Methodology

Funded early education and childcare

Published: 9 July 2026

1. Background

Overview of the data collection

The data sources for this publication are the early years census (opens in new tab), the spring school census (opens in new tab), and the school-level annual school census – general hospital schools (opens in new tab). All state-funded schools (including nurseries), and all private, voluntary, and independent (PVI) providers (including childminders) receiving government funding, are required to make a return. PVI providers make a return via the early years census, schools via the school census and general hospital schools via the school level annual school census. These are statutory collections, which helps ensure complete and accurate information is returned.

Entitlement to government-funded early years provision

All 4-year-olds have been entitled to government-funded early years provision since 1998 and in 2004 this was extended to all 3-year-olds. Since September 2010, all 3 and 4-year-olds have been entitled to 570 hours of government-funded early years provision a year. This can be taken as 15 hours a week over 38 weeks of the year, or as fewer hours over more weeks. This is referred to in these statistics as the universal entitlement.

Since September 2013, eligible 2-year-olds from families in receipt of specified benefits, and 2-year-olds who were looked after by the local authority have been entitled to 570 hours of government-funded early years provision a year. The entitlement for 2-year-olds was further extended in September 2014 to children in low income families, children with a statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), children in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and children who were no longer looked after by a local authority as a result of an adoption order, a special guardianship order or a child arrangements order which specifies with whom the child is to live. This is referred to in these statistics as ‘Early learning for 2-year-olds’ (EL2), previously referred to as the ‘Families receiving additional support’ (FRAS) entitlement, and before that the ‘Disadvantaged’ entitlement.

In April 2018, the eligibility criteria for 2-year-olds to receive EL2 were changed to reflect the introduction of Universal Credit.

In September 2019, eligibility for the entitlement was extended to:

2-year-old children of Zambrano carers;
2-year-olds in families granted immigration leave on the basis of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and subject to a condition that they have no recourse to public funds; and
2-year-olds of families supported under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

In September 2020, EL2 was extended to 2-year-olds of families supported under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 who also have no recourse to public funds, and in September 2022 the entitlement was further extended to all 2-year-olds of families with no recourse to public funds.

The detailed eligibility criteria for EL2 are set out in regulations - The Local Authority (Duty to Secure Early Years Provision Free of Charge) Regulations 2014 (opens in new tab) and The Local Authority (Duty to Secure Early Years Provision Free of Charge) Amendment Regulations 2018 (opens in new tab).

In September 2017, the government doubled the entitlement to government-funded early years provision for 3 and 4-year-olds in working families who met the eligibility criteria to 1,140 hours annually, which can be taken as 30 hours a week over 38 weeks of the year, or as fewer hours over more weeks. This is referred to as the ’Working parent’ entitlement in these statistics.

In September 2018, the working parent entitlement was extended to 3 and 4-year-old foster children provided that take-up of the entitlement was consistent with the child’s care plan.

The working parent entitlement is available to 3 and 4-year-olds if their parents (or the sole parent in a lone parent household) work at least 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or living wage, but earn under £100,000 per year (adjusted net income). This also includes self-employed parents. Foster parents must engage in paid work outside their role as a foster parent. There is no minimum income requirement for foster parents, but they cannot exceed the maximum income threshold. The majority of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the working parent entitlement are 3-year-olds, as many 4-year-olds are already separately registered in reception classes in primary schools.

Eligibility for the working parent entitlement is checked by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Parents must apply for the entitlement through the digital Childcare Service, or in some circumstances, through the childcare service Customer Interaction Centre. Eligibility for the working parent entitlement for foster children is checked by the local authority who has responsibility for the foster child.

Parents who successfully apply for the working parent entitlement are given an ‘eligibility code’ for their child. They are prompted to take this code (along with their National Insurance number and child’s date of birth) to their childcare provider to claim their entitlement.

In May 2020, the government announced an easement to the minimum income threshold so that 3 and 4-year-olds who would normally be eligible for the working parent entitlement but whose parents had lost income due to COVID-19 (e.g. due to being furloughed), would continue to be eligible for the entitlement. In October 2020, the government agreed to allow children of parents who were enrolled on a government coronavirus support scheme to continue to access the entitlement. This change was set out in The Tax Credits, Childcare Payments and Childcare (Extended Entitlement) (Coronavirus and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2020 No. 1515 (opens in new tab).

