Nurseries
(asked on 19th June 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative estimate her Department has made of the (a) number of available nursery places and (b) demand for those places in England by region.
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.
Ofsted publishes data on the numbers of all types of providers joining and leaving the sector each year. Some caution is required in using the numbers because, for example, a nursery may resign one registration and immediately register new provision. Please also note that this data was released under the previous government:
| 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Childcare providers leaving the sector | -10,900 | -10,600 | -8,270 | -11,300 | -11,100 | -9,650 | -7,520 |
Childcare providers joining the sector | 9,140 | 7,870 | 7,400 | 6,990 | 5,690 | 6,330 | 6,490 |
Net change | -1,760 | -2,730 | -870 | -4,310 | -5,410 | -3,320 | -1,030 |
Note that from 2019/20, the numbers of annual joiners and leavers are calculated by comparing the beginning of the year to the end. Therefore, the numbers of providers joining and leaving from 2019/20 are not comparable with the figures up to 2018/19.
Ofsted’s most recent publication shows the number of places available increased by 12,100 (1%) between August 2023 and August 2024. The department’s projections on demand for places are not published by region but show that around half of local areas need to increase their capacity by between 10% and 20% to meet demand for September 2025, with the highest uplift being in some of the most disadvantaged areas.