Hundreds of thousands of parents of children from nine months old take up new 15 government funded hours of early education from Monday
From Monday 2nd September, hundreds of thousands of eligible working parents of children from 9-months-old will begin to access 15 hours of government-funded early education per week.
For parents of primary school aged children, new “wraparound” childcare places will be available before and after school, sounding the starting gun on long-term reform to deliver an early education and childcare system from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school, boosting parents' work choices and children's life chances.
This comes as the government looks ahead to delivering the expansion to 30 funded hours from next September.
The scale of the inherited delivery challenge is substantial. To deliver what parents have been promised requires an unprecedented rate of growth in childcare places and staff. This may mean some parents are not able to access their first-choice provider next year.
However, this government is now taking the action needed to help deliver the additional places needed and will set out further plans to deliver the government's commitment to use primary school classrooms to create new nurseries.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
“I've already said that early years is my number one priority. That's why we are delivering the childcare rollout I know will be such a help to hard-pressed parents, with 15 hours of early education per week for 9-month-olds and above from next week, alongside more wraparound childcare for school children.
“This inherited plan comes with significant delivery challenges - I must warn that for some parents it will not be plain sailing - and while I am excited to see children starting nursery for the first time, or parents being able to increase their working hours, the work for government starts now.
“Over the next year, I will be working flat out with my team to ensure the next phase of the rollout is possible - doubling parents' childcare entitlements to 30 hours a week.”
Jason Elsom, Chief Executive of Parentkind said:
“We welcome all help for families to ease the burden on family finances at a time when many families are really struggling.
“Parents tell us that childcare costs are a major concern, and they support action to bring costs down and help families at that crucial time between the end of maternity leave and previous financial support kicking in. It is right we do everything we can to support parents, particularly when children are young.”
Purnima Tanuku OBE, Chief Executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said:
“We support the government's commitment to investing in our youngest children's futures. This is something that families really need in order to give their children the best start in life and also enable parents to work.
“Supporting children early in their development means they have the foundations for learning and the necessary social skills to give them a brighter future, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. We are keen for all children to have access to early education and care - the early investment pays dividends in their later education in improving life chances.
“Early educators are also best placed to identify children with additional needs early on which can make a huge difference so any additional training resources for them will be very welcome.”
Nationally, around 85,000 more places are needed to deliver the rollout for September 2025 compared to 2023 - over double the increase in places seen in the past five years combined.
These figures vary significantly on a local level, with around 20 local areas needing double the increase in childcare hours than the national average, and a handful of further areas needing three times the increase, showing the scale of the delivery challenge. Work is underway with local authorities to make sure the right local plans are in place to deliver for parents and families.
The expansion in government funded hours is just one step towards the Education Secretary's vision of an early education and childcare system that supports children to build on strong foundations and start school ready to learn.
To make sure growth does not come at the cost of quality, the government has also announced an extension of the early years stronger practice hubs programme until at least March 2025. The programme supports nurseries by bringing groups together across local areas, to share evidence-informed practice, advice and build lasting local networks.
This comes alongside additional resources for early educators to support children with special educational needs, with a new online training module and assessment guidance launching next month to enable them to better identify, assess and support children with additional needs.
More primary school-age wraparound childcare places are also expected to become available from January 2025.
As a result of the government funding provided, schools will be able to signpost parents to newly appointed wraparound leads in every local authority, who will be able to provide support if parents are unable to access the wrapround childcare they need.