In July 2020, the government introduced a temporary easement to the maximum income threshold as part of the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The change aimed to ensure that critical workers who exceeded the maximum income threshold set out in the 2016 Regulations due to increased income mainly attributable to earnings from work undertaken directly or indirectly as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak could continue to take up the working parent entitlement. The change was only effective for the tax year starting in 6 April 2020 and ending in 5 April 2021. This change was set out in The Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (opens in new tab).

The working parent entitlement was extended from April 2024 up until August 2025 so 2-year-olds with eligible working parents were entitled to receive 570 hours of government-funded early years provision a year; the same entitlement was again extended from September 2024 up until August 2025 to children aged 9 to 23 months with eligible working parents. This could have been taken as 15 hours a week over 38 weeks of the year, or as fewer hours over more weeks.

Since September 2025, the entitlement has been expanded with children aged 9 months to 2 years with eligible working parents becoming entitled to receive 1,140 hours of government-funded early years provision a year, effectively doubling their entitlement. This can be taken as 30 hours a week over 38 weeks of the year, or as fewer hours over more weeks.

Therefore, since September 2025, children aged 9 months to 4 years with eligible working parents are now entitled to receive 1,140 hours of government-funded early years provision a year (including, for 3 and 4-year-olds, the universal entitlement).

The detailed eligibility criteria for the working parent entitlement are set out in regulations:

Further information about government-funded early years provision is included in the statutory guidance for local authorities (opens in new tab).

2. Accredited Official Statistics

These accredited official statistics have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (opens in new tab) (OSR). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in new tab). Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (opens in new tab).

Accreditation signifies their compliance with the authority's Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in new tab) which broadly means these statistics are:

managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
meet identified user needs
produced according to sound methods
well explained and readily accessible

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in new tab) that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website (opens in new tab).

Since 2012, these statistics have been improved, in line with policy development, to ensure they remain relevant and continue to meet user needs. The main changes are outlined below.

In the 2014 statistics: adding further data when the entitlement to government funded early years provision was extended to two-year-olds from families in receipt of specified benefits (since September 2013). The entitlement criteria have been extended/revised since and the statistics have been updated to incorporate these changes. This includes presenting figures on ‘basis for funding’ to help users understand the changes.

In the 2016 statistics: adding further data following the introduction of the early years pupil premium (EYPP) in April 2015 for disadvantaged 3 and 4-year-olds.

In the 2018 statistics: adding further data when the government doubled from September 2017 the entitlement to government-funded early years provision for 3 and 4-year-olds in working families who met the eligibility criteria to 1,140 hours annually.

In the 2022 statistics: adding an additional breakdown by year group to one of the underlying data files to specifically identify children in a state-funded reception class.

In the 2023 statistics:

adding further breakdowns by year group to more underlying data files.
adding data on children in reception eligible for free school meals.
adding data on private, voluntary and independent providers delivering any amount of government funded early years provision. Specifically, those providers where at least one child was registered for all their entitlement or any proportion of their entitlement if it was split across multiple providers. Whereas, previously, figures were only published based on providers where at least one child was registered for all their entitlement or the majority of their entitlement if it was split across multiple providers.

In the 2025 statistics:

adding data on eligible children aged 9 months to 2 years registered for the expanded working parent entitlement.
adding data on the percentages of eligible children registered for the working parent entitlement across all ages/years where applicable at a national level.
adding figures at a national level on the number of providers (by provider type), delivering any (i.e. at least one) of the entitlements. Previously, provider figures were only available by entitlement type.
adding national level breakdowns on the estimated number of children eligible for early learning for 2-year-olds due to legacy benefits or universal credit.

In the 2026 statistics:

adding sub-national breakdowns to data file 6 (PVI staff by highest qualification).
adding further provider type breakdowns to data file 2 (Children registered and providers by provider type) and adjusting the provider type breakdowns in data file 7 (PVI providers with at least one accredited graduate staff member) to be more consistent with the other data files containing provider types.
In addition to figures on the overall percentage of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement, adding further breakdowns to the headline file on the percentage of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for early years entitlements only (i.e. excluding reception).

