Early years foundation stage progress check at the age of two for early intervention in relation to speech and language difficulties in England: the voices of the team around the child

In 2011 the Two Years Progress Check in England was introduced as a tool for early identification of children who might have problems in their development and learning in the future. In September 2015, the government replaced it with the Integrated Review at Age Two, which now is a combination of the education check and the health report. This research employed interviews with the team around the child to investigate their views in relation to early identification of speech and language delays. The results of this research suggest that instead of developing taxonomies at policy level of how speech and language delays can be measured, for there to be effective early intervention, concern should be placed on the influential factors impacting upon the team. This conclusion leads to recommendations for focused pre- and in-service education for practitioners coupled with use of a continuous, rather than fixed point, assessment process.