New edition of Birth to 5 Matters launched
The Early Years Coalition has launched the updated and expanded second edition of Birth to 5 Matters (Bto5M), non-statutory guidance for the Early Years Foundation
Ofsted has now published details of its new Education Inspection Framework and the response to its consultation.
We are pleased that it will move to inspecting early years providers within a 4-year cycle rather than a 6-year cycle as at present, to ensure that inspection reports have greater currency, although they can only ever provide a snapshot at a point in time. Equally welcome is the move to inspecting newly registered providers within 12-18 months rather than the current wait times of up to 30 months.
We welcome the changes in the final version compared to earlier drafts insofar as they take on board feedback from the sector. For example, the number of evaluation areas has been reduced from 8 to 6 for schools (plus the separate early years in schools area), matching the 6 evaluation areas for the early years.
We remain concerned that there is a considerable workload for schools and settings in familiarising themselves with the new guidance documents which include:
The new framework comes into effect on 10 November 2025. Ofsted has agreed initially to prioritise schools that volunteer for inspection, with routine inspections under the new framework on or after 1 December, depending on the number of schools that volunteer. However, it would appear that the new framework will apply to all early years settings from 10 November.
We welcome feedback from members on the new framework should you wish us to raise any issues with Ofsted.
The Early Years Coalition has launched the updated and expanded second edition of Birth to 5 Matters (Bto5M), non-statutory guidance for the Early Years Foundation
We welcome the most recent steps in delivery of the government’s Best Start in Life strategy, focused on helping to raise the quality of provision
A recent survey reveals that many of England’s 376 maintained nursery schools face severe financial struggles. By 2025-26, 35% expect deficits for the year, while
The Secretary of State, Bridget Phillipson MP, has written to the Chief Executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to request that the CMA
An online survey has been launched to hear responses from across the early years sector to a draft of the revised Birth to 5 Matters
We welcome DfE’s announcement of a new Inclusive Early Years Fund (IEYF) alongside their Inclusive Mainstream Fund for schools. It will provide £47 million of additional
We are delighted to announce that Professor Verity Campbell-Barr has been appointed as a Vice President of Early Education in recognition of the contribution she
Our new report is calling for stronger action across all four UK nations to strengthen qualification requirements for the early years workforce (EYW) and to
Five years after its publication, Birth to 5 Matters, non-statutory guidance for the Early Years Foundations Stage, is to be reviewed and relaunched to ensure
We’re pleased to confirm that after extensive lobbying from Early Education, the DfE has extended eligibility for the School-based Nursery (SBN) Capital Grant Funding to
Early Education has released an interim report of its comparative study of early years workforce policies across the four UK nations. It finds common challenges
Today the government is launching its Best Start in Life Strategy [expected after presentation to parliament this afternoon], “to drive up the quality, affordability and
A survey of maintained nursery schools (MNS) in England carried out by early years charity Early Education in association with education unions the NAHT and
Government has today announced that free school meals (FSM) in England will be extended to all children in families receiving Universal Credit, including those on
Any changes to government policy on online safety and digital literacy must include a focus on children in the early years, three leading early years
The Department for Education (DfE) has today announced a consultation (closing 12 July) about changing the minimum space requirements per child in the EYFS Statutory
Ofsted is currently consulting on changes to how it inspects the education sector. This review was prompted by the tragic death of headteacher Ruth Perry.
We welcome today’s news from the Department for Education that it has selected 300 schools to receive capital funding for new or expanded nurseries. We
The Department for Education has published its early years funding allocations for local authorities for 2025-26, including increasing Early Years Pupil Premium from 68p to
We welcome today’s “Plan for Change” government targets which bring a renewed emphasis on improving child development outcomes in the early years. While still committed
The Department for Education (DfE) has today launched a “test and learn” pilot for its planned expansion of school-based nursery provision. Under the scheme, primary
Ofsted has today published its response to the “Big Listen” consultation. For the early years, it undertakes to: On the differences between early years and
We welcome the Department for Education’s announcement that the government are moving ahead with their manifesto commitment to scrap single-word Ofsted judgements for schools, effective immediately,
On 10 June, Labour announced their plans for “over three thousand new nursery classes across England to open up access to childcare hours for families”,
The Conservative Manifesto has promised to extend Family Hubs to all local authorities. This would both extend funding for the 75 local authorities where they
The Lib Dems have published their manifesto, including commitments to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law and to
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
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:
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
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
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
by Dr Jo Albin-Clark, Edge Hill University and Dr Nathan Archer, Leeds Beckett University Inspection in the news Being involved in education in England involves
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
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
The government’s latest changes to the early years funding formulae bring two key changes which we pointed out in our response to the consultation would
DfE have today announced the early years funding settlement for 2023-24, which leaves the early years sector struggling on below inflationary increases. While an additional
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
The open letter below was sent to Ofsted in November 2023. Download Ofsted’s response We the undersigned are writing to you about the recently published
The Ofsted early years curriculum review Best start in life part 1: setting the scene, has just been published, which they describe as being part of
The tenth early years minister in ten years, Kelly Tolhurst, is now in post. It’s good news that early years is part of a Minister
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
