The national ambition

Local authorities in England have been given statutory targets to raise the proportion of reception-age children achieving a good level of development in the early years foundation stage profile, Schools Week reported on 29 October 2026.

The national ambition, in the Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life strategy, is for 75% of children to achieve that good level of development by the 2027-2028 academic year.

How the targets were set

The Department for Education set the targets through the statutory process under the Local Authority Targets (Well-being of Young Children) Regulations 2007 and section 1(4) of the Childcare Act 2006. The majority of local authorities, 131 areas, are asked to increase their good-level-of-development proportion by 9 percentage points from 2023-2024 levels.

The 2023-2024 national proportion was 67.7%, and the average increase required across England to reach 75% was 7.3 percentage points, with the 9-point ask adding flexibility and risk mitigation. If every local area hit its target exactly, the national score for 2027-2028 would be 76.4%, excluding Rutland, the City of London and the Isles of Scilly because of small populations and volatility.

Limits and warnings

No local authority was set a target above 80%, and 19 authorities have a target smaller than a 9-point increase. Schools Week reported experts warning of a danger of unintended consequences, with councils potentially ending up hitting the target but missing the point if the focus narrows to the measure rather than children's wider development.

Sources: Schools Week