74.9% of Southend's Reception children reached a good level of development in 2025/26, up from 68.4% a year earlier and 65.5% the year before. That is 0.2 points short of the council's 2028 target.

Southend’s youngest pupils have posted the city’s best ever early years results. In 2025/26, 74.9% of Reception-age children reached a “good level of development”, the council said on Wednesday (Southend-on-Sea City Council, 23 September).

That is a jump of 6.5 percentage points in a year. The council puts it at “around 121 more children” reaching the standard than in 2024/25.

What the measure is

Every child in England is assessed at the end of Reception under the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. A child reaches a good level of development if they are at the expected level across the goals for communication and language, physical development, personal and social development, literacy and maths (Department for Education, EYFSP results).

Southend’s run of results, from the council’s own Best Start plan and this week’s announcement:

Bar chart of the share of Reception children reaching a good level of development. Southend: 65.5% in 2023/24, 68.4% in 2024/25, 74.9% in 2025/26. England: 67.7% in 2023/24 and 68.3% in 2024/25; the 2025/26 national figure is due in October 2026.
Chart by Southend Today
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  • 2023/24: 65.5%, below the England figure of 67.7%
  • 2024/25: 68.4%, just above the England figure of 68.3%
  • 2025/26: 74.9%

The 2023/24 and 2024/25 figures are in the council’s Best Start Local Plan for 2026 to 2029 (Southend Best Start Local Plan). The England figures are the Department for Education’s published statistics, and the England figure for 2025/26 has not been published yet. The DfE lists its next release for October 2026 (DfE). So the council’s claim that Southend is “above the national average” this year rests on data the department has not yet released. It is likely, given a 74.9% score against last year’s 68.3%, but it is not yet on the record.

The target the council set itself

The Best Start plan set “an ambitious target” that 75.1% of children would reach a good level of development by 2028. This year’s 74.9% lands 0.2 points short of that, two years early.

The same plan flagged two groups as priorities: children eligible for free school meals, 50.5% of whom reached the standard in 2024/25, and children with English as an additional language, at 56.7%. The council says this year’s outcomes for those groups, and for children with SEN support, exceeded “regional and national averages in several areas”. It has not published the figures for those groups, so we cannot say how far they moved.

Councillor Chris Webster, the cabinet member for technology, learning and customer services, said: “Behind that figure are hundreds of individual children who have made important progress in their learning and development.” Councillor Mandy O’Connor, the cabinet member for children and SEND, said the results “show the importance of working together to ensure every child, whatever their needs or circumstances, has the opportunity to achieve and thrive”.

What it means for you

  • Starting school in September 2027: applications for Reception places are open now through the council’s primary admissions page. Our term dates page has the 2026/27 calendar.
  • Under fives: the council’s Best Start Family Hubs offer parenting support, child development advice and school-readiness help across the city.
  • Judging a school: the national 2025/26 figures, and the school-level data behind them, arrive in October. Until then this is the council’s number, unaudited by the DfE.

Sources