Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government plans to take to improve the quality of nursery provision to ensure that all children are school-ready at the age of five.

The 2016 Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) profile results show that 69.3% of children achieved a good level of development (GLD) by age 5, up from 51.7% in 2013.

The quality of early years provision is also improving with 93% of settings rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding in March 2017 compared to 74% in 2012. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-statistics).

Key to quality is a well-qualified workforce. On 3 March, the Department published its early years workforce strategy, which set out actions to help employers attract, retain and develop early years staff. The workforce strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy.

The EYFS statutory framework sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe, and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2

Through the recent primary assessment consultation, we asked whether the EYFS profile should be improved to better assess a child’s knowledge, skill, understanding and level of development at the end of the early years so as to ensure that children are ready for Key Stage 1. The consultation closed on 22 June.