Recommendation 14

Research shows the value of early years provision in supporting the attainment of disadvantaged children. From the age of three, there is a gap in cognitive outcomes between disadvantaged children and their peers, and in 2018 the Education Policy Institute reported that, on average, disadvantaged children were 4.3 months behind their peers in the early years phase.42 The Department recognised the critical importance of intervening in the early years, with about 40% of the overall gap between disadvantaged 16–year–olds and their peers having already emerged by age five, and these differences continuing to widen as children move through the education system.43