Nearly every three and four year-old in England has been the beneficiary of free childcare, as the vast majority of parents have taken up the government’s offer of 15 hours a week per child, according to official figures.
The Department for Education said that 99% of four-year-olds and 94% of three-year-olds have received free nursery places or funding for private childcare provision under the scheme, introduced in September 2013 and now in its second year.
The popularity of the scheme explains the Conservative party’s pledge to double the hours being funded – from 15 to 30 hours, for 38 weeks a year – during the last election campaign.
The latest figures, released on Thursday, show that this year nearly 1.5 million children have received funded childcare provision, including around 160,000 two-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds who are also eligible for free places.
“It’s fantastic that not only are more parents accessing free childcare, but more places are in top quality settings,” said Sam Gyimah, the childcare minister, referring to statistics that 85% of children were in childcare rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted inspectors.
“No parent should be denied the childcare option that works best for their family but costs have historically been a burden on family finances that prevented them from working if they wanted to. We are removing these barriers and giving parents the chance to return to work.”
Recent research has shown that attending any pre-school, compared to none, is equivalent to an additional 41 points at GCSE – equivalent to the difference between getting seven B grades instead of seven C grades. The effect is even stronger for children who attend for longer or in high quality settings.
The increase in numbers – up by nearly 100,000 compared with 2011, and 22,000 more three- and four-year-olds than last year – has seen private providers take an increasing role. Two out of three of the three-year-olds receive private childcare, with just 35% in state nurseries or school nursery classes.
Nearly 80% of four-year-olds are in state schools, with the statistics for the age group including four-year-olds who start reception classes in September.
The take-up of free school places among eligible two-year-olds remains lower than other age groups. Just 58% of those eligible for a funded place – including those with special needs, or from households earning less than £16,200 a year – took up the offer this year.
Meanwhile, the DfE also announced figures showing that the number of teenagers in education or training was at its highest since current records began.
At the end of 2014 the proportion of 16- to 18-year-olds in education or work-based learning rose to 87%, an annual increase of almost 9,000 to 1,590,000.
The proportion who were not in education, employment or training – nicknamed “neets” – fell by 0.4 percentage points to 7.3% of 16-18 year-olds, the lowest proportion since 1994 and a fall of almost 10,000 in 12 months.
