DfE to stop publishing Covid-19 attendance data for early years

Figures for childcare settings based on submissions from local authority providers were published weekly from last March alongside school attendance figures, however, early years data was reduced to fortnightly publication earlier this year.

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In its latest release, the DfE announced that it will stop collecting early years data at the end of the summer term “unless there are significant changes to guidance around attendance at early years settings in relation to Covid-19”.

School data will continue to be released.

Latest figures show that 875,000 children were attending early years childcare settings on 13 July – around 54 per cent of the number of children who usually attend childcare in term time.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, has criticised the government’s decision to scrap collecting early years data calling for it to be improved instead.

He told the House of Commons petitions committee: “We would suggest to the DfE they should improve their data collection. It’s interesting that yesterday alongside those statistics came a request as to whether they should now drop collecting those statistics. My suggestion is they should improve collecting those statistics, not drop them.”

The announcement comes as Covid-19 restrictions in England were lifted, meaning early years and education settings are no longer responsible for informing parents of positive Covid-19 cases in their child’s bubble or year group.

“Close contacts will now be identified via NHS Test and Trace and education settings will no longer be expected to undertake contact tracing,” government guidance states.

It adds that early years staff are no longer required to wear face coverings in communal areas at settings.

Parent and child groups can now operate as normal without restrictions, new guidance states, while it is no longer recommended to keep children at pre-schools and nurseries apart in small groups.

Early years workers, who have been double vaccinated, must be included in plans to allow frontline staff exemption from self-isolation through the NHS Test and Trace app, sector leaders have said.

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said: "Our research showed that over the winter months, three quarters of nurseries had to close at least one room at least once during that time because of positive Covid cases. Numbers of cases are soaring again which will result in more nurseries having to close rooms not just for positive cases but for a lack of early years practitioners because so many are having to isolate themselves.”