The Government’s flagship childcare policy, 30 hours’ free childcare, has been up and running for over a year. The media debate about the policy has focused largely on the funding shortfall reported by many childcare providers and the difficulties some parents have faced with the registration process. The question of who is most and least likely to benefit from the policy has received less attention.
The national evaluation of the 30 hours’ free childcare has shown that less advantaged children are least likely to access the extended entitlement, and among those are children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This also remains the case for the universal 15 hours, and we are concerned that the targeted offer of extended hours is likely to widen even further the gap between the early education opportunities available to SEND children compared with their peers.
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