Reporting year 2024

Childcare and early years provider survey

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Introduction

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Introduction

This release provides information on childcare and early years provision in England from the Department for Education (DfE)’s annual Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers (SCEYP).

The DfE commissioned IFF Research and London Economics to conduct the SCEYP in 2024. Fieldwork was carried out between May and July 2024. See the methodology section for more details on how the survey was carried out, the response rates that were achieved, and how results were weighted in order to be representative of all childcare providers in England.

Findings are broken down by provider type, region and area deprivation band.  The average fees charged by providers to parents are broken down by local authority. 

Three different types of childcare provider are covered by the survey:

Childminders: Ofsted-registered childminders providing early years childcare and operating on domestic settings.  The sample of childminders was drawn from Ofsted's Early Years Register.  Childminders registered with a childminder agency were not included in the survey.

School-based childcare providers: The sample of school-based childcare providers was taken from a list of school-based providers that have nursery provision, according to DfE's “Get Information About Schools” service.  The two types of school-based provider covered by the survey are:

  • Maintained nursery schools: These are purpose-built maintained schools specifically for children in their early years and with a qualified teacher present.
  • Nursery class childcare settings: These are other maintained schools, and non-maintained schools, offering nursery provision.

Group-based providers: These are other childcare providers (such as playgroups and day nurseries) operating on non-domestic premises.  The sample of group-based childcare providers was drawn from Ofsted's Early Years Register. The two main types of group-based providers covered by the survey are:

  • Private group-based providers: These are private companies and include employer-run childcare for employees.
  • Voluntary group-based providers: These are voluntary organisations, including community groups, charities, churches, or religious groups.

There are a smaller number of “other group-based providers” (run by, for instance, colleges, local authorities, “private not-for-profit” organisations etc.)  In most of the tables, these providers are not shown separately but are included in the “all group-based providers” total.  

A bigger set of tables, and more detailed information, including sample sizes and tests of the statistical significance of differences between figures from the 2023 and 2024 Surveys, can be found in additional tables available in the “supporting files” section of this release. Please read the “notes and definitions” sheet for details of how the figures in these tables have been calculated and presented.

Related information

Releases in this series

View releases (2) for Childcare and early years provider survey

Methodologies

Headline facts and figures - 2024

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Additional supporting files

All supporting files from this release are listed for individual download below:

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Section 1 - Number of childcare providers and their characteristics

Introduction

This section provides an overview of the childcare market - the number of childcare providers and characteristics of the care that they provide.

Findings

Between 2023 and 2024, the total number of providers fell by 1,700 (3 per cent) to 54,700, compared with a 5 per cent fall observed between 2022 and 2023. The total number of school-based providers and group-based providers remained stable, in contrast the number of childminders fell by 7 per cent between 2023 and 2024. 

Between 2018 and 2024, the number of providers fell by 11,900 (18 per cent).  Over this longer time period, the number of group-based providers has stayed about the same, school-based provider numbers increased by 1,100 (13 per cent) and childminder numbers decreased by 12,800 (35 per cent).  

Patterns of provision vary across regions.  Despite continuing to fall each year, childminders make up the biggest share of provider numbers in all regions in 2024, with the exception of the West Midlands. School-based providers make up 31 per cent of providers in the North East, compared with only 10 per cent in the South East. The North East is also the only region where the proportion of school-based providers is higher than the proportion of group-based providers. The proportion of group-based providers is highest in the South West (43 per cent) and lowest in the North East (29 per cent). 

There is a positive relationship between how deprived an area is and the proportion of providers that are school-based providers. In 2024, 28 per cent of providers in the most deprived areas are school-based providers, double the 14 per cent of providers that are school-based providers in the less and least deprived areas.

In contrast only 35 per cent of providers in the most deprived areas are childminders, compared with between 44 and 47 per cent in all other areas.

The proportion of group-based providers ranges from 36 per cent in the most deprived areas to 42 per cent in the least deprived areas. 

Thirty-four per cent of group-based providers are part of a chain, in line with 2023 (33 per cent).  This proportion is higher for private group-based providers (45 per cent) than for voluntary group-based providers (9 per cent). 

