Alliance publishes funding evidence guidance for practitioners

14th July 2015

The Pre-school Learning Alliance has produced two new guidance documents to support practitioners responding to the government’s call for evidence on the cost of delivering childcare.

The first - ‘Guide to calculating the cost of delivering childcare’ - provides information on how to calculate the hourly cost of delivering childcare. It includes a detailed cost template alongside guidance on calculating hours of delivery, and additional advice on other information practitioners may wish to include in their responses to government, such as time spent in external meetings, SEND provision considerations, and opening and closing routines.

The second - ‘Guide to identifying delivery costs’ - is a shorter, simplified version of the first guidance document, which helps providers to identify childcare delivery costs. This document is aimed at practitioners who don’t have the time or necessary information needed to calculate their exact hourly cost of delivery.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said:

“That said, the call for evidence is of course a positive step in the right direction, and so it is vital that as many providers respond to it as possible, which is why the Alliance has produced these two guides to support them in doing so. We hope that practitioners will find them useful in helping them to give as much specific detail as possible about the actual cost of delivering childcare and early education in their responses, as this will be crucial in helping the DfE gain a better understanding of the current funding situation and the scale of change that is needed.”

For further information or to interview, Neil Leitch, Chief Executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance please contact:

Shannon Hawthorne

Pre-school Learning Alliance

T: 020 7697 2503

E: Shannon Hawthorne

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Notes for editors

  1. The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England.
  2. Through direct provision and its membership of 14,000 nurseries, sessional pre-schools and parent and toddler groups, the Alliance supports over 800,000 children and their families in England. The Alliance also develops and runs family learning programmes, offers information and advice, runs acclaimed training and accreditation programmes and campaigns to influence early years policy and practice.
  3. For information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance, visit our website:

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