Disadvantaged children will miss out on childcare expansion plans, unless support is targeted – report
Government plans to increase childcare will mean that a low-income parent stands to take home just...
Closing the Gap
The latest news, features and views on closing the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children and the literacy gap.
National tutoring catch-up scheme failing disadvantaged pupils, say MPs
The Government’s multi-million pound catch-up programme risks failing pupils who need it the most,...
Two-thirds of primary schools sign up to early language scheme
Two-thirds of primary schools have signed up for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI)...
Huge numbers of children starting school developmentally delayed - study
Around half of four-year-olds were ‘not ready’ to start Reception last September, according to a new...
Early years forgotten again
Where was the early years sector in the Government's White Paper on 'Levelling-Up'? Experts ...
Calls for early years pupil premium to match primary schools' rate
A charity is calling for the Government to ‘align’ the early years pupil premium rate with the...
'No real support' for early years in Government's levelling up white paper
Early years organisations, charities and teaching unions have criticised the Government’s new...
Government urged to put disadvantaged children at ‘centre stage’ of Covid-19 recovery plan
The Social Mobility Commission (SMC), an independent body which advises the Government, says the...
Disadvantaged children fall further behind due to Covid
New research reveals the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils in Key...
Labour urges Conservative MPs to vote for its education catch-up plans
Labour will use an opposition day motion on Wednesday to push for Conservative MPs to end the...
School catch-up tsar resigns in funding row
The prime minister’s catch-up tsar Sir Kevan Collins resigned on Wednesday night in response to the...
Sector seeks 'catch-up' cash to alleviate Covid's impact
Various organisations urge the Government to make more funding available to early years settings as...
Coronavirus: Nurseries and childminders report widening attainment gap among disadvantaged under-fives
Nearly half of early years providers believe the gap between disadvantaged under-fives and their...
Queen's speech 2021: children's early years identified as a priority
The Queen has made reference to the early years in her speech to officially re-open Parliament.
Children's laureate calls on PM to invest in school libraries
Children’s laureate Cressida Cowell is calling on the Prime Minister to invest £100m a year to...
Children's commissioner Anne Longfield takes ministers to task in final speech
‘The Prime Minister’s promise to “level up” is just a slogan unless it focuses on children,’...
Funding scheme boosts early speech and language intervention
Councils have improved local speech and language services and raised the profile of the early years...
Research to look at impact of lockdown on Reception children's readiness for school
The Education Endowment Foundation is funding three different studies that will look at the impact...
Education alone will not close social mobility gap - study
The effect of deprivation in dozens of English local authorities is now so persistent that some...
Disadvantaged children need 'long-term' catch-up support as learning gap grows
Teachers estimate that children are on average three months behind in their learning, while the gap...
Attainment gap 'stagnant' for early years, says new research
The attainment gap between rich and poor Reception-age children has stagnated for seven years, new...
Coronavirus: 10 years of closing the gap reversed by school closures
Nearly a decade of closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is...
Free childcare entitlement 'not levelling the playing field' for disadvantaged children
The public spending watchdog has warned that the development gap for disadvantaged children is at...
Campaigners call for 30-hour childcare to be made universal to close disadvantage gap
A campaign group of parents believe that the 30 hours discriminates against the most disadvantaged...
Government extends breakfast club programme until 2021
The Department for Education (DfE) has earmarked up to £11.8 million to extend its National School...
EYPP funding slashed by 40 per cent, report reveals
A pot of money aimed at helping disadvantaged children narrow the attainment gap has been cut by 40...
£18m extension to Opportunity Area programme
The Government has announced additional funding for its Opportunity Area programme which will now...
Opportunity Areas: Ipswich - In evidence
Ipswich is the only one of the Opportunity Areas to have improved self-regulation as an early years...
Conservative councillors say cuts to children's services are causing harm
A new poll reveals widespread fears among Conservative councillors about the impact of cuts to...
Minister for change?
If the new children and families minister is interested in closing the disadvantage gap, she needs...
Helping parents earlier
How a home-visiting programme could help prevent inequalities in child development and health by...
Progress on closing the disadvantage gap in early years at a standstill
The disadvantage gap has now stopped closing in the early years, and there is a real risk any...
Time after time
Despite a recent Social Mobility Commission report and an IFS review under way, the inequality...
Language unlocks reading
Andrea Quincey is head of primary English at Oxford University Press, which has today published a...
DfE funds £6.5m plan to tackle early language gap
Under-fives living in disadvantaged areas are to benefit from additional help with their early...
Health visitors to be trained to close the word gap
A thousand health visitors in the most deprived parts of England will be given specialist training...
Gap likely to grow in social mobility 'coldspots'
The Government’s shift in focus towards childcare as a means of getting parents back to work, away...
Interview - Cerys Griffiths
The BBC’s new early years language and literacy initiative aims to halve the pre-school language...
Andrea Leadsom's group seeks to plug gaps for 0-2s
A new cross-Government ministerial group, chaired by the leader of the House of Commons Andrea...
MPs blame Government's 30-hour childcare policy for 'entrenching inequality'
The Government should review 30 hour childcare to address the ‘perverse consequences’ that are...
Children's early cognitive skills should be prioritised to close the disadvantage gap
Early years services must prioritise children’s cognitive development to combat income-related...
Gap between poor five-year-olds and their better-off peers has grown
The early learning gap between children in poverty and their peers has widened in half of areas...
Relaunched Social Mobility Commission finds 'deep unease' about gap between rich and poor
Findings from a survey by the Social Mobility Commission, which relaunched today, reveal that people...
EYFS data highlights growing gap between disadvantaged children and their peers
The gap between children on free school meals and their peers at the end of Reception has widened,...
New 'Ready for School' fund to close attainment gap
A‘Ready for School’ fund is being launched to test approaches to close the communication and...
Funded two-year-old places starting to close the gap, but higher take-up vital
Government-funded childcare for disadvantaged two-year-olds has had a modest impact on children’s...
Government commits to halving the early years literacy gap
The education secretary will today pledge to halve the number of children starting school below the...
Learning & Development: Closing the Gap - Get lucky
How one nursery chain is helping children from deprived households close the gap with their ‘lucky’...
Gap between disadvantaged children and their peers remains at the end of reception
A breakdown of the EYFS Profile results for 2016/17 reveals that children eligible for free school...
Montessori closes attainment gap for pre-school children
An American study in academic journal Frontiers in Psychology has found that Montessori early years...
Nursery World Print & Website
- Latest print issues
- Latest online articles
- Archive of more than 35,000 articles
- Free monthly activity poster
- Themed supplements
From £11 / month
Subscribe
Nursery World Full Membership
- Latest print issues
- Latest digital issues
- Latest online articles
- Archive of more than 35,000 articles
- Free monthly activity poster
- Themed supplements
- Exclusive offers
From £13 / month
Subscribe
Nursery World Digital Membership
- Latest digital issues
- Latest online articles
- Archive of more than 35,000 articles
- Themed supplements