Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the early years pupil premium in improving school-readiness; and whether her Department plans to extend the early years pupil premium to disadvantaged two year olds.

The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) provides additional funding to childcare providers for disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds. We are currently conducting a Study of Early Education and Development into the effectiveness of the EYPP, and also a survey to explore how providers use their early entitlement funding, including the EYPP, to address disadvantage and deprivation within their settings. Both reports are due for completion in the new year.

The most disadvantaged two-year-olds already receive15 hours of free childcare and will benefit from our £300million investment in early years childcare which increases the average hourly rate for two-year-olds from £5.09 to £5.39.