Analysis: Settings struggle to maintain ratios

Staff turnover and sickness, together with the varied attendance patterns of children, have often forced nurseries to juggle with adult- to-child ratios (see box). Those tensions become more acute in a highly competitive market where providers are struggling to balance their books. But now Government policy giving parents more flexibility in the way they access early education for their three- and four-year-old children may complicate staffing arrangements and further undermine attempts to stick to ratios. Few would dispute that there are instances where the...