Childminders (89 per cent) and private group-based providers (81 per cent) are much more likely to be open during both term-time and holidays than school-based providers (6 per cent) and voluntary group-based providers (27 per cent).

As well as being open for more weeks in the year, on average, private group-based providers and childminders are open for more hours in the day.   

Both are open for an average of 10 hours per day compared with 8 hours per day for voluntary group-based providers and 7 hours per day for school-based providers.

Most private group-based providers open between 7.30am and 8.30am and most close between 6.00pm and 7.00pm.

Most school-based providers open later (between 8.30am and 9.00 am) and most close earlier (between 3.00pm and 4.00pm) than private group-based providers and childminders.

Further information

For some of the figures in these tables, for instance the number of registered childcare providers, other sources of data are available.

For school-based providers, figures are collected on the Annual School Census and published by DfE on "Explore Education Statistics".

For childminders and group-based providers, figures are available from Ofsted's childcare registers and published on their website.

There are slight differences between the sets of figures. In general, Ofsted figures refer to the number of childminders and group-based providers registered to deliver childcare to pre-school children while Provider Survey figures refer to the number of childminders and group-based providers who reported that they actually delivered childcare to pre-school children at the time of the Survey.  As a result, the number of childminders and group-based providers reported on the Provider Survey is smaller than the number reported by Ofsted.  Childminders, in particular, may be registered on Ofsted's Early Years Register (thereby allowing them to look after pre-school children) but not have any pre-school children attend them at the time of the Survey.

More detailed information, including sample sizes, can be found in additional tables available in the “supporting files” section of this release.  As well as the figures shown in this section, these tables show, for instance, the size of provider “chains” and the distribution of childcare provider opening and closing times.

Two changes have been made to the way that numbers of providers are estimated on the Survey. 

  • The way that voluntary, private and “other” group-based providers are defined changed between 2021 and 2022. This means that figures from 2022 onwards for these categories of provider cannot be directly compared with figures for earlier years.  Figures for the total “all group-based provider” category are not affected and can be compared.  How these definitions changed, and the impact that this had on figures, is described in the 2022 report.  The main effect of the change was to increase (by around 500) estimates of the number of "other" group-based providers, with a corresponding fall in the number of “private” and “voluntary” group-based providers.
  • There are two versions of the survey.  The "core" survey contains questions on all of the topics covered by the survey whereas the "short" version of the survey only asks for a limited amount of information. In this year's tables, estimates of the total number of providers in 2023 have been revised - these (like 2024 figures) are now based on responses to that year's "core" and "short" surveys (rather than just the core survey as previously). Overall, the 2023 figures only show a small change compared with the figures published in December 2023. Estimates of the number of school-based providers and childminders in 2023 have both increased by 0.4% while estimates of the number of group-based providers have increased by 0.1%.  There has been a bigger change, however, in estimates of the number of "private" and "voluntary" group-based providers. When based on both the "core" and "short" versions of the 2023 survey, the estimated number of "voluntary" group-based providers is around 400 (or 7%) higher than it was when based just on responses to the "core" survey.  There is a corresponding fall in the estimated number of "private" group-based providers.
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Section 2 - Number of childcare places

Introduction

This section describes the number of childcare places that providers have registered; the number of children registered with them; the number of booked places that they have; and the number of spare childcare places that they have. The definitions are as follows:

Registered places: The maximum number of children that the provider is allowed to look after at any one time.  

Registered children: The number of children “on the provider's books”.

Booked places: The number of children booked to attend the provider on an average weekday.

Spare places: A childcare provider has spare places if it is willing and able to take an additional child or children, over and above those children that are already booked.

Findings

Number of registered childcare places

The estimated number of registered childcare places in England increased by 44,400 (or 3 per cent) between 2023 and 2024, to 1,602,500.

The estimated number of registered places increased by 5 per cent (or 56,500) at group-based providers and by 3 per cent (or 9,500) at school-based providers. These increases offset a 13 per cent (or 21,600) fall in registered places at childminders.

Number of registered places per provider

School-based providers have a mean of 39 registered places.  This number is much higher for maintained nursery schools (103 places) than it is for nursery class childcare settings (37 places). Maintained nursery schools, however, only make up a small proportion of the overall number of school-based childcare providers.

