Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the school-based nursery pilots originally scheduled to open in September 2025 had opened by 9 September 2025.

High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. This government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, supporting school led provision and private, voluntary and independent providers and childminders operating from school sites.

Phase 1 is already delivering results. We awarded £37 million to 300 schools, creating up to 6,000 new childcare places with the majority available in the 2025/26 academic year. Schools have reported that 160 of these nurseries have opened on or before 9 September and we remain on track to have more than 4,000 additional childcare available places by the end of September.