The Department has a set of statistical policies (opens in new tab) in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

3. Data collection and cleaning

Data is loaded into the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) bespoke data collection system COLLECT (opens in new tab) (Collections On-Line for Learning, Education, Children and Teachers).
COLLECT has built-in validation rules which identify invalid data (i.e. errors) or where the data quality is questionable but could be accurate in certain circumstances (i.e. queries). This allows local authorities to identify errors and amend the data before they submit it to DfE.
Local authorities are encouraged to amend all errors and double-check data where queries are flagged. Notes can be added to their return if there is a genuine reason for unusual data.
Information on how local authorities should complete the early years census (opens in new tab) and the school census (opens in new tab) is available on GOV.UK.

4. Data processing

Confidentiality

The Code of Practice for Statistics requires that reasonable steps should be taken to ensure that all published or disseminated statistics protect confidentiality. The publication follows the DfE policy statement on confidentiality (opens in new tab).

Symbology

The following symbols are used in the underlying data files as follows:

z data not applicable

x data is unavailable for unknown or other reasons

c suppressed to protect confidential information

low rounds to 0, but is not 0

u low reliability

Where any number is shown as zero, the original figure submitted was zero.

Rounding

In the headline statistics file, the numbers of children eligible for the working parent entitlement have been rounded to the nearest 1000 and the percentages of eligible children registered have been rounded to the nearest percentage. In data files 3a and 3b, national and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10; therefore totals may not equal the sum of their component parts.

Calculated data items

The statistics report on the following data items.

Children registered for entitlements (data sets 1 to 5, 7, and headline file)

This is a headcount of children registered for government-funded early years provision. Where children were registered at more than one private, voluntary, or independent (PVI) provider, they have been counted only once, against the PVI provider where they spent the majority of their time.

In the 2026 early years census, the number of children who were registered at more than one PVI provider is as follows (percentages are based on a headcount of all children of that age registered at PVIs):

4,800 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement (1.0%).
6,700 children aged 9 months to 2 years registered for the working parent entitlement (1.4%).
5,500 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the working parent entitlement (1.8%).
180 2-year-olds registered for early learning for 2-year-olds (EL2) (0.3%).

A child splitting their entitlement between a state-funded school/nursery and a PVI provider may be counted more than once. In 2025 (data for 2026 could not be calculated at the time of publication):

for the universal entitlement, around 0.9% of the 1.16 million 3 and 4-year-olds registered were overcounted, resulting in the percentage of eligible children registered being over counted by around 0.8 percentage points.
for the working parent entitlement, around 0.6% of the 846,000 children aged 9 months to 4 years registered were overcounted, resulting in the percentage of eligible children registered being overcounted by around 0.5 percentage points.
for EL2, around 0.5% of the 95,000 2-year-olds registered for EL2 were overcounted, resulting in the percentage of eligible children registered being overcounted by around 0.3 percentage points.

A child splitting their entitlement between more than one state-funded school/nursery (as recorded on the school census) may also be counted more than once; however, analysis of 2026 data shows that such instances are very small (<0.01% for EL2, working parent entitlement and universal entitlement).

For PVI providers (including childminders), counts are taken from the early years census. Counts for state-funded schools (including state-funded nurseries) are taken from the school census and counts for general hospital schools are taken from the school level annual school census.

Children (mainly 4-year-olds) in a state-funded reception class are considered to be registered for the universal entitlement.

Percentage of eligible children registered for early years provision (headline statistics file and data file 1)

This uses ‘Children registered for government-funded early years provision’ as the numerator.

The denominator used depends on the type of entitlement and this is covered in detail in the data quality section below:

universal entitlement uses estimated 3 and 4-year-old population, derived from ONS population estimates
working parent entitlement uses estimated number of children aged 9 months to 4 years eligible for the working parent entitlement, derived from various sources
early learning for 2-year-olds (EL2) uses estimated number of 2-year-olds eligible for EL2, derived from DWP data.

Early learning for 2-year-olds (data set 3a)

The number of children registered for early learning for 2-year-olds by basis for funding.

Early years pupil premium (data set 3b)

The number of children in receipt of the early years pupil premium by basis for funding.

Early years pupil premium (EYPP) was introduced for disadvantaged 3 and 4-year-olds in April 2015.

In April 2018, eligibility for EYPP changed following the introduction of Universal Credit.

