UK children less likely to be school-ready than other nationalities

A major global survey of primary school teachers has revealed that UK children are falling behind their classmates in other countries when it comes to being ready for school.
 
More than a third of primary school professionals in the UK - 37% - warn that most of their pupils are not developmentally ready when they start school.  
 
According to the survey by global children’s charity Theirworld, most UK primary teachers say the problem is getting worse each year, with a significant proportion of four and five-year-olds unable to wash their hands, go to the toilet independently, identify numbers and letters, read simple words, including their own name.  

A third of the UK teachers polled for the survey blame children’s developmental delays on low attendance of preschool and a lack of affordable childcare options.  
 
Just over 40% of the UK teachers surveyed believe pupils are lagging behind because developmental delays in pre-school-aged children are not being identified early enough. The same proportion blame the pandemic for the fact that so many children in the UK do not appear to be developmentally ready for school.   
 
Theirworld polled almost 2,600 teachers and school professionals across the UK, the US, Brazil, the Netherlands, South Africa and India.
 
Some 60% of the UK teachers polled told the charity that children had become less ready for school over recent years. In sharp contrast, teachers quizzed in India said the opposite - 70% believe their pupils are more prepared for school than they used to be. Only teachers in the US (78%) and Brazil (64%) share UK teachers’ concerns.
 
Most of the UK primary school professionals quizzed in the survey think only a small minority of pupils can go to the toilet independently or wash their hands when they start school.  The survey found that only just over a fifth - 22% - of primary school teachers think that 80% or more of their pupils can perform these age-appropriate tasks.  
 
A quarter of the UK primary school teachers polled say most of their pupils cannot identify simple letters or words, including their own name when they start school.
 
Sarah Brown, Chair of Theirworld, said that unless world leaders prioritised investment in the early years there would be “repercussions for the most vulnerable children for generations to come”.
 
The globally-renowned campaigner for children’s health and education said there was “currently no funded plan in place to achieve the target world leaders set in 2030 for every child to have access to high quality early childhood development, care and education so that they are ready for primary education”.
 
“90% of a child’s brain develops by the age of five, making the period between birth to school the most important time of their lives,” she said. “Failing to support children during these crucial years means setting them up for lifelong challenges. The lack of early years investment is a global crisis that if not addressed urgently, will have huge repercussions for generations to come. The evidence is clear: when we support children’s early years, we build stronger, healthier and more prosperous societies.”
 
Theirworld is urging governments to invest in early childhood and immediately commit $1bn (£782 million) in new funding by 2028 to kickstart progress and action for the youngest children. This investment must support the high quality proven packages of care and preschool that a child needs to thrive in the first five years of life.  
 
Spending on early childhood development is very low across the world, according to the latest OECD data. Only 0.5% of UK GDP is spent on early childcare and education. In some countries, such as the US, Greece and Portugal, it is as low as 0.3% of GDP.