Nursery World - 30 hours expansion 'likely to fall flat on its face' as Ofsted stats reveal a 'plummet' in childcare places

The number of early years places has fallen by 17,800 in the last year, according to the latest Ofsted data, raising further questions over how the expanded 30 hours will be successfully delivered.

The latest Ofsted figures reveal a fall in the number of early years places, just months ahead of the expansion of the funded entitlement, PHOTO: Adobe Stock

Published today, the statistics show that as of 31 August 2023, there were 1.26 million childcare and early years places, down by 17,800 (1 per cent) on the previous 12 months.

Nursery closures increased by 50 per cent in a year

As of 31 August 2023, there were 1.09m nursery places and 166,000 childminder places.

The number of providers registered with Ofsted has also fallen. As of 31 August 2023 there were 62,300 providers, down by 3,320 (5 per cent). The decline in providers is largely due to a fall in the number of childminders, says the inspectorate, with 2,580 fewer childminders in August 2023 compared to the year prior.

The Early Years Alliance called the figures ‘incredibly concerning’ given that we are just months away from the rollout of the first phase of the extended entitlement.

Chief executive Neil Leitch said, ‘Instead of trying to address existing challenges [for providers], the Government has only served to make the situation worse by piling more pressure on providers by announcing plans to extend the funded entitlement.

‘If urgent action isn’t taken to address both plummeting provider numbers and the decline in places, not only is the extended entitlement likely to fall flat on its face, but it will soon become close to impossible for settings to even meet existing demand’.

Joiners and leavers

Looking at the number of providers joining and leaving the early years register specifically for March-August 2023, the latest Ofsted data shows:

The number of childminders fell from 26,181 in March to 25,406 in August. A total of 538 providers joined the register, while 1,313 left, resulting in a fall of 775 childminders and 5,001 early years places.
The number of nurseries fell from 22,691 to 22,538, this resulted in a loss of 1,682 early years places.

The same statistics also include data on early years inspection, it reveals:

Between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023, there were 14,600 inspections of early years settings. Of these, 12,300 were full inspections.
Of those that received a full inspection, 85 per cent were judged as good or outstanding, 7 per cent were found to ‘require improvement’, and 8 per cent were ‘inadequate’.