����Vlog

The proportion of four- and five-year-olds deemed to have reached the expected levels of learning at the end of Reception has increased, according to .

The latest Department for Education early years foundation stage (EYFS) profile results show continued year-on-year improvement, but results remain below pre-pandemic levels.

In 2024-25, 68.3 per cent of pupils were judged to have a “good level of development” and 66.9 per cent met the expected level of learning at the end of Reception.

Both figures represented improvements from 2023-24, when 67.7 per cent of children were judged to have a good level and 66.2 per cent were at the expected standard, across 17 early learning goals (ELGs).

��

In the last full academic year before the pandemic, the figures were 71.8 per cent and 70.7 per cent respectively.

Teachers assess outcomes in 17 ELGs, which cover seven “areas of learning”. The DfE says the “prime areas” are communication and language, personal, social and emotional development and physical development.

EYFS profile results: the disadvantage gap

The gap between pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers in achieving a good level widened in 2024-25, to 21.3 percentage points.

In 2023-24, 51.5 per cent of pupils eligible for FSM achieved a good level, compared with 51.3 per cent last year.

Today’s statistics show teacher assessments of children’s development at the end of the early years foundation stage (EYFS).

The EYFS profile is intended to provide “an accurate representation of each child’s development” to support their transition into Year 1.

Schools were not required to complete the EYFS profile in 2021 and 2020 because of the pandemic.

The statistics come after the government introduced a new target of 75 per cent of five-year-olds being “school ready” and reaching a “good level of development” by 2028.

However, this target is “risky”, according to an expert who spoke to the Commons Education Select Committee this month.

Professor Eva Lloyd, emeritus professor of early childhood at the University of East London, said: “It is a risky target, because it’s the only target and there are many issues around measuring this development.”

She said there is a risk of bias in the assessment of school-readiness, and that the majority of children who do not reach the “good level of development” are those experiencing some aspect of disadvantage, and these children could be left behind.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Government think tank has said that, in order for the target to be reached, the Department for Education needs to focus on disadvantaged boys as “successive governments” have failed to address entrenched inequalities in early years outcomes for this group.

‘Promising’ figures

Felicity Gillespie, director at Kindred Squared, said the figures were “promising”, and noted a “real push” from early years organisations, charities and teachers to raise awareness of the issue of school readiness.

“Parents and families are still telling us they want more information on how best to get children ready to start school, and it’s been good to see initiatives like the new government-backed Starting Reception website and upcoming nappy-training advice really make a difference,” she said.

��

You can now get the UK’s most-trusted source of education news in a mobile app. Get ����Vlog magazine on and on