The publication of an annual survey has again seen an increase in the proportion of children who are not considered ‘school ready’. The School Readiness Survey, conducted for the sixth year by the early years charity Kindred Squared, surveyed over 1000 teachers and 1000 parents of children who started Reception in September 2025.
The researchers define ‘school ready’ as children being developmentally 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). Teachers surveyed said 37 per cent of the 2025 cohort were not school ready, with, on average, 2.4 hours of teaching time lost each day due to catch-up needs. More than half of this time (1.4 hours) was spent supporting toileting alone. Staff surveyed said 26 per cent of those starting Reception were not toilet trained – one deputy headteacher commented: ‘If you go back ten years you wouldn’t have had children coming into Reception who needed toilet training and now it’s almost the expectation that schools will do it.’
The proportion of children that teachers felt were not school ready had increased from 2024, when it stood at 33 per cent, but there was again a disconnect between the views of staff and parents. 88 per cent of parents said they believed their child was ready to start school – though this was a slight decrease from 90 per cent the previous year. The vast majority (94 per cent) of parents said they would welcome national guidance on preparing children for school. Other findings from the survey included that teachers felt more than a quarter (28 per cent) of pupils were unable to use books correctly – for example they tried to swipe or tap pages, as if using a phone or tablet. More than half of staff surveyed said excessive screen time for children and adults was a significant factor in children not being ready for school – although only just over a third of parents felt this was an issue.
Commenting on the findings, Felicity Gillespie, the chief executive of Kindred Squared, said: ‘The state of school readiness has reached a critical moment, with 37 per cent of children now arriving at the school gate without the basic life skills needed to engage with the curriculum. This is no longer just a classroom issue; it is a systemic crisis fuelled by stretched school resources, low expectations, the rising cost of living, and by parents who lack the right information and understanding early enough to truly support their children’s development.’
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders commented: ‘These findings reflect the fact that there is obviously a huge problem with children not being ready for school when they start in reception. The reasons are complex – many families are struggling to cope with the pressures of life, and are themselves often suffering from poor mental health and wellbeing. It’s tough out there at the moment, and we see the consequences of this in our schools all the time.’ He went on to welcome government initiatives such as the roll-out of family hubs and the expansion of childcare, but said these were not ‘quick fixes’, adding: ‘Schools put a huge amount of work into providing support for children who are not school ready but it does mean that these youngsters are already behind their peers right at the outset of their education. Their job is made all the more difficult by the fact that schools are themselves so poorly funded.
A DfE spokesperson said: ‘This government has a clear mission to make sure tens of thousands more children start school ready to learn, and we are already taking action to make that a reality. We are seeing early signs of improvement, with more children reaching a good level of development by age five, but we know there is further to go. We inherited a system where disadvantage was allowed to deepen, and these findings underline the scale of the school readiness challenge we are determined to tackle, so every child gets the best possible start in life.’
The full survey findings are available here:
https://kindredsquared.org.uk/school-readiness-survey/