Yes. Every child in an EYFS setting must be assigned a key person, in nurseries, pre-schools, school nursery and reception classes, and childminding settings.
Who is the key person at a childminder’s?
The childminder, or an assistant where appropriate (paragraph 3.46 of the childminder framework).
How many key children can a key person have?
The EYFS doesn’t set a number. Settings decide based on hours, ratios and children’s ages. Many keep groups small for babies so the key person can be there for most of the child’s day.
Do parents have to be told who the key person is?
Yes. Paragraph 3.100 lists the name of the child’s key person and their role among the things providers must share with parents. Providers must also record the names of each child’s key person in their daily attendance record (3.104).
Does the key person do the progress check at age two?
The framework says practitioners must review progress between age two and three and give parents a short written summary. It doesn’t say who writes it, but in most settings it’s the key person, because they know the child best.
What’s the difference between a key person and a key worker?
Key person is the term the EYFS uses, and the role it describes is about a close, settled relationship with the child as well as practical care. Some settings still say key worker informally; using the EYFS term in your policies and on your website avoids confusion.
Sources
- EYFS framework for group and school-based providers, dated 13 July 2026, paragraphs 1.19, 2.6 to 2.8, 3.42, 3.43, 3.100 and 3.104
- EYFS framework for childminders, dated 13 July 2026, paragraph 3.46
- EYFS statutory framework, DfE, GOV.UK
More guides: all our guides for nurseries, childminders and schools.
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