How do we support a 2-year-old with delayed speech?

Start support straight away: begin the SEND Code's assess-plan-do-review cycle, embed daily interaction strategies, involve parents and the health visitor, and refer to NHS speech and language therapy if needed. You do not need a diagnosis, and you do not need to wait for a therapy referral before you act. The highest-leverage thing a nursery or childminder can do is treat emerging concern as a reason to start support now, not a reason to watch and wait.

Start the graduated approach in the setting

Under the SEND Code of Practice 2015 (Chapter 5), early years providers must use a four-part graduated approach to identify and meet special educational needs: assess, plan, do, review. The key person, who works with the child every day, leads the support; the early years SENCO (special educational needs coordinator) oversees it. This is SEN Support, and it is provided on the basis of need, not a label.

Embed practical interaction strategies into the child's day from the start. NHS speech and language therapy advice for late talkers is consistent on what works:

• Five to ten minutes of daily child-led "special time", following the child's lead and playing with what they choose.
• Comment, don't question. Say what the child is doing rather than testing them ("big splash" rather than "what colour is it?").
• Add and expand: repeat the child's word back with one more added (child says "car", you say "red car").
• Share books and sing every day, with lots of repetition.

Bring in parents and the health visitor

Talk to parents early and openly, and share the same strategies for home so the child hears them in both places. The EYFS framework requires you to review each child's progress between ages two and three and to give parents a short written summary covering communication and language. That progress check should line up with the health visitor's Healthy Child review at age two, the integrated 2 to 2.5 year review. Use it to compare notes and agree who does what.

Refer, and don't just wait and see

Try the strategies consistently for around 12 weeks. If there is little or no progress, support a referral to NHS speech and language therapy (or a telephone advice appointment, where your local service offers one). Refer sooner if you see broader signs, such as limited understanding, little eye contact or shared attention, or differences in how the child plays and connects, because delayed speech at two can be an isolated language delay or an early sign of a wider need such as autism. Arrange a hearing check too: glue ear and undetected hearing loss are common and treatable causes of late talking.

Looking ahead, the 2026 Schools White Paper and Education for All Bill propose a statutory Individual Support Plan duty reaching into nurseries. That is at consultation, with no changes before September 2030. For now, the duty is SEN Support delivered through the graduated approach. For milestones and a free adviser line you can use with parents, see Speech and Language UK.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.