Who is most at risk of not being school ready?

The Starmer government has committed to five long-term missions, including to ‘break down barriers to opportunity’, and has set a target for 75% of five year-olds to be ‘school ready’ by the end of the parliament. How this challenge is framed will shape the policy approaches and choices that follow.

Much has already been written about the struggles of the early years sector itself, from funding shortfalls and shortages of places to workforce recruitment and retention issues. This paper approaches the subject from a different angle, investigating which groups are at greatest risk of not being school ready. 

• School readiness does not follow a steady downward trend from higher-attaining to lower-attaining groups – there is a cliff-edge.
• Four groups of children persistently fall far behind their peers: children eligible for free school meals; children identifying as Gypsy/Roma; Travellers of Irish heritage; and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
• These inequalities have persisted for over a decade despite successive policy interventions aimed at raising overall attainment levels.

Identifying the children at greatest risk of being left behind – particularly those facing multiple, intersecting disadvantages – will better equip policy makers to deliver on the government’s stated ambition to close the opportunity gap. This report begins that work.

Find out more about the project.