Improving Children’s Outcomes

Paul Waugh Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Paul Waugh)]

The Government have today published the early years foundation stage profile assessment data for the 2025/26 academic year.

The Government have set a national ambition for 75% of children in England to achieve a good level of development by 2028, as set out in the “Giving every child the best start in life” strategy. Achieving this ambition requires a collective effort across schools, early years providers, local authorities, health services and wider family support services, including Best Start family hubs, recognising that children’s outcomes at the end of reception are shaped by their learning and development throughout the early years.

Early childhood development is strongly associated with later outcomes, providing the foundation for achievements throughout school and beyond. Children who achieve a good level of development at age five are more likely to succeed at school and less likely to be not in education, employment or training later in life.

The latest data shows strong progress towards this ambition, with 72.3% of children reaching a good level of development, an increase of 4 percentage points on last year. This brings the country significantly closer to the 2028 target and reflects the dedication and hard work of teachers, early years practitioners, school leaders, local authority teams and wider partners across England.

While this progress is encouraging, the gap between children eligible for free school meals and their peers widened slightly, underlining the importance of the whole system working together to ensure that all children benefit from continued improvement. Further progress will depend on schools, early years providers and local leaders using data and evidence to identify gaps, target support effectively and implement approaches proven to improve outcomes.

To support delivery of the national ambition, the Government have set local authority-level targets. Publishing these targets provides greater transparency and accountability, while enabling local leaders to focus action where it will have the greatest impact for children.

The Government will continue to support local areas through delivery of best start local plans, investment in teaching and learning across the early years system, and action to strengthen support for children and families. Working across education, health and family services will be particularly important in improving outcomes for disadvantaged children and those most at risk of falling behind.

Today’s results demonstrate the progress that can be achieved through collective effort. By building on this momentum and maintaining a focus on evidence-led improvement, we can move closer to our ambition of 75% of children reaching a good level of development by 2028—a first step to ensure that more children get the best possible start in life.

[HCWS405]