Government should focus on supporting PVI sector, says Alliance

26th June 2014

The Pre-school Learning Alliance has called for greater government support for the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early years sector following the release of the latest Department for Education statistics on childcare provision in England.

The Provision for children under five years of age in England: January 2014 statistics, published today, reveal that 96% of two-year-olds accessing funded early education places are doing so at PVI settings.

Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch said:

鈥淭he fact that such a high proportion of funded two-year-olds are in non-maintained settings should be a clear sign to government that it simply must invest in the PVI sector if the two-year-old scheme is to succeed in the long-term. It seems completely illogical to continue to focus so heavily on promoting school-based provision when only 1% of funded two-year olds are currently accessing places at school nurseries and there is such an extensive network of excellent and experienced PVI providers already available.

鈥淭he assumption that to achieve the government鈥檚 aim of developing a graduate-led early years sector, we need to move to a school-led system, is fundamentally flawed. Research does show that graduate-led provision has a positive impact on early outcomes but it does not say that this provision has to be school-based.

鈥淭he percentage of PVI settings delivering funded places for three-and four-year-olds who employ graduate staff has increased by 15% since 2010. The government should be looking to build on this progress and support the sector in developing a highly-qualified workforce, rather than opting for the cheap and easy solution of pushing young children into a school environment far too early.鈥

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Notes for editors

  1. The statistics
  2. The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England.
  3. 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.
  4. For information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance, visit our website:

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