Level of development at age 5

Data on the percentage of 5 year olds who achieve a ‘good level of development’, by socio-economic background.

  1. Summary main findings
  2. By year
  3. By area
  4. By sex
  5. By ethnicity
  6. About the data
  7. Download the data

Summary main findings

In the 7 school years ending in July 2019, the percentage of 5 year olds who achieved a good level of development (meeting at least the expected standard in the early years foundation stage) went up from 52% to 72%. It went down to 65% in the 2021 to 2022 school year.

In the 2021 to 2022 school year:

  • 49% of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) and 69% of non-eligible pupils achieved a good level of development
  • 75% of girls and 62% of boys achieved a good level of development – for pupils eligible for FSM, 57% of girls and 42% of boys achieved the level
  • FSM-eligible children from Black, Asian and Mixed ethnic backgrounds were more likely to achieve a good level of development than FSM-eligible White children
  • FSM-eligible pupils in London, East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, and the West Midlands were the most likely out of all areas to to achieve a good level of development – pupils in Cumbria were the least likely to

By year

Visualisation for by year

Percentage of pupils achieving a 'good level of development' at age 5 years, by eligibility for free school meals over time (England, September 2012 to July 2022)

Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility

Data for by year

Percentage of pupils achieving a 'good level of development' at age 5 years, by eligibility for free school meals over time (England, September 2012 to July 2022)
School year FSM-eligible pupils (%) Non-eligible pupils (%) All pupils (%)
2021/22 49.1 68.8 65.2
2018/19 57 74 72
2017/18 57 74 72
2016/17 56 73 71
2015/16 54 72 69
2014/15 51 69 66
2013/14 45 64 60
2012/13 36 55 52

Download for by year

For the full download file, see Download the data.

By area

Visualisation for by area

Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by region and eligibility for free school meals (FSM) (England, academic year 2021 to 2022)

41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest percentages. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions.

The lines either side of the dots represent confidence intervals – the range of values that the 'true' value for each region is highly likely to be within. In many cases the confidence intervals overlap. This suggests differences between specific regions may not be statistically significant.

See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.

Use the radio buttons to choose a dataset to view

Q1 - Lowest 20%
Q5 - Highest 20%

Data for by area

Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by region and eligibility for free school meals (FSM) (England, academic year 2021 to 2022)
Region FSM eligible (%) Not FSM eligible (%)
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 43.7 66.3
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 45.8 69.4
Cheshire 47.2 70.4
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 47.0 69.2
Cumbria 36.0 65.7
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 49.2 68.8
Devon 46.4 68.8
Dorset and Somerset 47.1 68.9
East Anglia 46.5 67.3
East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 53.1 68.2
Essex 48.8 70.2
Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area 45.3 70.7
Greater Manchester 47.5 64.6
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 48.8 72.1
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 46.6 70.0
Inner London - East 58.8 69.9
Inner London - West 55.4 72.2
Kent 47.9 69.7
Lancashire 45.9 65.8
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 47.9 67.0
Lincolnshire 48.5 68.5
Merseyside 45.5 64.9
North Yorkshire 48.3 71.8
Northumberland and Tyne and Wear 49.1 69.0
Outer London - East and North East 54.5 69.9
Outer London - South 55.2 72.3
Outer London - West and North West 54.8 69.3
Shropshire and Staffordshire 49.9 69.0
South Yorkshire 49.9 69.7
Surrey, East and West Sussex 46.9 72.4
Tees Valley and Durham 48.4 70.2
West Midlands 51.5 65.6
West Yorkshire 46.4 66.8

Download for by area

For the full download file, see Download the data.

By sex

Visualisation for by sex

Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by sex and eligibility for free school meals (England, academic year 2021 to 2022)

Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility

Data for by sex

Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by sex and eligibility for free school meals (England, academic year 2021 to 2022)
Sex FSM-eligible pupils (%) Non-eligible pupils (%)
Boys 41.9 62.4
Girls 56.6 75.4
All pupils 49.1 68.8

Download for by sex

For the full download file, see Download the data.

By ethnicity

Visualisation for by ethnicity

Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals (England, academic year 2021 to 2022)

Use the radio buttons to choose a dataset to view

Data for by ethnicity

Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals (England, academic year 2021 to 2022)
Ethnicity FSM-eligible pupils Non-eligible pupils
Boys (%) Girls (%) Boys (%) Girls (%)
Asian 48.7 63.6 59.9 73.0
Black 47.1 63.2 54.1 71.4
Mixed 47.2 62.6 64.6 77.2
White 39.9 54.3 64.3 77.1
Other ethnic group 41.8 54.0 52.1 64.5
Unclassified 37.6 54.7 44.9 55.7

Download for by ethnicity

For the full download file, see Download the data.

About the data

Data source

Department for Education. Early years foundation stage (EYFS) profile results from the 2021 to 2022 academic year, 2022.

Time period

September 2012 to July 2022

Geographic area

England

What the data measures

The data shows the percentage of pupils who achieved a ‘good level of development’ at 5 years old.

A child is classed as having a good level of development if they meet at least the expected standard in the early years foundation stage (EYFS).

Things you need to know

The EYFS was updated in September 2021. This means data for the 2021 to 2022 school year is not directly comparable with data for earlier years.

Data was not collected during the 2 school years ending in July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eligibility for free school meals (FSM) is used as an indicator of deprivation by the Department for Education. Children are eligible for FSM if their parents receive certain benefits.

Type of data

Administrative data

Full report

Read more in State of the Nation 2023 on GOV.UK.

Download the data

Download full dataset (CSV, 23KB)

This file contains the following variables:

  • Indicator code
  • Indicator name
  • Area type
  • Area code
  • Area name
  • Time period
  • Socio-economic background
  • Age
  • Sex
  • Category type
  • Category
  • Value
  • Sample size
  • Lower confidence interval
  • Upper confidence interval
  • Unit

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