Frequently asked questions

PDAT is a whole-setting self-evaluation tool designed to help early years settings reflect on and strengthen their approach to physical development, physical activity and physical literacy.

There are no right or wrong answers. You work through 40 statements, reflecting on what typically happens in your setting. Once completed, you'll receive your results, a personalised written summary and a tailored action plan to help you decide what to focus on next.

PDAT was developed by Dr Natalie Weir, researcher and founder of Inspector Play, and Helen Battelley MA, an internationally recognised early years physical development specialist and Nursery World Early Years Trainer of the Year 2026.

Together, they bring research and practical experience to a tool designed specifically for the early years sector.

PDAT is designed for registered childminders, nurseries, pre-schools and school-based early years provision.

It also supports nursery groups, local authorities, Stronger Practice Hubs, academy trusts and school groups looking to review and strengthen physical development practice across multiple settings.

Most audits take around 30–60 minutes, depending on how much discussion and reflection you choose to include.

PDAT works particularly well as a team activity, encouraging staff to share perspectives and reflect on everyday practice. You can save your progress and return to the audit whenever you're ready.

We recommend completing PDAT termly, giving you regular opportunities to reflect on progress, recognise improvements and identify new priorities.

This also reflects feedback from our initial pilot users, with most suggesting it is completed termly.

However, every setting is different, and PDAT is designed to fit around your own improvement cycle. Your annual licence allows you to complete multiple audits throughout the year, track changes and compare your results over time, helping you see where progress has been made and where further support or development may be needed.

We also encourage you to revisit your action plans between audits, so that PDAT becomes part of your ongoing improvement journey rather than simply a one-off exercise.

You'll receive results across PDAT's five areas, showing where your setting is Emerging, Developing or Embedded, alongside a personalised written summary built from your responses and notes using our predefined, expert-developed framework.

You can then identify your priorities and build a tailored action plan, with practical recommendations organised into three stages: Quick Win, Develop Practice and Build It In.

Additional age-specific suggestions are provided for the age groups you've selected (0–1, 1–3 and/or 3–5 years), with the option to add these directly to your action plan.

Your results and action plan can also be downloaded as PDFs to share with colleagues, leaders or other stakeholders.

Absolutely. PDAT is designed to work for childminders as well as larger early years settings.

Our dedicated childminder licence costs £59 per year and is available to registered childminders. You'll need your Ofsted URN or childminder agency registration number when signing up.

Yes. PDAT's organisation licence is designed for nursery groups, academy trusts, local authorities and other organisations overseeing multiple early years settings.

Each setting has its own secure access, allowing staff to complete audits, review their results and develop action plans specific to their provision. Settings can only see their own information, while organisation leaders have access to a central dashboard providing an overarching view of all their settings. This allows them to explore individual and combined results, compare strengths and areas for development across settings, and identify shared priorities for improvement.

As settings complete further audits, organisations can monitor progress over time and download reports to share with leadership teams, boards and other stakeholders.

PDAT is available through straightforward annual licences:

• Registered childminders: £59 per year
• Single early years settings: £149 per year
• Organisations: From £995 per year, including up to 10 settings

All licences are paid upfront for 12 months, with no VAT currently added and no automatic renewal.

We also welcome enquiries from charitable organisations about discounted access.

Your PDAT licence lasts for 12 months and does not renew automatically. When your licence expires, you can no longer start or view audits until you renew. Your audits, results and action plans are safely kept for 18 months, so you can pick up where you left off when you renew.

If you choose not to renew, your audit data will be securely deleted or anonymised after the 18-month retention period, subject to any applicable legal or contractual requirements.

You can also download your results and action plans as PDFs while your licence is active, so you have a copy for your own records.

PDAT looks beyond individual developmental milestones to consider the wider experiences, opportunities and environments that support children's movement and physical development.

It takes a whole-setting approach, exploring five interconnected areas: Relationships, Development, Environments, Participation, and Culture & Leadership.

Each statement is linked to our Building Blocks for an Active Start principles, connecting research and practice. Rather than simply highlighting areas for improvement, PDAT helps you take the next step, offering practical recommendations alongside additional age-specific suggestions relevant to the children in your setting.

PDAT is underpinned by Building Blocks for an Active Start, a framework connecting movement and early development with the physical, social, cognitive and affective domains of physical literacy.

It draws on Natalie's published research into physical activity and physical literacy in the early years, alongside Helen's extensive experience of supporting physical development in practice.

Initial piloting with a range of early years settings provided encouraging feedback, with all of them reporting that PDAT helped them identify and prioritise realistic next steps for their practice.

The framework was first developed through work Natalie and Helen carried out in 2025 with HENRY (Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young), a national early years organisation, which now uses it in its training materials. The work is aligned to Sport England's definition of physical literacy.

Building Blocks for an Active Start complements the EYFS, Birth to 5 Matters and Development Matters, and supports the physical development guidance settings already use.

Physical development is one of the three Prime Areas of Learning and Development within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

PDAT can support your setting's ongoing reflection and improvement by helping you recognise strengths, identify priorities and demonstrate how you're working to strengthen physical development opportunities.

Your results and action plan provide a useful record of this reflective process, which can support discussions with colleagues, leaders and inspectors.

PDAT is an independent self-evaluation tool and is not developed or endorsed by Ofsted.

Yes. If you'd like additional support to build on your PDAT findings, both developers offer training and consultancy.

Natalie, through Inspector Play, provides consultancy, staff training, workshops, keynote presentations and research support.

Helen, through Music and Movement, provides specialist training and professional development across all aspects of early years physical development.

The notes are an important part of the PDAT audit, giving you the opportunity to explain what actually happens in your setting and provide examples of your everyday practice.

Each notes section is compulsory because your comments help inform your personalised written summaries and action planning. They add context to your scores, helping ensure your results reflect your setting rather than simply producing a generic report.

You don't need to write lots. A few meaningful sentences about what you currently do, what's working well or where you feel improvements could be made are enough.

No. PDAT does not use AI to generate its results, summaries or recommendations.

PDAT is built on research, professional expertise and the Building Blocks for an Active Start framework developed by Dr Natalie Weir and Helen Battelley MA.

Your results and written summaries are built using predefined rules and templates, drawing directly on your setting's scores, responses and notes. Recommendations are selected from our expert-developed action library, based on the priorities you choose.

Nothing is invented by AI. The guidance you receive is grounded in our framework and designed to help you identify practical, realistic next steps for your setting.