Data set from Expansion to early childcare entitlements: eligibility codes issued and validated

Spring 2026 codes issued and validated by IDACI

Latest data
Published
Last updated
Codes issued and validated by deprivation, as represented by Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) for Spring 2026 term.

Data set details

Theme
Early years
Publication
Expansion to early childcare entitlements: eligibility codes issued and validated
Release
July 2026
Release type
Number of rows
30
Geographic levels
National
Indicators
  • Codes issued for 9 months to two-year-olds (Spring term)
  • Codes validated for 9 months to two-year-olds (Spring term)
  • Percentage of codes validated (Spring term)
Filters
  • IDACI Decile
  • User Type
Time period
2026

Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data
time_periodtime_identifiergeographic_levelcountry_codecountry_nameIDACI_Decileuser_typecodes_issuedcodes_validatedpercentage_validated
2026Reporting yearNationalE92000001England1Existing311682886592.61
2026Reporting yearNationalE92000001England1New9178776184.56
2026Reporting yearNationalE92000001England1Total403463662690.78
2026Reporting yearNationalE92000001England2Existing374723503893.5
2026Reporting yearNationalE92000001England2New9714832785.72

Variables in this data set

Table showing all 5 variables
Variable nameVariable description
codes_issuedCodes issued for 9 months to two-year-olds (Spring term)
codes_validatedCodes validated for 9 months to two-year-olds (Spring term)
IDACI_DecileIDACI Decile
percentage_validatedPercentage of codes validated (Spring term)
user_typeUser Type

Footnotes

  1. IDACI (Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index) is a UK measure of child poverty at the small-area level. It estimates the proportion of children under age 16 living in low-income households within each Lower-layer Super Output Area (LSOA). Areas are then ranked into ten deciles, where Decile 1 represents the most deprived areas and Decile 10 the least deprived.
  2. Eligibility Checking Service data was aggregated to local authorities using the child's postcode, and the ONS May 2026 postcode directory. Sometimes, a geography cannot be assigned, and the aggregate of LAs may not equal the full national total. This also means that validation rates can only be between 0% and 100%, as the same postcode is used for both (unlike in other statistics relating to entitlements).
  3. “Existing” users are defined as those who held an eligible code in the term immediately preceding the term shown. By contrast, “new” users are those whose codes have only just become eligible, whether because the child has reached the qualifying age or because the application was submitted during the current term.

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Spring 2026 codes issued and validated by IDACI statistics and data:

Early Years Analysis and Research Unit

Email: EY.AnalysisANDResearch@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Thabang Nonyane