Group-based providers have a mean of 53 registered places.  This number is higher for private group-based providers (60 places) than it is for voluntary group-based providers (37 places).

Childminders have the fewest registered places, with a mean of 7 registered places each.

Registered places by region

Group-based providers make up the majority of registered places.  Their share ranges from just over half (55 per cent) in the North East to around three quarters in the South East (75 per cent) and South West (74 per cent).

In contrast the proportion of registered places that are in school-based providers ranges from 15 per cent in the South East to 37 per cent in the North East. 

Although childminders make up the biggest number of providers in all regions (except the West Midlands) in 2024, because they have, on average, fewer registered places than group-based providers and school-based providers they only make up a small proportion of total registered places, ranging from 7 per cent in the North West and West Midlands to 11 per cent in the East of England.

Registered children by age

School-based providers tend to look after older children than other types of childcare providers.  The vast majority (88 per cent) of children registered with school-based providers are aged 3 and 4, with only 1 per cent aged under 2.

A higher proportion of children registered with group-based providers (20 per cent) are aged under 2. However, children aged 3 and 4 still make up over half (52 per cent) of registered children at group-based providers. 

There is a more even age split of children at childminders - 29 per cent are aged under 2, 34 per cent are aged 2 and 38 per cent are aged 3 and 4.

Booked places

On an average weekday in 2024:

Group-based providers had an estimated 618,200 children booked on full-day places, an increase of 20,300 (3 per cent) from 597,900 in 2023.  

School-based providers had an estimated 160,800 children booked on full-day places, an increase of 4,600 (3 per cent) from 156,300 in 2022 (figure for 2023 unavailable).

Childminders had an estimated 78,100 children booked on full-day places, a decrease of 8,300 (10 per cent) from 86,400 in 2023.

Spare places

Providers were asked about the number of additional children that they would have been willing and able to take on the day they completed the survey, over and above those children who were booked - that is, the number of spare places that they had.

Around 50 per cent to 60 per cent of providers report that they have one or more spare full-day place.  This proportion is higher for group-based providers (62 per cent) than it is for school-based providers (53 per cent) and childminders (51 per cent).

Although a higher proportion of group-based providers than school-based providers and childminders report having a spare place, the proportion of full-day nursery places that are spare is lower in group-based providers (15 per cent) than in school-based providers (19 per cent) and childminders (21 per cent).

Group-based providers report a total of 110,000 spare places per day.  School-based providers report 37,000 spare places and childminder 20,000 spare places. 

Group-based providers have an average of around 6 spare places and school-based providers an average of around 5 spare places per day.  Childminders have an average of one spare place.

Further information

This section shows several measures:

Firstly, the number of places that providers have registered.  This is the number of children that the provider is allowed to have in attendance an any one time.

Secondly, the number of children (as opposed to places) that the provider has registered.  This is the number of children “on the provider's books” i.e. attending at any time.  The number of registered children may be higher than the number of registered places, for instance if different children attend on different days, or it may be lower than the number of registered places, for instance if the provider has spare places.

Thirdly, the number of booked places at the provider.  This is the number of children booked to attend the provider on an “average” weekday (providers are asked on the Survey for the number of children booked on a random day of the previous week).

Finally, the number of spare places that the provider has.  This is the number of additional children that the provider is willing and able to take, over and above those children that are already booked with them.  

The number of spare places varies between different days of the week.  In these tables, the average number across all days is shown.  Additional tables, available in the “supporting files” section of this release, show a breakdown by day of the week.  They provide further additional information, such as sample sizes, and further tables to those shown in this section, such as the proportion of childcare places that are spare in different regions

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Section 3 - Childminders

The proportion of childminders employing an assistant, or considering employing an assistant, has remained broadly unchanged from 2023. 

An estimated 20 per cent of childminders employed an assistant in 2024, in line with 2023 (19 per cent). 

A further 7 per cent of childminders reported that they were considering employing an assistant, the same proportion as 2023. 

Eleven per cent reported regularly working with another childminder or childminders, in line with 2023 (13 per cent). 

A small number of childminders (8 per cent) look after their own children as well as other people's

Eight per cent of childminders look after one or more of their own children. Six per cent look after one of their own children, 1 per cent look after two of their own children, and 1 per cent look after three or more of their own children. 

