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School-based nursery expansion 'on-track' for autumn term, says DfE

2 mins read Early Years
The Department for Education has announced that nearly 200 school-based nurseries are on track to open in September as part of its multimillion-pound capacity-boosting drive.
The pilot will see 4,000 extra school-based places created. Picture: Lucie Carlier

The DfE said that it expects to exceed its target to deliver “over 4,000 new” places in time for the full rollout of the 30-hours funded childcare entitlement from the autumn term.

Early years bodies have aired concerns that government policy is overly directed towards schools, while the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector is overlooked – despite providing most places and offering a claimed greater flexibility to families.

They are also increasingly reporting evictions of PVI settings by schools who are planning their own early years offer, with concerns that the policy may simply be replacing existing PVI places with those run by schools.

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