3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement (who have not yet entered reception) are eligible for early years pupil premium (EYPP) (opens in new tab) funding if their parents are in receipt of certain income-related benefits, if they are looked after by a local authority, or if they have left care under an adoption, special guardianship, or child arrangements order.

Since September 2024, children aged 9 months to 2 years registered for the working parent entitlement and children registered for early learning for two-year-olds have also been eligible for EYPP funding.

More details on the eligibility criteria can be found in the Early years entitlements: local authority funding of providers - Operational guide 2025 to 2026. (opens in new tab)

Free school meal eligibility (data set 3c)

The number of children in receipt of free school meals.

When children join a state-funded reception class, they cease to be eligible for EYPP, so these statistics also identify children who are in reception and eligible for free school meals (opens in new tab). Children are eligible for free school meals if they are in full-time education in a state-funded school and their parents are in receipt of certain income-related benefits or have no recourse to public funds.

In addition to children in reception, children in state-funded nursery provision are also eligible if they meet the criteria and attend for full days. These relatively small numbers are not included in this publication as they are likely to be registered for early learning for 2-year-olds or be in receipt of the early years pupil premium.

Economic eligibility criteria are not identical across early learning for 2-year-olds (EL2), early years pupil premium (EYPP), and free school meals (FSM). The income threshold for Universal Credit claimants is higher for EL2 than it is for EYPP and FSM, and children from families with no recourse to public funds are eligible for EL2 and FSM but not EYPP. At the time of the 2026 data collection, families were eligible for FSM if they received universal credit and had a net household income of £7400 or less.

Ethnicity (data set 4)

The number of children registered for early years provision by ethnicity.

The school census records the ethnicity as stated by the parent, guardian or pupil and the early years census records the ethnicity as stated by the parent or guardian.

The setting must not ascribe any ethnicity to the child. The information must come from the parent/guardian/pupil. Where the ethnicity had not yet been collected, ‘NOBT’ (information not yet obtained) was recorded. If a parent/guardian/pupil refused to provide ethnicity, ‘REFU’ (refused) was recorded. These categories combined are shown as ‘unknown’ within the underlying data tables.

Special educational needs (SEN) provision (data set 4)

The number of children registered for early years provision by SEN provision.

Children with SEN are currently classified as follows.

SEN support: extra or different help is given from that provided as part of the school’s usual curriculum. The class teacher and special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) may receive advice or support from outside specialists. The pupil does not have an education, health and care plan. SEN support replaced the former School Action and School Action Plus categories from 2015.

Education, health and care (EHC) plans: a pupil has an EHC plan when a formal assessment has been made. A document is in place that sets out the child’s need and the extra help they should receive. Prior to September 2014, a statement of SEN was used. The period for local authorities to transfer children and young people with statements of SEN to EHC plans started in September 2014 and ended in 2018. Following the introduction of EHC plans in September 2014, statements of SEN and EHC plans were grouped together within the data.

The type of SEN provision a child receives is collected on both the school and early years census.

Providers delivering entitlements (data set 2, 5, 7 and headline file)

The number of providers delivering early years provision by provider type. Special schools include maintained and non-maintained special schools and general hospital schools.

In instances where a child was registered at more than one PVI provider (delivering a funded entitlement):

dataset 2 (and 7) captures those providers where at least one child was registered for all/the majority of their entitlement (and contains figures on the number of children registered for entitlements at those providers)
dataset 5 and the headline file, in addition to capturing those providers in dataset 2, also include those providers where at least one child was registered for any proportion of their entitlement.

When a child is registered for their entitlement at more than one PVI, the PVI where they spend the majority of their time is referred to as their main provider. As childminders often provide wrap-around care, the count of childminders is particularly affected by this methodology.

In 2026, regarding the PVIs who were not captured in dataset 2 but were captured in dataset 5 and the headline file:

For the universal entitlement, there were 357 or 1.2% of PVIs (in dataset 5/headline file); of those, 338 (95%) were childminders.
For the working parent entitlement, there were 124 or 0.3% of PVIs; of those, 92 (74%) were childminders.
For EL2, there were 55 or 0.3% of PVIs; of those, 34 (62%) were childminders.

Staff delivering entitlements (data set 6 and 7)

The number of staff delivering the entitlements in PVIs.

