The survey, by the Early Years Alliance, found that 84 per cent of respondents think that they produce more paperwork than required under the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
It follows the launch earlier this year of the early years workload group, led by the alliance in partnership with Ofsted and the Department for Education (DfE), which aims to address the issue.
Ofsted introduced its new inspection framework this month, which moves the focus away from paperwork to children's experiences.
A variety of factors contributed to paperwork production, the survey found. For instance, 70 per cent of childcare practitioners said they completed some additional paperwork in case an Ofsted inspector asked for it, 59 per cent said that their internal processes required more paperwork than was necessary to meet best practice standards within their own setting and 25 per cent did extra to meet the requirements of the setting's owners or senior management. In addition, 29 per cent wanted to protect themselves against parental complaints.
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