The proportion fell from 72 per cent in January 2018 to 68 per cent in January 2019, according to the Department for Education's statistics, Provision for Children Under Five Years of Age in England.
While a fall is not unexpected, the news is a blow for a nationwide push by the DfE to boost the number of disadvantaged families taking up the offer - which had driven a steady rise from 58 per cent in 2015 to a peak last year.
This effect has weakened under pressure from the rollout of the three- and four-year-olds offer, confirming earlier sector concerns backed by a DfE survey of councils.
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