National Audit Office finds roll-out of funded early education & childcare will be “challenging”
A report published by the National Audit Office (NAO) today finds that the timetable for the roll-out of the new funded early education and childcare
The Department for Education has today announced that the extra £204m for early years announced in the budget will be allocated to local authorities as an additional grant to boost funding for the early years entitlements between September 2023 and March 2024. The average rate for a 3- or 4-year-old will rise from £5.29 to £5.62 (c.6% increase) and for the funded 2-year-olds will rise from an average of £6 to £7.95 per hour (c.32% increase). In addition to increasing the hourly rates, the grant is to be used to increase MNS supplementary funding (rising from an average of £4.39 to £4.63), the Disability Access Fund (from £828 to £881) and Early Years Pupil Premium (from £0.62 to £0.66 per hour). (Guidance for local authorities gives more detail)
This unusual mid-year increase in funding demonstrates that government has taken on board that the rates for 2023-24 do not reflect the real impact of inflation. However, the stark difference between the increase in the 2-year-old rate and the 3-/4-year-old rate shows that ministers have not acknowledged that it is the current 3-/4-year-old entitlement that is the most drastically underfunded, and that this is what is the cause of the huge instability in the sector, with setting closures increasing, especially in the most disadvantaged areas and recruitment and retention in crisis across the country. We call on government to stabilise the sector by adequately funding all the current entitlements before trying to expand the system further.
A report published by the National Audit Office (NAO) today finds that the timetable for the roll-out of the new funded early education and childcare
In response to recent queries about why the latest DfE guidance on providing the early education and childcare entitlements has removed references to additional charges
A new campaign to boost recruitment to the early years sector in England is being launched today by the government. The government press release says:
DfE have issued an update to address the issue of parents wishing to claim their codes for the new entitlements who cannot do so because
The Department for Education has today published its response to the EYFS consultation conducted in the summer. The changes will be implemented from January 2024
DfE has today launched a consultation on the new funding rates which will apply for 2-year-olds and under 2s when the new entitlements are introduced
In a speech today, Kier Starmer will set out Labour’s plans to expand opportunity via five “missions” including “Early years reform – to boost child development with an
The Department for Education (DfE) is currently consulting on proposals to amend the Early Years Foundation Stage. They propose relaxing the requirements around the minimum
DfE has issued slightly more detail about the planned uplift in the hourly rates for the current and new entitlements, following the announcements in the
In today’s budget the Chancellor has confirmed several new measures on early education and childcare: Our analysis The decision to relax the ratios for 2-year-olds
Today, Early Education, the NAHT, NEU and Unison have jointly written an open letter calling on the government to address the shortfall in early years
Today, teachers from the National Education Union are striking, including many working in nursery and reception classes. In the last week, the Department for Education
We welcome the news that our President, Professor Cathy Nutbrown, has been made a Dame in the year’s New Years Honours list. This is much
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Ofsted’s latest annual review highlights the impact of recruitment and retention challenges and finds a link between inspection outcomes and the proportion of graduates in
In his Autumn Statement today the Chancellor failed to offer any financial help to an early years sector which is already struggling to stay afloat.
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We urge members to respond to the two DfE consultations on funding and ratios which close on 16 September. For information, you can view the
Comparing figures from January 2022 and January 2020, progress is being made towards previous levels of take up of funded early education. Latest figures from
Early Education welcomes the news that the new National Plan for Music Education has been extended to cover the early years. We are glad to
The Times Education Commission has today published a report which calls for “A significant boost to early years funding targeted at the most vulnerable and
Cathy Nutbrown, President of Early Education The twelve sessions of the May Annual National Conference 2022 left me reflecting on a strong thread which I
Ofsted has today launched a new five-year strategy. Elements of this which affect the early years include commitments to “simplify the regulatory regime for childminders”
We welcome the government’s new Sustainability and climate change strategy for education and children’s services, and that early years is reflected through a range of
A survey of maintained nursery schools carried out by Early Education in June 2021 has found increasing demand from children with SEND in the current
The DfE have issued documents to support schools and settings to understand how to report to the Early Years Census in the context of the
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