A lower proportion of childminders reported looking after their own children in 2024 (8 per cent) than in 2023 (11 per cent).

Further information

More detailed information, including sample sizes, can be found in additional tables available in the “supporting files” section of this release.  These additional tables show, for instance, the proportion of childminders that reported doing other jobs to supplement their income and the average number of years that they reported having worked as a childminder.

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Section 4 - Workforce: number of staff and staff turnover

The total number of paid childcare staff increased by 20,200 (or 6 per cent), from 347,900 in 2023 to 368,100 in 2024.  The number of paid childcare staff working for school-based providers increased by 4,000 (or 7 per cent) and the number of paid childcare staff working for group-based providers increased by 18,600 (or 7 per cent).  The number of childminding staff fell by 2,300 (or 7 per cent).

On average, group-based providers employ more paid members of childcare staff than school-based providers.

In 2024, school-based providers had an average of 6.2 paid members of childcare staff, an increase from 5.8 in 2023. On average, maintained nursery schools employ more paid childcare staff (17.9) than nursery class childcare settings (5.7). 

The average number of paid staff employed at group-based providers increased from 12.3 in 2023 to 13.1 in 2024. On average, private group-based providers employ more paid staff (14.7) than voluntary group-based providers (9.2). 

Around 30 per cent of school-based providers and group-based providers employ temporary staff.

In 2024, 34 per cent of school based providers (in line with 33 per cent in 2023) and 29 per cent of group based providers (in line with 30 per cent in 2023) employed temporary paid childcare staff.

Between 2023 and 2024 the number of temporary staff employed by school-based providers increased by 6 per cent from 5,400 to 5,700. The number of temporary staff employed by group-based providers stayed almost the same (20,700). 

Around 30 per cent of school-based providers and group-based providers employ volunteer staff.

A similar proportion of school-based providers employ volunteer childcare staff in 2024 (28 per cent) to 2023 (30 per cent). 

Thirty per cent of group-based providers employ volunteer childcare staff, a small fall from 32 per cent in 2023. 

There was a big increase in the proportion of school-based providers and group-based providers who employed volunteer staff between 2021 and 2022.  This was possibly due to Covid restrictions being relaxed. 

The total number of volunteer staff employed by school-based providers and group-based providers fell by just over 1,000 between 2023 and 2024, from 16,300 to 15,200. 

Group-based providers are significantly more likely to employ childcare apprentices than school-based providers.

There were an estimated 30,500 childcare apprentices in 2024, an increase of 4,500 (or 17 per cent) from 2023. Almost all (28,900) of these apprentices were employed by group-based providers. 

In 2024, 11 per cent of school-based providers employed childcare apprentices, in line with 2023 (12 per cent). Fifty-seven per cent of group-based providers employed apprentices, up from 51 per cent in 2023.

Around two-thirds of  childcare apprentices are studying at Level 2. 

Sixty-seven per cent of childcare apprentices employed by group-based providers are studying at Level 2. Thirty per cent are studying at Level 3 and 3 per cent at Level 5. 

The proportion of childcare apprentices employed by school-based providers that are studying at Level 2 is slightly higher (72 per cent).

Staff turnover 

On average, providers had more paid childcare staff joining than leaving in the previous 12 months. 

School-based providers had 4,300 paid childcare staff leave but recruited almost double this amount (8,700). On average, 0.9 staff joined school-based providers and 0.5 left.

Group-based providers had 40,200 paid childcare staff leave but recruited 58,900. On average, 2.9 staff joined group-based providers and 2.0 left. 

Group-based providers have higher turnover rates than school-based providers.

Turnover rates for paid childcare staff in 2024 were twice as high in group-based providers (16 per cent) as school-based providers (8 per cent). 

Further information

More detailed information, including sample sizes, can be found in additional tables available in the “supporting files” section of this release.  As well as the figures shown in this section, these tables show, for instance, the average number of hours per week that staff are contracted to work.

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Section 5 - Workforce: staff qualifications and characteristics

Staff qualifications

The proportion of paid childcare staff who hold an early years or teaching-related qualification at Level 3 or above is highest (86 per cent) in school-based providers.  Slightly lower proportions of paid childcare staff working in group-based providers (80 per cent) and childminders (75 per cent) are qualified to Level 3 or above.

