will items saved on ipad only transfer on to new ipad

These support pages should get you started with setup of your new iPad - and the methods of transferring your data from old to new iPad:

Set up your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch – Apple Support

Transfer data from your previous iOS device to your new iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Use Quick Start to transfer data to a new iPhone, iPad or iPod touch – Apple Support

If the donor iPad, from which you are transferring your data precedes iOS12.4, QuickStart will not be available.

“Transfer” is rather a misnomer. In reality, your data and setup is merely cloned to the new device. Nothing is moved or removed from the original device.

An alternative is to restore either an iCloud or iTunes backup to the new device:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch – Apple Support

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

Apps are not directly transferred between devices. For Apps, the transfer process creates a record of the Apps that are installed on the donor iPad - and it is this record of installed Apps that is transferred to the target device. For Apps that are still available for download from the App Store - and are compatible with the target - the corresponding Apps are automatically downloaded and installed from the App Store.

Not all Apps will, necessarily, continue to be available. Apps may have been removed or retired from the App Store by the respective App Developer. Some Apps may have been abandoned - and may not be compatible with the new device. Where a compatible App is not available, you’ll not be able to transfer/install the App. 

They SHOULD. I’ve set up n ew devices from old ones and not lost data

here’s a ‘how to’

Transfer data from your previous iOS or iPadOS device to your new iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

And I could suggest that you do that, set up the new one from the backup of the old one, then do a little side by side comparison to make sure you haven’t lost anything

I think the only things that do not transfer over is if, let’s say your ipad runs iOS14 and your new one runs 16, but you have an app that is no longer available or does not run on 16…you may lose that app and its data due to that incompatibility.