May 2025

Expansion to early childcare entitlements: eligibility codes issued and validated

Data guidance

Published 12 May 2025

Description

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Coverage

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File formats and conventions

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Data files

All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.

Summer 2025 Codes Issued and Validated

• Filename: summer_2025_local_authority_codes_issued_and_validated.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2025
• Content:
  Codes issued and validated for summer term

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
age	Age
codes_issued	Codes issued
codes_validated	Codes validated
percentage_validated	Percentage of codes validated
user_type	User Type

Footnotes

1. Eligibility Checking Service data was aggregated to local authorities using the child's postcode, and the ONS February 2025 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).
2. 'Existing' users are those who had an eligible code in the term prior to the one for which data is presented. 'New' users, by contrast, have codes which have only just entered eligibility (due to age or application date).

Summer 2025 Local Authority Time Series

• Filename: summer_2025_local_authority_time_series.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2024 January to 2025 April
• Content:
  Monthly cumulative codes issued and validated for summer term

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
codes_issued	Codes issued for 9 months to two-year-olds (Summer term)
codes_validated	Codes validated for 9 months to two-year-olds (Summer term)
percentage_validated	Percentage of codes validated (Summer term)
user_type	User

Footnotes

1. Eligibility Checking Service data was aggregated to local authorities using the child's postcode, and the ONS February 2025 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).
2. Small drops in the validation rate can occur as the number of codes issued can exceed validations by more than the validation rate. Generally, validation rates will rise over time as the issued date precede the validation date for any individual user. This trajectory of validation rates is consistent with other terms and with data on three and four-year-olds.
3. 'Existing' users are those who had an eligible code in the term prior to the one for which data is presented. 'New' users, by contrast, have codes which have only just entered eligibility (due to age or application date).

Spring 2025 Codes Issued and Validated

• Filename: spring_2025_local_authority_codes_issued_and_validated.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2025
• Content:
  Codes issued and validated for spring term

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
age	Age
codes_issued	Codes issued
codes_validated	Codes validated
percentage_validated	Percentage of codes validated
user_type	User Type

Footnotes

1. Eligibility Checking Service data was aggregated to local authorities using the child's postcode, and the ONS February 2025 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).
2. 'Existing' users are those who had an eligible code in the term prior to the one for which data is presented. 'New' users, by contrast, have codes which have only just entered eligibility (due to age or application date).

Spring 2025 Local Authority Time Series

• Filename: spring_2025_local_authority_time_series.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2024 January to 2025 March
• Content:
  Monthly cumulative codes issued and validated for spring term

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
codes_issued	Codes issued for 9 months to two-year-olds (spring term)
codes_validated	Codes validated for 9 months to two-year-olds (spring term)
percentage_validated	Percentage of codes validated (spring term)
user_type	User

Footnotes

1. Eligibility Checking Service data was aggregated to local authorities using the child's postcode, and the ONS February 2025 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).
2. Small drops in the validation rate can occur as the number of codes issued can exceed validations by more than the validation rate. Generally, validation rates will rise over time as the issued date precede the validation date for any individual user. This trajectory of validation rates is consistent with other terms and with data on three and four-year-olds.
3. 'Existing' users are those who had an eligible code in the term prior to the one for which data is presented. 'New' users, by contrast, have codes which have only just entered eligibility (due to age or application date).

Headline national codes issued, validated, and percentage validated by term and age of child

• Filename: headline_stats_summer_release.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2024/25 Spring term to 2024/25 Summer term
• Content:
  Headline national figures for codes issued and validated in spring and summer terms

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
age_of_child	Age of child at start of term
codes_issued	Codes issued
codes_validated	Codes validated
percentage_validated	Percentage of codes validated