The results show that children generally scored lower in the assessments for the new EYFSP than in the old Early Learning Goals.
Four in ten children reached ‘a good level of development’ at the end of the Reception year, findings from the pilot of the new Early Years Foundation Stage Profile found.
Although the report stresses that the two are not directly comparable, both autumn-born children and girls did better in the new EYFSP and the old EYFSP.
The results of the EYFSP pilot, which involved 20,000 children in 500 primary schools across 19 local authorities in England, have been published on the Department for Education’s website.
The report says that ‘significant changes’ have been made to the way children are assessed at the end of the EYFS through the EYFS Profile, and that as a result a new GLD (good level of development) indicator has been developed.
The report shows that 41 per cent of five-year-olds reached the expected levels for a GLD in the prime areas of personal, social and emotional development, physical development, and communication and language, and in the specific areas of maths and literacy. This encompasses 12 out of the 17 ELGs in the revised EYFS.
The pilot took place in the summer term before the new EYFSP was introduced last September and the final EYFSP guidance and exemplification materials published in November draws on findings from it.
Researchers also canvassed teachers’ views and a sample of 118 Reception class teachers were chosen to test moderation arrangements.
The key findings are:
- 41 per cent of children achieved a good level of development
- The total average point score was 32 points out of a possible 51 points
- Autumn-born children (52 per cent achieved a GLD) and girls scored the highest (48 per cent)
- 30 per cent of children whose first language is not English achieved a GLD, compared to 43 per cent of children whose first language is English
- Across the ELGs performance was lowest in writing and numbers and highest in moving and handling, health and self-care and technology.
- The widest gender gaps were in the being imaginative, writing, and exploring and using media and material ELGs, where the percentage of girls and boys reaching the expected level differed by 18, 17 and 15 points respectively.
Read the 'Results of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) Pilot' here.
