Government urged to address disparate uptake of free childcare

3 February 2012 2 mins read Janaki Mahadevan Early Years

There is wide variation in the take-up of the free entitlement to early education for three- and four-year-olds across England, with children from the most disadvantaged families less likely to use their allowance, the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.

The office’s latest report said that while high take-up of the entitlement has been sustained as the scheme has expanded since 2006, the government must address the variations across local authorities to guarantee value for money.

All three- and four-year-olds are now entitled to 15 hours of free childcare each week. From next April 20 per cent of two-year-olds will also have access to the offer growing to 40 per cent from 2014.

Examining whether the Department for Education is achieving value for money by delivering the entitlement the NAO said it lacks "robust analysis of the relationship between performance and funding levels".

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