Stoke-on-Trent's plan to improve young children's development has received positive feedback from the Department for Education, according to the city council.
The Best Start in Life Plan aims to help more children reach the expected level of development by the end of reception year by 2028, while reducing inequalities between families.
The council says provisional 2026 figures indicate a five percentage point rise in children achieving a Good Level of Development compared with 2025. Those figures remain provisional.
What the plan is intended to change
The approach brings together schools and early-years providers, health services, Family Hubs, voluntary organisations and council teams.
It looks beyond education alone, considering children's health, speech and language development, parents' wellbeing and access to services. Local data is intended to help partners understand where support is most needed.
According to the council, the Department for Education praised the plan's clear ambitions, evidence-informed approach and partnership working. The feedback also highlighted measurable goals, shared accountability, workforce development and arrangements for checking progress.
Provisional signs of progress
The council said 98.9 per cent of private, voluntary and independent early-years providers were rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, or Expected and above under the new inspection framework.
It also said the provisional five percentage point improvement in reception-year development was larger than the annual increases seen between 2022 and 2025.
The release does not establish that the plan alone caused the improvement. The government's feedback also identified areas to strengthen, particularly delivery and monitoring the plan's impact.
Reducing gaps between children
Councillor Sarah Jane Colclough, cabinet member for children's services, said the positive feedback endorsed the way organisations across Stoke-on-Trent were working together.
She said the ambition was both to improve development outcomes and to reduce inequalities that leave some children at a disadvantage when they start school. Further work remained, she added, but the council believed it had the foundations and partnerships in place to improve support for families.
Source: a release supplied by Stoke-on-Trent City Council on 7 October 2026. The school-readiness figures are provisional and the assessment of government feedback is attributed to the council.