A higher proportion of paid school-based provider staff (42 per cent) hold an early years or teaching-related qualification at Level 6 than paid childcare staff working in group-based providers (11 per cent) and childminders (11 per cent).

In school-based providers, 93 per cent of headteachers and early-years co-ordinators are qualified to Level 6 compared with 25 per cent of other staff.

In group-based providers, 45 per cent of senior managers are qualified to Level 6 compared with 7 per cent of other staff.

75 per cent of childminders are qualified to Level 3 or above compared with 30 per cent of childminding assistants.

Staff characteristics

The vast majority of paid childcare staff are female, making up 98% of the group-based provider workforce, and 97% of both the school-based workforce and childminders.

Just over 80 per cent of paid childcare staff are estimated to be White British.  This proportion is lowest in private group-based providers (78 per cent) and highest in voluntary group-based providers (87 per cent).

There are marked differences in the age profile of paid childcare staff in different settings.

Only 1 per cent of childminders are aged under 25 compared with nearly a quarter of paid childcare staff in group-based providers (23 per cent).

Conversely, 47 per cent of childminders are aged over 50 compared with just 14 per cent of paid childcare staff in group-based providers.

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Section 6 - Staff-child ratios

Introduction

The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage sets out the required staff to child ratios in Early Years and Childcare settings.  Childcare providers are, however, allowed to exceed these ratios in exceptional circumstances.

For children aged under two:

  • There must be at least one member of staff for every three children.

For children aged two:

  • Since September 2023, there must be at least one member of staff for every five children.  At the time of last year's survey, the maximum ratio was one member of staff for every four children. 

For children aged three to four:

  • If a person with an approved level 6 qualification is working directly with the children there must be at least one member of staff for every 13 children.
  • If a person with an approved level 6 qualification is not working directly with the children there must be at least one member of staff for every 8 children.

Findings

In 2024, 96 per cent of private group-based providers and 97 per cent of voluntary group-based providers reported that they were operating at, or below, the statutory ratio for children aged under 2 i.e. one member of staff for every 3 children.  This was in line with 2023.

Twelve per cent of private group-based providers and 16 per cent of voluntary group-based providers had fewer than 3 children per member of staff.

In 2024, the average number of children aged under 2 per staff member at all group-based providers was 2.9, a slight decrease from 2023 (3.0).

In 2024, 99 per cent of both private group-based providers and voluntary group-based providers reported that they were operating at, or below, the statutory ratio for children aged 2 i.e. one member of staff for every 5 children. 

In the 2023 Survey, when the statutory ratio for children aged 2 was one member of staff for every 4 children, only around 1 per cent of group-based providers were operating at ratios of one member of staff for every 5 children.  In 2024, this proportion has increased to 31 per cent for private group-based providers and 17 per cent for voluntary group-based providers.

However, 68 per cent of private group-based providers and 83 per cent of voluntary group-based providers still report operating at statutory ratios more generous than the new statutory minimum i.e. fewer than 5 children per staff member.  

In 2024, the average number of children aged 2 per staff member at all group-based providers was 4.0, an increase from 2023 (3.8).

In 2024, the mean number of children aged 3 to 4 per staff member was 6.9 for group-based providers (a decrease from 7.2 in 2023) and 8.0 for school-based providers (a decrease from 8.3 in 2023).  

Although school-based providers have a higher number of children per member of staff, they are more likely than group-based providers to employ staff qualified to Level 6, and providers are allowed to have higher child to staff ratios for 3 to 4 year olds when a member of staff qualified to Level 6 is present.

Thirty-seven per cent of group-based providers and 41 per cent of school-based providers reported staff:child ratios that were more generous than the statutory minimum i.e. fewer than 8 children per member of staff.

Childcare providers are allowed to exceed staff to child ratios in exceptional circumstances.

Eight per cent of group-based providers and 7 per cent of school-based providers said that they had used the “exceptional circumstances” allowance at least once in the last year.

Twenty per cent of group-based providers and 36 per cent of school-based providers, however, said that they were “not aware” of the allowance.

Further details

More detailed information, including sample sizes, can be found in additional tables available in the “supporting files” section of this release.  

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Section 7 - Overview of provider finances

Introduction

This section provides a brief overview of provider finances. 

