How much has the EYFS cost so far?

I know it's easy to complain about the amount of money things cost...nothing good was ever done on the cheap, isn't the early years "worth it" etc.

But given there were two perfectly reasonable publications on the early years (Birth to Three Matters and Curriculum Guidance for Foundation Stage) I do wonder whether a quick tidy-up and update of them wouldn't have been enough. Then all the money, time, energy, meetings in dingy hotel rooms with practitioners and "experts" etc could have been deployed for something better. Like thinking about how we could engage better with the early years workforce and deliver some decent training. It's seductive to concentrate on these big strategies, documents, change processes etc.

Any how much has it cost? This is the response I got from the DFES after a freedom of information request:

The total amount of money spent to date on the development of the Early Years Foundation Stage is £324,038

1. Fees paid out to consultants

The fees paid out to consultants to date for designing and developing content of the Early Years Foundation Stage resource material total £70,600.

2. Costs of developing the design of the proposed framework (artwork, design templates etc) and of developing the computer and internet-based materials (CD-Roms, DVDs, etc)


The total cost of developing the design of the proposed framework, including the computer and internet based materials is £124,972.

It has not been possible to split the cost in the way in which you requested since materials were developed together. The CD-Rom was designed to be web ready and did not, therefore, incur any direct cost.

3. Other costs

The other staff costs associated with developing the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework are estimated to total £128,466.