Statistics published by the Department for Education and Skills show the extent to which 560,000 children met or exceeded the 13 early learning goals of the Foundation Stage curriculum.
Children were assessed on a nine-point scale, with 9 signifying that a child had achieved all the points from 1 to 8 and was working consistently beyond the level of the early learning goal.
The results, based on observations by practitioners and completed at the end of the reception year, found girls outstripped boys in all the early learning goals.
The widest gap between their achievements was in creative development, while the gap was narrowest in knowledge and understanding of the world.
The lowest scores for both girls and boys were in the assessment areas for mathematical development and communication, language and literacy.
Early years specialist Wendy Scott said the figures did not take into account factors such as the support children received at home and their continuity of experience in a setting.
She warned, 'We have to be careful that these results don't lead us down the road of pressurising children too much. You have to look at the scales themselves. The question always needs to be raised: are they the right levels? I think the levels need to be revisited to make sure they are appropriate.'
Ms Scott highlighted the differences in detail between some of the early learning goals, with mathematical development broken down into three assessment scales and communication, but language and literacy into four.
She compared these with knowledge and understanding of the world, which has only one scale of assessment, but encapsulates the five curriculum areas that children study in Key Stage 1 - history, geography, ICT, design and technology, and science.
'Literacy and numeracy are very important, but children are learning in various ways that aren't necessarily recognised in formal tasks,' Ms Scott said.
Commenting on the statistics, Lesley Staggs, national director of the Foundation Stage, said, 'What we need to look at is what is it that's sticking for children. It may not be the whole learning goal. For example, we know that children can recognise letters, but don't always form them correctly. We need to find out what they find particularly difficult.
'We shouldn't think in terms of them all achieving 8. Expecting all children to get 8 is a bit like saying, "You can only pass this exam if you get 100 per cent".'
Ms Staggs also said there was a need to look at how best to support practitioners.
She added, 'If I think how comparatively new funded education places for three- and four-year-olds are, and how comparatively new the Foundation Stage is, I'm proud of what we've achieved.'
Foundation Stage profile 2004: percentage of children achieving or exceeding each point on the 13 assessment scales
Girls Boys All children
1 Dispositions and attitudes 69 56 62
2 Social development 58 47 52
3 Emotional development 63 50 56
4 Language for communication and thinking 57 46 51
5 Linking sounds and letters 41 31 36
6 Reading 45 37 40
7 Writing 39 26 32
8 Numbers as labels for counting 59 55 57
9 Calculating 44 40 42
10 Shape, space & measures 51 46 48
11 Knowledge and understanding of the world 53 52 53
12 Physical development 70 58 64
13 Creative development 59 43 50