Findings

Staffing costs account for a bigger share of costs in school-based providers (86 per cent) than in group-based providers (76 per cent) or childminders (77 per cent).  For group-based providers, rent and mortgage are the second biggest costs (9 per cent).  For childminders, the second biggest costs are food (9 per cent).

In 2024, 1 per cent of paid school-based provider staff and 6 per cent of paid group-based provider staff were estimated to be paid below the National Living Wage.

School-based provider staff are estimated to have a median hourly wage of £17.95 per hour compared with £12.25 per hour for group-based provider staff.

Some of this difference will reflect a higher proportion of school-based provider staff (42 per cent) than group-based provider staff (11 per cent) holding a Level 6 early years or teaching-related qualification.

Further details

Significant changes were made in the 2024 Survey to the way that information about staff salaries were collected and validated. As well as the amount that they paid their staff, providers were asked for the number of weeks per year that staff were contracted to work so that allowance could be made for staff working term-time only.  Where providers reported staff salaries weekly or annually, rather than hourly, an “hourly equivalent” wage was calculated.  Where this was an unusually high or unusually low amount providers were asked to go back and check their answers.

This has resulted in a much lower proportion of paid staff being estimated to be paid below National Living Wage in 2024 than in previous years, so direct comparisons with figures for previous years cannot be made. It has also led to a reduction in the number of staff being paid unusually high amounts.  Overall, estimates of hourly wages collected on the 2024 Survey are considered to be more accurate than those from previous surveys.

A further report based on the 2024 Survey, looking in detail at providers' income and costs and, for instance, at the average hourly wage paid to staff qualified to different levels, will be published in 2025.

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Section 8 - Funded entitlements and tax-free childcare

Background

The amount of financial support available to parents, in the form of government-funded childcare, is being extended.

The new measures will expand the existing system by offering the equivalent of 30 funded hours of childcare per week, for 38 weeks a year, to eligible parents of children aged 9 months and older.

At the time of the Survey (May to July 2024) only the first phase of this expansion - 15 hours of funded childcare per week for eligible parents of 2 year old children - had been rolled out.  The new entitlements will be offered in full from September 2025.

Therefore, the Survey asked about:

  • 15 hours of funded childcare per week for eligible parents of 2 year old children; and
  • Up to 30 hours of funded childcare per week for eligible parents of 3 to 4 year old children (funded hours for 3 to 4 year old children have been available since September 2017).

Tax-free childcare

Tax-Free Childcare was introduced in April 2017. Under this scheme, eligible parents open an online account, with payments into the account being topped-up by the government. Parents are then able to use the account to pay for childcare costs with a registered provider.

Providers were asked whether any of the 2 year olds they provided childcare to were funded through the 15 hour entitlement.

The majority of providers (who looked after 2 year olds) had at least one 2 year old funded under the 15 hour entitlement. 

Group-based providers were the most likely to have 2 year olds funded through the 15 hour entitlement (96 per cent), followed by school-based providers (89 per cent) and childminders (78 per cent).

The proportion of childminders, in particular, looking after 2 year olds funded through the 15 hour entitlement increased markedly, from 24 per cent in 2023 to 78 per cent in 2024, as a result of eligibility for these entitlements being expanded.

Providers who looked after 3 and 4 year olds were asked if any of these children were funded under the 15 hour entitlement.

In 2024, 97 per cent of group-based providers (a small increase from 95 per cent in 2023) and 91 per cent of school-based providers (a small decrease from 93 per cent in 2023) had one or more child funded through the entitlement compared with 63 per cent of childminders (unchanged from 2023).

Group-based providers (who looked after children aged 3 or 4) were the most likely to look after at least one child funded through the 30 hour entitlement for 3 to 4 year old children in 2024 (95 per cent), followed by school-based providers (82 per cent) and then childminders (70 per cent). 

The proportion of group-based providers and school-based providers looking after at least one child funded through the 30 hour entitlement for 3 to 4 year old children slightly increased between 2023 and 2024 (from 79 per cent to 82 per cent and from 93 per cent to 95 per cent respectively).  For childminders, 2024 figures (70 per cent) were in line with 2023.

