Are Children Starting School Ready? What the Latest Evidence Tells Us
Teachers in Reception are increasingly reporting that many children are starting school without being ready for it. Now the charity Kindred Squared has produced its latest report on school readiness. Primary school teachers reported more children are joining reception not ‘school ready’. Last year the survey found 37% of children were not ready for school, an increase from 33% in 2024 according to the 1,000 staff questioned.
The charity defines school ready as children being ready to “ready to access the learning and development opportunities available to them in Reception, where this is not due to a previously identified special educational need or disability (SEND)”. The government is aiming for 75% of five-year-olds to achieve a good level of development by 2028.
The charity found the gap widened regionally, with 45% of children not being school ready in the North East compared to 34% in the East Midlands, Eastern England and London. It also found that 26% of children starting reception were not toilet trained, up from 24% in the previous two years.
For the first time the survey asked how much time was being taken up with nappy changing or going to the toilet. Staff reported helping pupils to do this is taking up an average of 1.4 hours of each school day. Staff said about 25% of reception children didn’t have basic language skills, such as saying their name, up from 23% previously. But fewer children were unable to communicate their needs – 26% down from 29%.
More than half (52%) of primary staff said the proportion of children not school ready this year has increased – up from 49% in 2024. Just 12% thought it had decreased. Staff estimated that children are missing out on 2.4 hours of daily class teaching time due to the catch-up needs; this is up from 2.1 hours in 2024.
However, 88% of parents said their child was ready for school. The charity said this “highlighted a persistent gap between parental confidence and classroom experience.”
CATS is running a pilot programme in six pre-school groups to see if music helps the children develop and in what ways. We are doing this in association with Oxford Opera.
