A new study investigating why children from disadvantaged families are not accessing free early education found barriers driven by policy design, policy delivery, and by family beliefs and preferences. But the two-year study also showed how the actions of local authorities can make a difference.
The research was undertaken by a team comprising CEI, early years expert Ivana La Valle, the Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities at University College London (UCL), and Coram Family and Childcare. It was funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
“We identified multiple reasons that explain why parents are not taking up the 15 hours of early education per week, funded by government, to which their young children are entitled,” says CEI Associate Director Jane Lewis. “The barriers range from confusion about what families are entitled to and difficulties navigating application processes, to restrictions on how early education providers offer and structure funded places, as well as additional charges levied by providers.”
Take-up rates for the 15 hours entitlement for two-year-olds from disadvantaged families vary widely across local authority areas – from less than 50% to more than 90% of eligible families. Previous research shows the children most likely to miss out are those from persistently poor White British households, from minoritised ethnic groups, with English as an additional language, and with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
But the research team found positive action by local authorities had an important role to play in driving take-up.
The study utilised innovative secondary analysis to identify local authority areas where take-up is higher, after accounting for differences in demographics, the local childcare market and other local factors. Interviews were then undertaken with early years teams in these local authorities, to understand how they are achieving higher take-up.
These local authorities prioritised early education as key to outcomes and wellbeing for children, and had what the researchers described as “a relentless focus on removing barriers for disadvantaged families.” They used targeted approaches to reach families of disadvantaged two-year olds, and a range of media to promote the universal 3–4-year-old early education entitlement.
Successful strategies included drilling into local data and intelligence to understand families' circumstances and needs, and promoting early education to parents through coordinated work across professional groups as part of a robust early years offer.
England’s early education entitlement was introduced on the back of strong evidence of the benefits of high-quality pre-school education, particularly for children from more disadvantaged or ethnic minority backgrounds or who have SEND.
“While uptake of early education has risen considerably since introduction of the 15-hours-a-week entitlement, a substantial minority of disadvantaged children are still missing out,” Jane explains.
“The many barriers that families face in using their entitlement risk undermining equitable access to early childhood education, which will only increase inequality in our society over the longer term.”
The research team investigated factors influencing the take-up of entitlements – at the family and community level, the service delivery level and the policy level. It was noted that new extended early education entitlements for working families are likely to exacerbate pressures on early education provision, creating further barriers to access for disadvantaged families and driving further inequality in services.
“Weak guidance from central government is not helping local authorities,” says Jane. “They need more leverage to challenge unfair or inequitable practices among early education providers, and to ensure genuinely free and inclusive provision for families most in need.”
Key study findings
The study highlights the following key findings:
- Parents find the different entitlements confusing and difficult to navigate. Local authorities say lengthy application processes and complex systems make accessing funded early education difficult for parents, particularly those with English as an additional language or with low literacy or digital skills. This complexity for families is mirrored by the experiences of early education providers, who spend significant time administering the entitlements.
- Additional entitlements for working families (which are being expanded in a phased roll-out) have complicated the picture further – sending conflicting and confusing messages to parents, putting pressure on available capacity with disadvantaged families losing out, as well as adding to the administrative burden for providers.
- There is ongoing concern from early education providers about the adequacy of funding for the 3–4-year-old entitlement, as well as inadequate funding to support disadvantaged children, particularly those with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).
- Weak regulation of the delivery of funded hours has triggered responses from providers that create further barriers to take-up, such as constraining the number and structure of funded places offered, and asking parents to pay additional charges. A two-tier system of provision is emerging in some cases, which, at its most extreme, is inferior and stigmatising for parents using the disadvantaged two-year-old entitlement.
Recommendations
To support higher take-up of the 15-hours entitlement and more equitable participation in early education, the research team recommends national policy change including:
- A ‘fair’ funding model that fully covers the costs of delivering funded hours, including the resources required to support children with SEND and from disadvantaged backgrounds.
- Strengthened guidance and support for local authorities to ensure the 15 hours are genuinely free and inclusive for families.
- Separate, dedicated funding for local authorities to deliver the policy locally, in recognition of the key role they can play in ensuring children likely to benefit most do access the 15-hours entitlement.
- A universal entitlement to 15 hours funded early education for two-year-olds – as this may be the best way to boost participation among disadvantaged children by reducing confusion, administrative burdens and stigma.
And they suggest the following local actions:
- Greater use of tailored one-to-one support for families who face more barriers – particularly home visits where families need this – and an in-house Family Information Service.
- Make early education entitlement ‘conversations’ a routine part of the work of all family-facing professionals.
- Collect detailed, up-to-date information on available early education places, including for children with different needs. This will enable more active management of the funded provision, and help ensure sufficient inclusive provision is available.
The full report and a suite of associated resources can be accessed HERE
The report, “Early education for disadvantaged children: How local action can support take-up of the 15 hours entitlement”, was authored by independent early years expert Ivana La Valle, CEI’s Jane Lewis and Paola Castellanos, Professor Claire Crawford and Dr Laura Outhwaite from the Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities at University College London, and Lydia Hodges from Coram Family and Childcare.
This project has been funded by the Nuffield Foundation, but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Visit www.nuffieldfoundation.org