The Department for Education is urging families to take full advantage of the ongoing rollout which is “continuing to break down barriers to opportunity”, as it opens applications for the extended 30-hours-a-week offer from September.
A survey or parents who took up the entitlements in September 2024 found that “lower-income families are seeing the biggest impact, with one in five of those earning £20,000 – £40,000 having increased their working hours thanks to the 15 hours brought in last year”, said a statement from the department.
The DfE said that half a million children are already benefitting from the 15 hours extended offer and when the 30 hours is made available for those aged nine months to school age in the autumn term, it will save families “up to £7,500 a year per child”.
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Of the 2,723 respondents who are planning to increase their childcare hours from September, over half (1,425) are intending to up their working hours, the survey found.
With savings from the government’s free breakfast club rollout and cap on school uniform costs, the department said the savings rise to up to £8,000 for working parents who also have school-aged children.
However, sector bodies have urged the government to use the spending review due next month to ensure that the funded entitlement scheme is properly funded.
Phillipson described early years as her “number one priority”, with the childcare rollout being “just the beginning” of her planned efforts to ensure children start school “ready to learn”.
“Through the hard work of the sector, supported by our record investment, landmark school-based nursery rollout and focus on vital early learning support, we will deliver an early years system that gives every child the best start in life,” added Phillipson.
Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders, alongside local authorities have shown their commitment to the plans, said the DfE, with 6,123 of 6,337 respondents who applied for government-funded hours last autumn going on to secure a place.
Alongside applications opening, the department has also said it will consult on how it can help nurseries to make better use of outdoor space – with evidence showing the benefits for children, including improved problem solving as well as for mental and physical health.
The government’s early years framework requires provision of outdoor play but only formally recognises indoor space in its requirements for how many children that settings can take on at any one time.
However, seven in 10 providers have told the DfE they would make better use of their outdoor space if more flexibility was introduced.
“The consultation will seek to understand whether to allow providers to include high-quality, accessible and safe outdoor space in meeting those requirements, and the appropriate conditions to be put in place should they include gardens and play areas as a full part of the early learning experience for the youngest children,” said the DfE.
NDNA’s executive chair Purnima Tanuku said that while the rollout is making a difference to children and families, providers are looking to the government to ensure that the funding is made available “to meet the true costs they face”.
“We know early years settings are working hard to be ready for September’s increase in funded hours and parents should be in contact with nurseries as early as possible to find out what options are available to them locally,” she added.
On the outdoor space consultation, Tanuku described this as a “positive step”, adding that this should be supported by a workforce strategy.
She said: “It will be important to ensure that this approach is based on best practice and what is best for children.
“There is also a need to review the indoor space requirements because no-one knows how they were defined and have not been reviewed in living memory.
“However, even if providers can increase capacity based on space, providers are still telling us that they need more staff to be able to meet local demand for places.
“We need to see a fully costed workforce strategy from the government to ensure that the sector can recruit and retain the specialist staff that we know are needed to give children the best start in life.”