Staff qualifications (data set 6)

Local authorities provide figures on the total number of staff at PVI providers delivering government-funded early years provision to at least one child under 5 at the time of the early years census.

They also provide figures on the total number of staff with the following qualifications, recorded by the highest qualification held by the staff member:

full and relevant early years Level 2 qualification
full and relevant early years Level 3 qualification and not in a managerial role
full and relevant early years Level 3 qualification and in a managerial role
early years professional status (EYPS)
early years teacher status (EYTS)
qualified teacher status (QTS)

This data set contains information on the number of staff with each of the qualifications (grouped together where appropriate).

Providers with at least one graduate member of staff (data set 7)

The number of providers (and the number of children registered at those providers) with at least one accredited graduate staff member (EYPS, EYTS and QTS).

Ofsted inspection judgements

From September 2024, graded inspections of state-funded schools have no longer included an overall effectiveness grade. Likewise, since November 2025 graded inspections of private voluntary and independent providers (PVIs) have also no longer included an overall effectiveness grade. As a result, the data file on ‘Children registered by Ofsted judgement at provider’ is no longer published. However, the latest data files are available within the 2024 release (state-funded schools and PVIs) and the 2025 release (PVIs only).

5. Data quality

Coverage of the statistics

Only those providers with children under 5 registered for some government-funded early years provision are required to make an early years census return. A provider with no funded children under 5 would not appear in the early years census. For this reason, this publication does not provide a count of all children under 5 in private, voluntary, and independent providers.

Estimated number of children eligible for early learning for 2-year-olds (EL2)

DfE receives a list of households with 2-year-olds who meet the eligibility criteria for EL2 on the basis of receiving certain income-related benefits, in order to support targeting of eligible families (households with multiple 2-year-olds are not accounted for in these lists). The lists are provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), based on matching of benefit claim data held by DWP with child benefit records held by HMRC or derived from the Universal Credit Full Service claim process. Lists are provided to DfE at 7 points throughout the year and cover those eligible in the following 3 terms.

This list contains children in families who meet the income-related benefit eligibility criteria in November and will be of eligible age in the term starting in the following January. Therefore, for each reporting year, the list provided in November of the previous year is used to estimate the number of 2-year-olds eligible for EL2. For example, the list provided in November 2025 was used to estimate the number of 2-year-olds eligible for EL2 for the January 2026 statistics.

The list does not account for multiple 2-year-olds within a household meaning that the total number of eligible children may be slightly undercounted.

The families on the list are potentially eligible for the entitlement through receipt of the following:

Income Support;
Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance;
Income Related Employment and Support Allowance;
The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit;
Child Tax Credit and/or Working Tax Credit and have an annual income no more than £16,190 as assessed by His Majesty's Revenue and Customs;
the Working Tax Credit four-week run-on (the payment someone receives for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit);
the child attracts the Disability Living Allowance; or,
Universal Credit – a parent will appear if they are entitled to Universal Credit and have an annual net earned income equivalent to and not exceeding £15,400, assessed on up to three of the parent’s most recent Universal Credit assessment periods.

The list does not include children eligible through the following criteria:

Looked after by the local authority
Have left the care of the local authority
Have a statement of Special Educational Need or an Education, Health and Care Plan
Children of families with no recourse to public funds

In 2013, when the policy was launched an assessment was made (opens in new tab) which concluded that around 8,000 2-year-olds were estimated to be eligible under the non-economic criteria (i.e. at the time the assessment was made looked after children, children who had left care, children with special educational needs, and children whose parents were asylum seekers).

There was a change in how the lists were produced in April 2019 (for the term starting September 2019). Before April 2019, children in families receiving the Universal Credit Full Service were not included on the lists. From April 2019, children in families receiving the Universal Credit Full Service have been included on the eligible population lists for this publication.

Estimated 3 and 4-year-old population

The denominator for the percentages of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement are derived from:

mid-year (i.e. as at 30 June) ONS population estimates (for the 2012 to 2024 rates in this release).
a combination of both ONS population estimates and ONS population projections (2025 rates in this release).
mid-year ONS population projections only (for the 2026 rates in this release).

The mid-year figures are adjusted to identify the 3- and 4-year-old population as at 31 December and to account for National pupil projection trends.