Restrictions on use of entitlements

Private group-based providers are the most likely to offer entitlements throughout the year.  Sixty-five per cent offer the 15-hour entitlement for 2-year-olds; 62 per cent offer the 15-hour entitlement for 3- to 4-year olds; and 68 per cent offer the 30-hour entitlement for 3- to 4-year-olds both during and outside of term-time.

This proportion was significantly lower for school-based providers, although these are less likely to be open outside of term-time.

School-based providers were more likely than other providers to restrict entitlements to certain sessions or hours of the day.   Forty-seven per cent restricted the 15-hour entitlement for 2-year-olds, 52 per cent restricted the 15-hour entitlement for 3- to 4-year-olds and 45 per cent restricted the 30-hour entitlement for 3- to 4-year-olds.  

Childminders were the least likely to restrict entitlements to certain hours of the day.  Nearly 90 per cent of Childminders had no restrictions on when the entitlement could be used.

Sixty-five per cent of school-based providers were signed up to receive Tax-Free Childcare payments in 2024, in line with 2023 (63 per cent).  Group-based providers are the most likely to be signed up to receive Tax-Free Childcare payments (97 per cent, an increase from 95 per cent in 2023), followed by childminders (94 per cent, an increase from 91 per cent in 2023).

The proportion of parents paying for childcare using Tax-Free Childcare is higher in group-based providers (42 per cent) than school-based providers (17 per cent).  This proportion is highest for Childminders - in 2024, 50 per cent of parents of children registered with a childminder used Tax-Free Childcare to pay for their childcare.

Further information

More detailed information, including sample sizes, can be found in additional tables available in the “supporting files” section of this release.

Further information about funded entitlements and Tax-Free Childcare can be found at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk (opens in a new tab).

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Section 9 - Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Introduction

Providers were asked how many of the children registered with their setting had Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND). They were asked to include children with and without formal support in place, as well as those whose needs had not yet been formally identified but who their staff had identified as potentially having SEND.

Findings

The proportion of providers  looking after at least one child with SEND has increased since 2018. Proportions were the same, however, in 2024 as in 2023 - 85 per cent of school-based providers, 88 per cent of group-based providers and 25 per cent of childminders looked after at least one child with SEND .  

On average, many more children attend school-based and group-based providers than attend a childminder.  This explains why the proportion of childminders looking after at least one child with SEND is lower.

In 2024, school-based providers had an average of 5 children with SEND (an estimated 14 per cent of their registered places) and group-based providers had an average of 5 children with SEND (an estimated 12 per cent of their registered places). Childminders had the lowest proportion of children with SEND (an estimated 6 per cent of registered places).

Reflecting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS (opens in a new tab)) almost all school-based providers (99 per cent) and group-based providers (98 per cent) have a colleague formally designated as a Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO).

Only around a fifth (23 per cent) of childminders have a colleague or themselves designated as a SENCO.  Fifty per cent, however, have access to an external SENCO.  A third (33 per cent) of childminders have access to neither an internal nor an external SENCO.

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Section 10 - Provider fees and funding rates

Introduction

This section describes average fees charged to parents by childcare providers and the average funding rates that they receive from their local authorities.

Findings

Fees charged by providers to parents

In 2024, the mean hourly parent-paid fee charged for children aged under 2 was £6.60 per hour and for children aged 2 it was £6.56 per hour. Fees were slightly lower for pre-school children aged 3 and 4 (£6.30 per hour).

For both 2-year-olds and 3- to 4-year-olds, private group-based providers charged parents the highest fees and childminders the lowest fees.

Proportion of providers increasing fees

In 2024, private group-based providers were the most likely to have increased fees in the past 12 months. Eighty-six per cent said that they had increased fees for children under 2, 79 per cent said that they had increased fees for children aged 2 and 78 per cent said that they had increased fees for children aged 3 and 4. 

School-based providers and childminders were the least likely to have increased fees for children aged 2 (both 46 per cent) and school-based providers were the least likely to have increased fees for children aged 3 and 4 (34 per cent).  Childminders were the least likely to have increased fees for children aged under 2 (48 per cent).

Overall, the proportion of school-based providers that had increased fees in the previous 12 months was higher in 2024 than in 2023. In contrast, the proportion of group-based providers and childminders that had increased fees in the past 12 months was lower in 2024 than in 2023.

