Schools-based nursery plan opens with first round of funding
by Jess Gibson
The first round of funding launches for up to 300 school-based nurseries today, as part of the government’s plan to increase early education capacity.
Primary schools can now apply for up to £150,000 of £15 million capital funding, with the first stage of the plan set to support up to 300 new or expanded nurseries across England.
This comes as 321,462 additional children are now accessing 15 hours of government-funded early education per week, since the second phase of the early entitlement expansion’s rollout last month.
The government is urging providers and schools “to consider the latest data in their bids for the school-based nurseries programme, and work closely with local authorities to outline how proposals will respond to local need and subsequently contribute to the government’s plan for an early years system that breaks down barriers to opportunity for children across the country”.
Funding will be allocated to successful schools in spring 2025 to support delivery for the first cohort of places in the September rollout.
The work to create additional capacity forms part of the government’s Opportunity Mission, which seeks to break the correlation between disadvantage and lack of opportunity.
Commenting, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “All children should have the opportunity of a brilliant early education, no matter who they are, where they’re from or how much their parents earn.
“Our new school-based nurseries will provide thousands of additional places where they are needed most, plugging historic gaps and making sure geography is no barrier to high quality childcare.
“Whilst some parents may not get their first-choice place next September, I’m determined that every parent is able to access and afford the hours that they are entitled to.”
Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said: “While we fully recognise the urgent need to tackle early years shortages – especially as they are particularly acute in areas of disadvantage – we’re clear that school-based nursery provision can only ever be one small part of a much wider strategy.
“With private and voluntary early years settings delivering the vast majority of places, it’s critical that the government recognises the valuable contribution that this part of the sector can make to delivering the places that children and families need – not just as potential delivery partners to schools, but as standalone providers in and of themselves.
“What’s more, it’s important to remember that physical space is only one piece of the early years capacity puzzle. With the sector currently in the midst of the worst staffing crises in recent history, tackling the ongoing recruitment and retention challenges facing providers – largely driven by continued low pay and a lack of recognition for early years as a profession – simply must be a priority for ministers. Only by adequately supporting the early years workforce will the government have any hope of fulfilling the promise that has been made to families.