Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the rates of early years development; how many and what proportion of children are reaching expected standards in language development by age five; what discussions she has had with Ofsted on the standard and extent of its assessment of quality of teaching and learning outcomes of early years provision; and if she will make a statement.

The Government wants all children, regardless of their background, to have access to high quality early education and childcare, as we know the difference this can make to child outcomes.

The most recent 2015-16 EYFS Profile results show that overall the proportion of children achieving a good level of development is continuing to increase - 69.3% compared with 66.3% in 2015. The results also show that 81.6% of children are reaching the expected level of development in communication and language skills by age five. The number of children achieving at least expected in all 17 early learning goals continues to increase – 67.3% achieved at least expected compared to 64.1% in 2015.

The Department works closely with Ofsted to ensure that the regulatory system drives improvement in line with Government policy.

Ofsted latest statistical release published on 15 November shows that the proportion of providers on the Early Years Register judged to be good or outstanding has increased to 91% as at 31 August 2016. This represents a five percentage point increase on the position at 31 August 2015.