This work asks an important question: how can we use existing data collected by schools to better support children as they develop?
This research used the Connected Bradford database—a unique, secure resource that links data from health, education, and social care for over 1 million people living in the Bradford district. This rich and detailed information allows researchers to spot patterns and track outcomes over time in ways that aren’t possible through traditional research methods alone.
School readiness is measured when children are around four or five years old through the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP). This is a teacher-based assessment that looks at how well a child can communicate, interact with others, manage basic tasks, and begin learning in a classroom environment. The new research study aims to understand how we can use data obtained from the EYFSP to identify children at increased risk of adverse outcomes.
Challenges:
Thousands of children have additional needs that, due to underfunding and huge waiting lists, are not being supported in a timely manner. This places increasing pressure on already under-funded and under-resourced health and education services.
We are currently not making the most efficient use of public service data that is being collected as part of everyday practice.
Without linked data, it is often difficult to track children’s educational outcomes over their academic career.
Outcomes:
Children who were not school-ready were more than twice as likely to be persistently absent from school later on.
Using data from over 50,000 children from across Bradford, researchers found that children who were not school ready also had over 8x increased odds of being later identified as having Special Educational Needs (SEN).
School readiness may even be indicative of outcomes post-compulsory education. Researchers have found that approximately 11% of children who were not considered school ready were later identified as being “Not in Education, Employment, or Training” (NEET), compared to just 4% of children who were school ready.
This raises important questions about how schools and services are identifying and responding to the needs of vulnerable pupils. What makes this work especially powerful is the way it leverages routinely collected data to answer pressing questions facing our education system. This research taps into real-world information already held in public systems—giving a much clearer picture of which children are struggling, when, and why.
This means we can make more informed decisions and design better support systems. This work highlights the potential of place-based data like Connected Bradford to create a fairer education system—one where all children, regardless of their background, are given the best chance to succeed.
Relevant research publications:
The relationship between ‘school readiness’ and later persistent absenteeism