First Round of Funding for Schools-based Nursery Plan Opens

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Interior of modern playroom in kindergarten

First Round of Funding for Schools-based Nursery Plan Opens

The Department for Education (DfE) outlined plans for funding under the first phase of the Government’s school based nurseries policy. This funding aims to establish or expand up to 300 settings, with successful schools receiving allocations by Spring 2025 to support the launch of the expanded offer in September. 

The DfE notes that school-based nurseries tend to care for more children with special educational needs, provide more places in deprived areas, have lower staff turnover, and allow flexible use of staff between Reception and early primary levels. 

According to the DfE, 321,462 additional children are now accessing the 15 funded hours which opened to parents of nine-month-olds last month. This achievement is credited to the collaborative efforts of local authorities and providers.  Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has pledged to work alongside the sector to deliver long-term early years reform, building both capacity and workforce for the next, more demanding phase of the expanded childcare offer.

Alongside the funding applications opening, the DfE also published its latest projections on the additional places and staff needed to deliver the full rollout of the 30 expanded hours:

  • Around 70,000 additional places are needed and 35,000 early years educators.
  • Around half of local areas need to increase their capacity by between 10 and 20 per cent to meet demand for September.
  • Some areas, including those with traditionally lower household incomes to increase their childcare capacity by more than 20 per cent.

Providers and schools are encouraged to review this data as they submit bids for the school nurseries programme, while local authorities will outline how proposals will meet local needs. Funding will be available to both school-run and private, voluntary, or childminder-led projects. Schools interested in expanding but not yet ready to apply can register interest for future phases of the programme.