These estimates only include long-term migrants. That is, a person who changes their permanent residence for more than a year. The early years census and school census includes all children, even if they are defined as being short-term migrants. Therefore, the percentages of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement could be overestimated as a result.

Population estimates at lower geographic levels, such as local authority, are subject to a greater degree of error. In some cases, the percentages of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement at a local authority level can exceed 100%.

Therefore, the local authority level percentages should be treated with more caution than the national level percentages. The sources used in the calculation of the percentages are consistent over time, allowing users to accurately see any changes in local authority level percentages over time.

Revised population estimates/projections, based on the latest ONS data, were used to calculate revised percentages at a national level from 2022 to 2025. Compared with the figures used in the 2025 release, the impact of these revisions on the percentages of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement at a national level has ranged from a fall of 0.1 percentage points in 2022 (from 96.0% to 95.9%) to a fall of 2.2 percentage points in 2025 (from 93.1% to 91.0%).

In addition, in this 2026 release, compared with data within the previous 2025 release:

slight corrections were made to sub-national data for 2012 to 2021 and revisions and slight corrections were made to sub-national data for 2022 to 2025. The corrections were made due to a data processing error. Improvements in both data production and quality assurance processes should reduce the likelihood of similar errors occurring in the future.
National level population data for 2011 was provided in error for the 2025 release and cannot be provided on a consistent basis with the rest of the time-series due to limitations in the underlying data. Therefore, within the headline file, the denominator and the associated rates for the universal entitlement for 2011 have been set to x as not available.

Revisions to the estimated 3 and 4-year-old population and the estimated percentage of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement, 2022 to 2025

Year	Estimated 3 and 4-year-old population				Estimated percentage of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement
Year	2025 statistics	2026 revisions	Change	Change (%)	2025 statistics	2026 revisions	Change (pp)
2022	1,262,496	1,263,562	1,066	0.1	96.0	95.9	-0.1
2023	1,264,959	1,269,736	4,777	0.4	94.6	94.2	-0.4
2024	1,249,468	1,270,735	21,267	1.7	93.6	92	-1.6
2025	1,240,760	1,270,170	29,410	2.4	93.1	91.0	-2.2

Estimated number of children aged 9 months to 4 years eligible for the working parent entitlement

This was calculated as follows:

Data from the Families Resource Survey (FRS) (opens in new tab) was used to identify a national estimate of the proportion of parents of 1 to 4-year-olds meeting the lower earnings eligibility criteria of 16 times the hourly national minimum wage or national living wage per week. In order to boost sample sizes, as sample sizes based on individual ages were considered too small to be reliable, the 1 to 4-year-old proportion was used across all individual ages and age groupings; DfE considers it to be a reasonable assumption that the proportion shouldn’t be dissimilar across the 1 to 4 year pre-school age group. A percentage for the 2025-26 financial year, which corresponds with January 2026, was not available at the time of publication, so the percentage of 51.00% for 2024-25 was used for January 2026. This will be revised in next year’s release.
Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) data (opens in new tab), Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data (opens in new tab), and various assumptions were then used to estimate the proportion of parents of 1 to 4-year-olds who earned above £100,000 per year (net adjusted income). Again, in order to boost sample sizes, as sample sizes based on individual ages were considered too small to be reliable, the 1 to 4-year-old proportion was used across all individual ages and age groupings; again, DfE considers it to be a reasonable assumption that the proportion shouldn’t be dissimilar across the 1 to 4 year pre-school age group. The 1 to 4 year age group was also used for consistency with the approach taken for the FRS survey data in 1. For the 2025-26 financial year, which corresponds with the January 2026 statistics, this was 4.67%.
The proportion of parents of 1 to 4-year-olds who earned above £100,000 per year was then subtracted from 100% to estimate the proportion of parents of 1 to 4-year-olds who did not earn above £100,000 per year. For the 2025-26 financial year, which corresponds with the January 2026 statistics, this was 95.33%.
The estimates in 1. and 2. were then combined to estimate the percentage of all 1 to 4-year-olds whose parents met the earnings eligibility criteria. This was 48.62% in 2026 (i.e. 51.00% of 95.33%).
The result from 3. was then applied to national level ONS population figures (derived from ONS population estimates and projections) across all individual/combined ages to estimate the number of children eligible nationally across all individual/combined ages.
For January 2026, for the child population aged 9 to 11 months (as at 31 December 2025), DfE produced a bespoke national level estimate based on ONS population projections as ONS does not produce population estimates for less than whole ages.
For 3 and 4-year-olds, school census data was used to identify the number of children attending reception classes. Funding for the working parent entitlement stops when children start in reception class (or reach compulsory school age, if later), so these figures were first subtracted from the population estimates for 3 and 4-year-olds before the result from 3. was applied. In 2026, a third or 33% (376,000 children) of all 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the universal entitlement were in a state-funded reception class and this percentage has remained stable over time.
Percentages of eligible children registered for the working parent entitlement were calculated based on the numbers of registered children (i.e. the numerator) and the figures from 4. (i.e. the denominator).
Due to data/sample size limitations, it is not possible to calculate regional/local authority level estimates; therefore, they are not included in this publication.
Estimated percentage of 1 to 4-year-olds whose parents met the earnings eligibility criteria for the working parent entitlement, 2018 to 2026

