The methodology page should be referenced alongside this data.
Coverage
These annual statistics report on teacher assessments of children’s development at the end of the early years foundation stage (EYFS), typically the summer term of the academic year in which a child turns 5 (reception year). The assessment framework, or EYFS Profile, consists of 17 early learning goals (ELGs) across 7 areas of learning.
Data is collected from local authorities covering state-funded schools and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers as part of the EYFS Profile return (opens in new tab). This data is then matched to other data sources, including the school and early years censuses, to obtain information on child characteristics.
The underlying data files include national, regional, local authority-level, and local authority district-level information for England for 2021/22 to 2024/25.
File formats and conventions
Rounding and suppression
Percentages and averages are presented as unrounded data (apart from in file 5, where they have been rounded to one decimal place).
Suppression has not been applied to the underlying data.
Symbology
The following symbols are used in the underlying data files as follows:
z not applicable
x data not available
u low reliability
b break in time series
Where any number is shown as zero, the original figure submitted was zero.
Data files
All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.
1 Headline measures by child characteristics
Filename
1_eyfsp_headline_measures_2022_2025.csv
Geographic levels
Local authority; Local authority district; National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2024/25
Content
Headline measures by various child characteristics. Sub-national breakdowns are based on the location of the child’s school or provider.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
all_elgs_expected_children_count
Number of children at expected level across all early learning goals
all_elgs_expected_children_percent
Percentage of children at expected level across all early learning goals
breakdown
Child characteristics breakdown
children_count
Number of children
comm_lang_lit_expected_children_count
Number of children at expected level in Communication & Language and Literacy areas of learning
comm_lang_lit_expected_children_percent
Percentage of children at expected level in Communication & Language and Literacy areas of learning
elgs_expected_average
Average number of early learning goals at expected level per child
gld_children_count
Number of children with a good level of development
gld_children_percent
Percentage of children with a good level of development
Local authority; Local authority district; National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2024/25
Content
Early learning goals and areas of learning by various child characteristics.
Sub-national breakdowns are based on the location of the child’s school or provider.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Headline measures by income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI 2019) decile and sex.
Sub-national breakdowns are based on the location of the child’s residence.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
all_elgs_expected_children_count
Number of children at expected level across all early learning goals
all_elgs_expected_children_percent
Percentage of children at expected level across all early learning goals
children_count
Number of children
comm_lang_lit_expected_children_count
Number of children at expected level in Communication & Language and Literacy areas of learning
comm_lang_lit_expected_children_percent
Percentage of children at expected level in Communication & Language and Literacy areas of learning
elgs_expected_average
Average number of early learning goals at expected level per child
gld_children_count
Number of children with a good level of development
gld_children_percent
Percentage of children with a good level of development
idaci_decile
Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) decile - 1 = 10% most deprived, 10 = 10% least deprived
Headline measures, including historical time series data.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
all_elgs_expected_children_percent
Percentage of children at expected level across all early learning goals
children_count
Number of children
comm_lang_lit_expected_children_percent
Percentage of children at expected level in Communication & Language and Literacy areas of learning
elgs_expected_average
Average number of early learning goals at expected level per child
gld_children_percent
Percentage of children with a good level of development
Footnotes
The early years foundation stage profile was significantly revised in September 2021. It is therefore not possible to directly compare assessment outcomes since 2021/22 with earlier years. See the methodology page for more information.
The 2019/20 and 2020/21 data collections were cancelled due to coronavirus (COVID-19).
Figures for 2012/13 to 2018/19 have been calculated using the National Pupil Database, which excludes service children living abroad, shielded pupils, and duplicate records. Therefore these figures may not exactly match previously published figures that were calculated using raw data.
In 2018/19, 23 schools piloted the revised set of early learning goals and the revised approach to assessment and moderation. These schools are excluded from the results for 2019. In 2018, the pupils in these 23 schools represented 0.2% of the national cohort of children.
Number of early learning goals (at the expected level) across all 17 early learning goals and across all 12 early learning goals contributing to a good level of development.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
children_count
Number of children
children_percent
Percentage of children
children_percent_change
Annual (percentage point) change in percentage of children