Regions: England

A Coalition of education and childcare organisations including NDNA has launched a new standard of skills for children starting school.    This new ‘Starting Reception’ definition on school readiness has been created following the latest Kindred Squared annual report which highlighted an information gap between teachers and parents.    The latest survey reported that teachers and parents… Continue reading Call on government to support new definition of ‘school readiness’ 

The Government has put out new ‘Statutory guidance for local authorities on the provision of early education and childcare‘ to early years providers in England emphasising that these charges made to parents must be voluntary. When nurseries are facing rising costs such as National Insurance Contributions increases from April which the Government has admitted are… Continue reading New charges guidance to “cut costs for parents” 

Ofsted’s chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, has today unveiled planned changes by the Ofsted schools inspectorate and launched a public consultation – Improving the way Ofsted inspects education.  The public consultation is asking parents, carers, professionals and learners for their thoughts on Ofsted’s proposed changes to education inspections and the introduction of report cards for… Continue reading Ofsted launches public consultation on education inspections 

Many MPs expressed their concerns about the impact of the National Insurance Contributions rise on nurseries and private childcare providers in a Parliamentary debate (17 December). But Exchequer Secretary James Murray dismissed the issues, referring to increased funding. Ahead of the debate, NDNA had briefed many MPs including Conservative MP Gareth Davies who quoted NDNA… Continue reading MPs spoke about nursery issues in National Insurance Contributions debate

The Department for Education (DfE) has published its latest Childcare and early years providers survey: 2024, detailing statistics on the characteristics of early years providers in England.   The annual survey provides information about early years provider characteristics, the number of childcare places and children attending provision plus details relating to staffing (including qualifications) and fees.    … Continue reading Latest provider statistics show PVI sector crucial to expansion  

The Department for Education has published the funding rates for April 2025-26 but these won’t include an uplift to account for the increase in National Insurance Contributions announced in the October Budget.   The average funding rate for three and four-year-olds – which has the most impact on nurseries as there are more funded three and… Continue reading England funding rates 2025-26: won’t factor in National Insurance Contributions  

Scotland’s Finance Secretary Shona Robison reported on the Budget in Holyrood this week. For early years, the main features of the Budget were: Purnima Tanuku OBE, Chief Executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) Scotland said: “While it’s vital that all children especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to high quality early learning and… Continue reading Scottish Budget – funding to continue childcare support for priority families

The Department for Education (DfE) has published new data showing that children were improving at the end of reception year, although maths and literacy are still the areas where they need the most help.  The EYFS profile results for 2023-24 In individual areas of learning, the most children reached their expected level in physical development… Continue reading EYFS profile results: Children making steady progress  

NDNA briefed MPs ahead of the Second Reading of the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill 2024-25 which was debated this week.   The brief detailed the impact of NICs changes on the Early Education and Childcare Sector, highlighting issues such as an average nursery will face additional staffing costs of around £40,000 per… Continue reading MPs debate the impact of NICs changes on employers  

The Department for Education (DfE) has published its recent Pulse surveys of childcare and early years providers revealing that almost half of group-based providers do not have sufficient funding to cover their costs.  The DfE has been conducting provider pulse surveys since 2020 to gather findings relating to the childcare and early years sector.  The… Continue reading DfE research reveals funding to early years providers is insufficient  

Ofsted has released a report detailing the number of childcare providers and their most recent inspection outcomes as at 31 August 2024.  The number of childcare providers registered with Ofsted was down by 2% due to a drop in the number of childminders.  The number of registered childminders fell by 1,060 and the total number… Continue reading Latest Ofsted data shows a fall in the number of childcare providers

The Chancellor announced that education spending would be prioritised in this week’s Budget which includes early years funding for the entitlement expansion.  Although there are some much-anticipated cuts along with tax increases expected in the Budget on Wednesday 30 October, this means that the £1.8bn already announced for the early years expansion is “protected”.  The… Continue reading Early years funding protected from Budget cuts 

New safeguarding measures which were the focus of a consultation earlier this year will be implemented from September 2025 to make sure the increase in places doesn’t reduce quality. These updates include safer recruitment practices and safer eating which the Department for Education consulted on between April and June.  They received 1470 responses to the… Continue reading New safeguarding changes to be implemented next year

The Department for Education is open for grant applications of up to £150,000 from state-funded schools to create a new nursery or expand an existing one. And they will be updating guidance on charging parents for meals and consumables.  This money is from a £15m pot which the Government believes could support 300 new school-based… Continue reading Eight weeks for schools to apply for school-based nursery grant