Financial year	Year	Proportion of parents of 1 to 4-year-olds:
Financial year	Year	meeting the lower earnings eligibility criteria	earning over £100k (net adjusted income)	meeting the overall earnings eligibility criteria
2017-18	2018	45.96%	2.51%	44.81%
2018-19	2019	48.45%	2.57%	47.21%
2019-20	2020	50.40%	2.68%	49.05%
2020-21	2021	50.78%	2.84%	49.34%
2021-22	2022	50.97%	3.22%	49.33%
2022-23	2023	53.59%	3.42%	51.76%
2023-24	2024	50.77%	3.64%	48.92%
2024-25	2025	51.00%	4.20%	48.86%
2025-26	2026	51.00%	4.67%	48.62%

Revisions to working parent entitlement eligibility for 3 and 4-year-olds, 2022 to 2025

Year	Estimated number of 3 and 4-year-olds eligible for the working parent entitlement				Estimated percentage of eligible 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the working parent entitlement
Year	2025 statistics	2026 revisions	Change	Change (%)	2025 statistics	2026 revisions	Change (pp)
2022	424,000	425,000	1,000	0.1	82	82	0
2023	450,000	452,000	2,000	0.5	81	80	0
2024	419,000	430,000	12,000	2.8	86	84	-2
2025	418,000	435,000	17,000	4.0	91	87	-4

Revisions to working parent entitlement eligibility for children aged 9 months to 2 years, 2025

Year	Estimated number of children aged 9 months to 2-years eligible for the working parent entitlement				Estimated percentage of eligible children aged 9 months to 2-years registered for the working parent entitlement
Year	2025 statistics	2026 revisions	Change	Change (%)	2025 statistics	2026 revisions	Change (pp)
2025	637,000	647,000	10,000	1.6	73	72	-1

The figures in the tables above are calculated based on unrounded data but are presented on a rounded basis.

Data cleaning exercise of provider types

Since 2019, data cleaning exercises with local authorities each year have improved data quality. Provider types have become more accurately recorded over the years and caution should therefore be taken when comparing changes in provider types between years, particularly for childminders and state-funded governor run provision, which have been reclassified from other private, voluntary and independent providers in some instances.

COVID-19

Each year, providers and schools are asked to record the ’normal situation’ during the census collection period. Children who are temporarily absent (e.g. sick or on holiday) are included, and providers closed temporarily are asked to record according to the usual situation which would have applied.

In summary, where a child was reasonably expected to attend early years provision, and that provision was made available to them by the provider, their expected hours were recorded on the relevant census. This meant children who, were it not for the impact of COVID-19 on either their own personal circumstances or on the operation of their early years setting, would have been attending early years provision. This included children who had previously attended the provision and children who were expected to start attending the provision in January of the relevant year.

Where the provider temporarily closed due to circumstances such as a high level of staff absences due to illness or self-isolation, their expected levels of provision for census week were returned. Where the provider chose not to offer the entitlements – i.e. the setting had chosen to close, or only offer a limited provision to children of key workers - then they were advised not to make a return (or recorded zero funded hours in the case of the school census) for a child who was not being offered a place.

However, despite the provisions detailed above, users need to be aware that the data collected in 2021 (and to a lesser extent 2022) was affected by the impact of COVID-19 uncertainty on providers and parents.

