{"id":20430,"date":"2026-09-10T11:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T10:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/?p=20430"},"modified":"2026-09-11T14:01:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T13:01:52","slug":"early-years-single-request-for-support-eysrfs-launch-september-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/early-years-single-request-for-support-eysrfs-launch-september-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Years Single Request for Support (EYSRfS) launch &#8211; September 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From September 2026, the Early Years and Childcare Service will introduce a new <strong>Early Years Single Request for Support (EYSRfS) <\/strong>process.<\/p>\n<p>This will provide a single route for accessing early years inclusion support and funding, replacing the previous approach where providers needed to identify and access different services separately.<\/p>\n<p>The new process has been developed to ensure:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A greater emphasis on partnership working<\/li>\n<li>Focus on removing children\u2019s barriers to learning and accessing their education<\/li>\n<li>Simpler and more transparent access to support<\/li>\n<li>More consistent decision making<\/li>\n<li>Improving inclusion and outcomes<\/li>\n<li>Support that enables children to access their full early years entitlement within their local community setting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is changing?<\/h2>\n<p>The most significant change is a shift in focus from:\u00a0<strong>&#8220;Which service should I refer this child to?&#8221;<\/strong> to &#8220;<strong>What level of support is needed to help this child, group of children, or setting?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>All requests for support will now come through a single\u00a0pathway. Following submission, of the request for support form, \u00a0requests will be considered through a triage process which will determine the most appropriate support pathway. These will be held weekly so that decision making can be sped up, and children, family and settings\u2019 needs can be responded to in a timely way.<\/p>\n<h2>Possible support pathways<\/h2>\n<p>Requests may result in one of three support pathways: Settings will be able to opt for relevant pathway depending on their need or an alternative support pathway maybe offered depending on the information within the form.<\/p>\n<h3>Setting support:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Support to strengthen inclusive practice, workforce development and SEND leadership<\/li>\n<li>Includes training, coaching, environmental reviews and support with implementing OAIP and OATS<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Group support:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Early intervention for small groups of children with shared needs<\/li>\n<li>May include targeted interventions, workforce development and group funding<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Individual child support<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Targeted or specialist support for children with more complex or persistent needs<\/li>\n<li>May include setting visits, home visits, family support, specialist involvement and SENIF funding where appropriate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What providers need to do<\/h2>\n<p>Before submitting a request, providers should consider how they can demonstrate:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Implementation of Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision (OAIP) and self assessment of inclusive provision<\/li>\n<li>Use of Ordinarily Available Targeted Support (OATS)<\/li>\n<li>An effective use of the graduated approach and Assess, Plan, Do, Review process for individual children<\/li>\n<li>Evidence of what has been tried<\/li>\n<li>Evidence of impact<\/li>\n<li>Clear intended outcomes<\/li>\n<li>Parent and carer involvement throughout the process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Providers are encouraged to focus on the impact of strategies and reasonable adjustments and building a picture of how additional support or resource will be implemented rather than seeking access to a particular service.<\/p>\n<h2>SENIF applications<\/h2>\n<p>Under the new arrangements there will be one request process for all early years providers. Where appropriate, SENIF funding may form part of the support pathway identified through triage. Providers will no longer need to consider separate referral routes before making a request.<\/p>\n<h2>Further information<\/h2>\n<p>To support implementation, please read the accompanying documents:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/devoncc.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/s\/PublicDocs\/Education\/IQCY6hb2C8i0SawwyQsrYCiqAQwUhVEl2Azo_v4-uF8cqnw?e=o1Mbaa\" rel=\"noopener\">Early Years and Childcare Service \u2013 Single Request for Support Launch Pack Autumn 2026<\/a> for an overview of the new approach and key changes<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/devoncc.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/s\/PublicDocs\/Education\/IQDYF6ykcfyORaTXLAsRbpYtAXe7NZoBSU4of5e-uGAv4sU?e=KKiovY\" rel=\"noopener\">Early Year and Childcare Service &#8211; Single Request for Support SRfS Guidance Document September 2026<\/a> &#8211; for detailed information about the triage process, support pathways, eligibility criteria and provider expectations<\/li>\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/devoncc.sharepoint.com\/:v:\/s\/PublicDocs\/Education\/IQByUu8rIb0hRbyT8aCbFc-0AS2sxnAkSQltvOHpWC6odiw?e=IkFH9o\" rel=\"noopener\">recorded webinar<\/a> is available to support settings to understand the new process and explore the application form.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How to apply<\/h2>\n<p>The link to the Early Years Single Request for Support form is below.\u00a0 It allows you to request setting, group or individual support and funding.\u00a0 Please submit your requests for any type of support, service or funding using this form<strong> from Monday 14th September.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Forms submitted from Monday to Sunday each week will be reviewed at the Triage meeting the following Wednesday.\u00a0 For example if you complete your form between Monday 14th September and Sunday 20th September it will be considered at the Triage meeting on Wednesday 23rd September. You will be notified of the outcome within a maximum of 10 working days via email.<\/p>\n<p>This request form is only for education services and is not a request for health, early help or social care support.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.cloud.microsoft%2Fe%2FCPAiMRjAAR&amp;data=05%7C02%7CNatalie.Elston%40devon.gov.uk%7C621b1bcb3a924428b30008df0f40a585%7C8da13783cb68443fbb4b997f77fd5bfb%7C0%7C0%7C639246442469003241%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=pXmMMdYWnrvnwSCp60tZiWajqiOwPhRD45FrHUrc7fw%3D&amp;reserved=0\" rel=\"noopener\">Early Years and Childcare Service Single Request for Support \u2013 Fill in form<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Learning together<\/h2>\n<p>We are committed to working in partnership to continually review our ways of working, and as with any new process, we will continue to review implementation, gather feedback and monitor demand to ensure the system is meeting the needs of children, families and providers. We encourage providers to share feedback, questions and suggestions through their locality contacts. This will also be reviewed through the provider forum and we will be looking at further opportunities to gather feedback and ways to improve the approach over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you all for your continued support so that together we can ensure children get the right support at the right time to enable them to develop and thrive.<\/p>\n<p>Early Years and Childcare Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Important update for early years providers &#8211; from September 2026, the Early Years and Childcare Service will introduce a new Early Years Single Request for Support (EYSRfS) process. This will provide a single route for accessing early years inclusion support and funding, replacing the previous approach where providers needed to identify and access different services separately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-updates"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-20 09:13:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20430"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20441,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20430\/revisions\/20441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}