Rebuilding the Foundations: Why the School Readiness Pledge Needs Sure Start

In December 2024 (https://schoolsweek.co.uk/starmer-wants-75-of-children-school-ready-by-2028/), Labour leader Keir Starmer has made an ambitious commitment: by 2028, 75% of five-year-olds in England will be “school ready.” It’s a bold target—and one that acknowledges the growing gaps in early childhood development and long-term outcomes for children. But there’s a critical question buried beneath this announcement:

What happens to the other 25%?

And, perhaps more importantly, how do we ensure that number shrinks?

To answer this, we need to revisit a policy that once formed the cornerstone of early years support in England: Sure Start.

The Shared Goal: Equity from the Start

Sure Start Children’s Centres were created with a mission, to improve outcomes for young children and their families, especially those in disadvantaged communities. Services were integrated and holistic, ranging from early education and childcare to family support, health services, and employment advice.

Similarly, the governments “school readiness” pledge is not just about children being able to hold a pencil or sit still; it’s about ensuring every child has the developmental, emotional, and social foundations they need to thrive in school, and in life.

The goals align perfectly. The question is whether we have the means to deliver.

What the Evidence Tells Us

The call for 75% school readiness is grounded in growing concern over inequality in early years development. According to recent analysis, children not considered school-ready are:

• 2.5 times more likely to be persistently absent from school

• 3 times more likely to become NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training

These outcomes disproportionately affect children from low-income families, those with SEND, and children from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities.

But there is hope, and Sure Start proved that hope can be turned into impact.

In 2019, the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that Sure Start significantly reduced hospital admissions among children in the most deprived areas. Other studies highlighted improvements in parent engagement, school readiness, and early intervention across multiple domains.

If we are serious about addressing the 25% of children at risk of falling behind, we must return to what works.

Why Family Hubs Aren’t Enough

Since the dismantling of Sure Start post-2010, the government's response has been to fund Family Hubs, a rebranded version of early support with a narrower focus and limited reach.

While Family Hubs serve an important role, they lack the universality, infrastructure, and deep community trust that Sure Start once held. They often serve only targeted populations, are inconsistently delivered across the country, and are poorly understood by many families.

To deliver on the 75% goal, we need more than a patchwork of services, we need a comprehensive, integrated system that starts at birth (if not before) and wraps around children and families through the early years.

From Ambition to Action: A Path Forward

If the school readiness target is to be more than a political soundbite, it needs the structural support to become reality. That’s where Sure Start, or a modernised equivalent, comes in.

What would this look like?

• Locally rooted centres offering universal access

• Co-located professionals from health, education, and social care

• High-quality, graduate-led early years provision

• Strong key person systems and relational practice

• Family and community engagement as a central pillar

These are not abstract ideals, they are the features of Sure Start that worked, and that can work again.

Rebuilding Trust, Rebuilding Childhoods

Sure Start wasn’t just a service, it was a symbol of what happens when we invest in the early years. It showed that policy can lift up communities, nurture relationships, and offer every child the chance to flourish.

Starmer’s pledge recognises the importance of those early years. But now, the challenge is to move from policy ambition to practical reality.

We don’t need to start from scratch, we already have the blueprint.

So instead of asking what we’ll do about the other 25%, we should be asking:

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