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by Jess Gibson

Average parent-paid fees for early years places increased steeply between 2023 and 2024, new statistics published today by the Department for Education (DfE) show.  

These statistics provide information on early years provision in England from the DfE’s annual Survey of Childcare and Early Years аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø¿ª½± (SCEYP). The DfE commissioned IFF Research and London Economics to conduct the SCEYP in 2024, with fieldwork carried out between May and July 2024.  

 The release shows the average increases for early years fees paid by parents, according to child age: 

• £6.05 to £6.60 for under-twos (a 9.1% increase) 

• £6.07 to 6.56 for two-year-olds (an 8.1% increase) 

• £5.90 to £6.30 for three- and four-year-olds (a 6.8% increase) 

The statistics, which are available , come shortly after confirmation of next year's early years funding rates for local authorities, which will increase by between 3-4% and do not factor in the impact of national insurance contribution increases. 

Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said: "It's not at all surprising that parent fees have increased so sharply over the past year. For many years, funding for the early entitlement offers has completely failed to meet the true cost of delivering places, meaning that, despite the recent higher increases in rates for young children, many nurseries, pre-schools and childminders still face a daily struggle to remain financially viable. As a result, many simply have no choice but to increase fees to avoid going out of business altogether. 

"Worse still, we know that this trend is very likely to continue. When asked what would happen if next year's early years funding rates did not cover the costs of minimum wage rises and national insurance increases, 95% of respondents to an Alliance survey said that they would be forced to increase fees for parents. And, with recent confirmation that funding across all age groups will increase by just 3-4% - despite minimum wage increases of up to 18% plus the significant additional pressure of national insurance changes – it's clear that these fee increases are likely to be significant. 

"At a time when government has rightly identified the need to ensure that all children have access to a quality early education as a policy priority, ministers simply must do more to ensure that early years places are affordable. Of course, this is especially critical given that those on the lowest incomes are the most likely to be excluded from the funded entitlement offers, most of which are aimed specifically at 'working families'. 

"We therefore urge the Treasury to recognise the urgent need to tackle this issue and work with the sector to ensure that early years providers are adequately funded, both now and in the future, to deliver the quality, accessible, affordable early education and care that all families need and deserve."