Overall, mean fees for children under 2 years of age increased by 9.1 per cent between 2023 and 2024, from £6.05 per hour to £6.60 per hour.

Private group-based providers increased fees by the most (by  11.0 per cent to £7.86 per hour). 

The smallest fee increases in 2024 were reported by voluntary group-based providers (4.2 per cent) and childminders (7.7 per cent). In 2024, childminders continued to charge the lowest hourly fees (£6.05).

Overall, mean fees for children aged 2 increased by 8.1 per cent between 2023 and 2024, from £6.07 per hour to £6.56 per hour.

Private group-based providers charged the highest fees (£7.63 per hour) and increased their fees by 9.3 per cent. Fees charged by nursery class childcare settings increased by 7.8 per cent (to £6.59 per hour) and childminders increased their fees by 8.4 per cent (to £6.03 per hour).

Overall, average fees for pre-school children aged 3 and 4 increased by 6.7 per cent between 2023 and 2024, from £5.90 per hour to £6.30 per hour.

Same as for 2 year old children, private group-based providers charged the highest fees (£7.35 per hour).  The fees charged by maintained nursery schools in 2024 were 7.6 per cent higher than those charged in 2023, and childminders increased their fees by 7.3 per cent.

In 2024, mean hourly fees were highest in London, followed by the South East and East of England.  They were lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber and the North East.

Differences in fees within regions were relatively small compared with differences between regions.  Within regions, fees for children of different age groups varied by up to 53p per hour.  Differences between regions, however, were much larger. The mean hourly fee for children under age two, for instance, was £5.61 in Yorkshire and The Humber, while in London it was £8.56, over 50% higher.

The following tables and charts show mean and median fees in each local authority area.

In order to help interpret the mean, the tables show “95% confidence intervals”.  Based on the responses we received to the survey, we can be 95% confident that the mean for all providers in the local authority lies between the “lower” and “upper” values.

Funding rates

Children aged 2

In April 2024, entitlement to 15-hours of funded childcare, for 38 weeks a year, was rolled out to eligible working parents of 2 year old children. This complemented the 15-hours of funded entitlements parents of disadvantaged 2 year olds were already eligible to receive. 

In November 2023, the government announced a significant increase in entitlement funding rates for financial year 2024/25, particularly for 2 year olds. This is reflected  in the latest data showing that the mean funding rate received by providers from local authorities for 2 year olds rose by 35 per cent between 2023 and 2024 (from £5.62 to £7.60 per hour). 

Mean funding rates for children aged 2 are highest for maintained nursery schools (£8.11) in 2024, this captures the specific supplement for maintained nursery schools in the Early Years National Funding Formula (intended to compensate for their requirement to have head teachers, governing bodies and qualified teachers) as well as the relatively high proportion of their children identified with SEND. There is much less variation from the average in the funding rates received by other provider types.

Children aged 3 and 4

In November 2023, the government announced a significant increase in entitlement funding rates for financial year 2024/25, particularly for 2 year olds but also for 3 and 4 year olds. This is reflected  in the latest data showing that the mean funding rate received by providers from local authorities for 3 and 4 year olds increased by 13 per cent between 2023 and 2024 (from £4.83 to £5.45 per hour). 

In 2024, mean funding rates for children aged 3 and 4 were much higher for maintained nursery schools (£6.40) than for other provider types. There is little variation from the average in the funding rates received by other types of providers.

Differences in mean hourly funding rates across regions are smaller than for parent paid fees. However, in 2024, mean hourly funding rates for children aged 2 were highest in London (£8.89 per hour),  £1.80 per hour higher than in the North East (£7.09 per hour).

In 2024, mean hourly funding rates for children aged 3 and 4 were highest in London (£6.30 per hour) and lowest in the East Midlands (£5.11 per hour).

Differences between the fees charged by providers to parents and funding rates received from their local authorities

All regions have mean funding rates for children aged 2 that are higher than the mean fees charged to parents.

Mean fees charged to parents of children aged 3 and 4, on the other hand, are higher than mean funding rates in all regions.  The difference between the mean fee charged to parents and mean funding rate for children aged 3 and 4 is biggest in London, the South East and East of England.

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Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

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