Data quality issues for specific local authorities and years

The 2020 estimate (taken in November 2019) of the number of 2-year-olds in Suffolk eligible for early learning for 2-year-olds (EL2) was approximately 600 fewer than the correct figure. After investigation, this was shown to be due to an error with the DWP lists locally where postcodes had not correctly matched. Therefore, regarding EL2 in Suffolk for 2020, the estimated number of eligible 2-year-olds and the estimated percentage of eligible 2-year-olds registered should be treated with caution.

Once the 2021 early years census closed, Thurrock local authority made DfE aware that some of the data they had submitted was an undercount of the true numbers. 2-year-olds in PVIs had been under-reported by approximately a third, and 3 and 4-year-olds in PVIs had been under-reported by approximately a fifth. Therefore, where applicable, Thurrock’s data in 2021 should be treated with caution.

Once the 2022 early years census closed, Calderdale local authority made DfE aware that some of the data they had submitted was an undercount of the true numbers. 2-year-olds in PVIs had been under-reported by a fifth, and 3 and 4-year-olds in PVIs had been under-reported by a twentieth. The numbers of 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the working parent entitlement and receiving early years pupil premium were also under-reported, by a twelfth and a sixth respectively. Therefore, where applicable, Calderdale’s data in 2022 should be treated with caution.

Leicestershire local authority also made DfE aware that some of the data they had submitted was undercounted in 2022. The number of 2-year-olds and 3 and 4-year-olds registered in PVIs across all entitlements were under-reported by one-hundredth.

Once the 2023 early years census closed, DfE identified that some data submitted by Kingston upon Hull incorrectly identified the basis for funding for some children in receipt of early years pupil premium (EYPP). The number of children who were in receipt of EYPP in Kingston upon Hull due to economic reasons or being looked after or adopted from care was therefore set to ‘u’ to indicate low reliability in 2023 but was still included in national and regional totals.

Department for Education

Expansion to early childcare entitlements: eligibility codes issued and validated:

Since April 2024, DfE has been publishing management information on eligibility codes issued and validated in relation to the expanded entitlements for children of eligible working parents aged 9 months to 2 years.

In order to access a government-funded entitlement, parents and carers must apply for an eligibility code which is then validated by early years providers or local authorities. The management information provides the number of eligibility codes issued to parents and the number of codes validated by providers or local authorities at different points in the year.

The number of children registered for the entitlements, as captured in these statistics, is around 90% of the data published on the number of codes issued and validated during the spring term of 2024/25 and 2025/26. Differences between these statistics and the management information are to be expected as:

not all children with a validated code will actually attend a setting and therefore be registered for the new expanded working parent entitlement.
management information is based on counts from 1 January to 31 March, covering the entire duration of the spring term whereas these statistics relate to children registered in the third week in January, so are a snapshot within the spring term.
In certain circumstances it is possible for a single child to be duplicated within the management information system.

Childcare and early years provider survey: statistics on the characteristics of early years providers in England.

Childcare and early years survey of parents: Nationally representative survey of parents of children aged 0-14 on their use, experiences and views on early education and childcare.

Early education use and child outcomes at key stage 2 (opens in new tab): the impact of early education at ages 2 to 11 on child outcomes as part of the study of early education and development (SEED).

Early years education recovery: number of practitioners and settings that have registered for, and completed, strands of the early years education recovery (EYER) programme.

Early years foundation stage profile results: annual statistics on early years foundation stage profile assessments in England relating to the 7 areas of learning and the 17 early learning goals.

Expansion to early childcare entitlements: Childcare Experiences Survey Initial outputs from DfE's Childcare Experiences Survey (aka “Your Childcare”), understanding working parents' experiences of the expanded childcare entitlement.

Pulse surveys of childcare and early years providers (opens in new tab): Research reports of the results from the childcare and early years provider pulse surveys.

Ofsted

Childcare providers and inspections as at 31 March (opens in new tab): this release includes registered childcare providers and places, inspection outcomes, and joiners and leavers as at 31 March.

Help and support

Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Funded early education and childcare statistics and data:

Early Years Statistics Team

Email: earlyyears.statistics@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Jay Morris

Press office

If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

Public enquiries

If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:

Phone: 0370 000 2288

Opening times:
Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5.30pm (closed on bank holidays)