Level of development at age 5
Published:
11 September 2024
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Data on the percentage of 5 year olds who achieve a ‘good level of development’, by socio-economic background.
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%.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, data collection resumed only in the 2021 to 2022 school year, and the data is not comparable to previous years. The percentage of children achieving a good level of development was 67% in the 2022 to 2023 school year.
In the 2022 to 2023 school year:
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52% of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) and 72% of non-eligible pupils achieved a good level of development
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girls continued to outperform boys, and the gap between FSM-eligible pupils and those not eligible was also slightly smaller for girls
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among FSM-eligible children from the same ethnic background, girls were much more likely to achieve a good level of development than boys
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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
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FSM-eligible pupils in parts of London, Lincolnshire, and the West Midlands were the most likely out of all areas to to achieve a good level of development – pupils in the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber were the least likely to
There is a link between income deprivation and children achieving a good level of development. Neighbourhoods with higher rates of children living in income-deprived households have a lower percentage of children achieving a good level of development. 77% of 5 year olds in the least deprived neighbourhoods achieved a good level of development, compared with 58% in the most deprived neighbourhoods.
By year
Visualisation
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 2023)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| School year | FSM-eligible pupils (%) | Non-eligible pupils (%) | All pupils (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 51.6 | 71.5 | 67.2 |
| 2021/22 | 49.1 | 69.5 | 65.2 |
| 2020/21 | No data | No data | No data |
| 2019/20 | No data | No data | No data |
| 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 the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation
Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by region and eligibility for free school meals (FSM) (England, school year 2022 to 2023)
41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest values. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
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.
The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions. See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.
Data
| Region | FSM eligible (%) | Not FSM eligible (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 46.8 | 70.1 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 49.1 | 72.7 |
| Cheshire | 49.1 | 72.6 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 48.6 | 71.3 |
| Cumbria | 45.9 | 69.0 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 52.0 | 70.8 |
| Devon | 47.1 | 70.4 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 48.9 | 72.0 |
| East Anglia | 47.7 | 70.6 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 53.7 | 71.5 |
| Essex | 50.1 | 73.2 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 46.8 | 72.7 |
| Greater Manchester | 50.7 | 68.1 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 51.8 | 74.0 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 49.8 | 72.7 |
| Inner London - East | 60.4 | 73.4 |
| Inner London - West | 57.6 | 74.4 |
| Kent | 51.5 | 72.4 |
| Lancashire | 49.6 | 68.2 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 50.1 | 70.6 |
| Lincolnshire | 54.9 | 72.0 |
| Merseyside | 48.7 | 68.8 |
| North Yorkshire | 49.9 | 73.5 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | 52.0 | 71.8 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 58.3 | 71.7 |
| Outer London - South | 54.2 | 73.9 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 55.1 | 72.3 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 52.4 | 71.6 |
| South Yorkshire | 52.0 | 72.1 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 47.5 | 74.7 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 50.7 | 71.8 |
| West Midlands | 54.6 | 68.7 |
| West Yorkshire | 48.2 | 68.8 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By sex
Visualisation
Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by sex and eligibility for free school meals (England, school year 2022 to 2023)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Sex | FSM-eligible pupils (%) | Non-eligible pupils (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Boys | 43.7 | 65.0 |
| Girls | 59.7 | 78.2 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By ethnicity
Visualisation
Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals (England, school year 2022 to 2023)
Data
| Ethnicity | FSM-eligible pupils | Non-eligible pupils | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys (%) | Girls (%) | Total (%) | Boys (%) | Girls (%) | Total (%) | |
| Asian | 50.2 | 65.9 | 58.0 | 61.6 | 74.7 | 68.1 |
| Black | 49.9 | 65.3 | 57.7 | 56.3 | 73.3 | 64.7 |
| Mixed | 48.1 | 65.0 | 56.4 | 66.4 | 79.1 | 72.6 |
| White | 41.6 | 57.7 | 49.5 | 66.5 | 79.5 | 72.8 |
| Other ethnic group | 44.1 | 58.5 | 51.2 | 55.8 | 68.9 | 62.2 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By level of neighbourhood deprivation
Visualisation
Percentage of pupils achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age 5 years, by income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI) decile (England, school year 2022 to 2023)
Data
| IDACI decile | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 58.1 |
| 2 | 61.1 |
| 3 | 63.6 |
| 4 | 65.6 |
| 5 | 67.9 |
| 6 | 69.3 |
| 7 | 71.1 |
| 8 | 73.2 |
| 9 | 74.4 |
| 10 | 76.6 |
Download
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 2022 to 2023 academic year, 2023.
Time period
- 2022 to 2023 school year (By area, sex, ethnicity, and level of neighbourhood deprivation)
- September 2012 to July 2023 (By eligibility for free school meals over time)
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
Data is only available for England.
The EYFS was updated in September 2021. This means data for the 2 school years ending in July 2023 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.
Income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI) deciles are based on the percentage of children living in income-deprived households within a certain neighbourhood. These neighbourhoods are put into 10 groups (‘deciles’). Decile 1 is made up of the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods – decile 10 is the least deprived 10% of neighbourhoods.
Type of data
Administrative data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2024 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 38KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Time period
- Socio-economic background
- Sample size
- Value
- Sex
- Category type
- Category
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Age
- Area type
- Area code
- Area name
- Unit
- Quintile
Page history
Publication release date:
11 September 2024