New study of early years qualifications will create a shared benchmark
A new study The Value of Early Years Qualifications: Quality, Skills & Progression will explore the core knowledge and skills that early years qualifications (EYQs)
The Department for Education has today released its long awaited Schools White Paper (Every Child Achieving and Thriving) and its SEND reform consultation (closes 18 May 2026), along with a series of guidance documents.
The good news is that early years are prominently featured in both, and that they take a broad view of what children need rather than looking at the education system in isolation.
Key commitments in the Schools White Paper include:
The White Paper also sets an ambition for all schools to become part of trusts, but gives no explanation of what should happen to maintained nursery schools, which cannot become academies.
The SEND reforms proposals include:
Funding commitments include:
We look forward to dialogue with members over the coming months as we work with government on refining and implementing these proposals.
A new study The Value of Early Years Qualifications: Quality, Skills & Progression will explore the core knowledge and skills that early years qualifications (EYQs)
The Department for Education (DfE) have today launched a consultation on proposed changes to the early years funding system. It runs until 14 September 2026.
We welcome the announcement from the Department for Education confirming details of the grant being made available to local authorities to cover the cost of
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
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
by Jacqui Lewis The Department for Education’s recent white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, alongside the consultation Putting Children and Young People First, articulates
by Dominic Gunn While there is much detail still to come on the Government’s plans for education, and plenty of focus already on concerns regarding
We recently sought clarification of the funding guidance relating to payment of quality supplements to maintained nursery schools (MNS) in England, following a question as
By Ali Aspin, Early Years Training and Development Lead at Learning through Landscapes For young children, the outdoors is more than just a place to
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
Early Years Workforce in the four UK nations (EYW4N) Final Report It IS rocket science: professionalising the early childhood workforce in the UK (November 2025)
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
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
HMRC has provided guidance for early years providers on their eligibility to claim employment allowance. This confirms that settings which are currently eligible to claim
The Department for Education has published updated Statutory guidance for local authorities on the provision of early education and childcare which will apply from 1
A new study is comparing early years workforce policies across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to share solutions to current challenges. Funded by the
With the injection of public funding into provision for children under 2 years of age, many baby rooms in English nurseries are expanding at a
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
If you read the government’s guidance on applying for capital funding to open or expand nursery provision, you could be forgiven for thinking setting up
The National Audit Office’s new report, Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children, finds that in 2023-24, DfE allocated an estimated £9.2 billion to specifically focus
The letter below sets out our key asks for the next government.
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
Today, Friday 17 May, the Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC) has launched its new manifesto, with proposals to rescue and reform England’s early education
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
by Katherine Gulliver Introduction Early Education was recently asked to review the special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) provision in the early years within one
For many of us, the path we’ve taken in our careers can often be traced back to the passions and talents of our childhood and
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
The Department for Education (DfE) have published their response to the consultation on potential changes to staff:child ratios. The consultation received responses from nearly 10,000
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
by Kayla Halls, Early Years Research Fellow at Middlesex University & Mona Sakr, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood at Middlesex University’ Leaders in the early
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
by Amanda Ince and Liz Bullough, UCL Institute of Education “I want to be an inspiring leader who can inspire my colleagues in my setting
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
