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Official Statistics

Child development outcomes at 2 to 2 and a half years, 2025 to 2026: statistical commentary

Updated 3 November 2026

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-development-outcomes-data-for-2025-to-2026/child-development-outcomes-at-2-to-2-and-a-half-years-2025-to-2026-statistical-commentary

What’s new

The following indicators for child development at 2 to 2 and a half years have been updated with data for England, regions and local councils for 2025 to 2026:

  • children achieving a good level of development overall
  • indicators for the 5 domains that make up an overall good level of development:
    • communication skills
    • gross motor
    • fine motor
    • problem solving skills
    • personal social skills

Introduction

Early childhood is an important period for emotional and physical development. Child development is assessed at the universal health and development review offered to all families by a health visitor when their child reaches 2 to 2 and a half years old. The review currently uses the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition (ASQ-3) to assess development across 5 domains: communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving and personal social skills.

Coverage of universal health visitor reviews at 2 to 2 and a half years is discussed in the Health visitor service delivery metrics, 2025 to 2026: statistical commentary.

Main findings

This update shows: 

  • the percentage of children at or above the expected level of development in all 5 domains of development (having a ‘good level of development’) at age 2 to 2 and a half was 83.1% in 2025 to 2026. This is an increase from 2024 to 2025.
  • for the 5 domains that make up the overall assessment of child development, most indicators increased in 2025 to 2026 compared with 2024 to 2025, apart from problem solving skills which was stable. The trend over the last 5 years is increasing for all domains

Percentage of children achieving a good level of development at 2 to 2 and a half years old

In 2025 to 2026, 83.1% of children achieved the expected level of development at 2 to 2 and a half years old, in all 5 domains of development. This proportion has increased over the last 5 years and is an increase from 2024 to 2025 when the value was 81.4%.

Figure 1: percentage of children in England achieving a good level of development at 2 to 2 and a half years old, 2017 to 2018 to 2025 to 2026

The percentage of children achieving a good level of development varies across regions, from 78.9% in the West Midlands to 86.6% in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Figure 2: percentage of children achieving a good level of development at 2 to 2 and a half years old, English regions, 2025 to 2026

Among local councils where a value could be calculated, the highest percentage of children achieving a good level of development was 97.5% and the lowest 62.7%.

Background

The information in this publication shows service coverage and related health outcomes for services funded through the local authority public health grant for children’s public health services aged 0 to 5 years. This includes the coverage of universal health and development reviews, breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks and child development outcomes aged 2.

The data comes from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID’s) interim reporting system for children’s public health 0 to 5 years. The Children’s public health 0 to 5 years: national reporting technical guidance contains full details of the health visiting, breastfeeding and child development indicators, including definitions and methodology.

Caution should be used when interpreting these figures as it is a voluntary data collection and there is not full coverage. Any figures shown at a region or England level, or by deprivation, are based on an aggregate total of local councils within those areas who supplied data items that complied with validation criteria for each indicator.

The health and development reviews may be targeted towards children who need more support. This includes those living in the most deprived areas and children who are known to be vulnerable due to family or other circumstances. This may contribute to low coverage of reviews or a smaller number of children meeting the expected level of development for some local councils.

The Community Services Data Set (CSDS) will be used as the basis for these metrics in the longer term, once the data quality has reached a suitable standard.

All the data is available on Fingertips.

Contact information

For media enquiries, contact the Department of Health and Social Care media team.

For all other enquiries relating to the statistics or to offer feedback on the publication, email interimreporting@dhsc.gov.uk.

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