In his Autumn Statement on 29 November 2011, the Chancellor announced that the government will invest a total of £760m a year by 2014-15 to extend the entitlement of 15 hours' free early education a week for three- and four-year-olds, to around 40 per cent of two-year-olds. This will reach about 260,000 children. It doubles the commitment announced at the Spending Review to secure free places for 20 per cent of two-year-olds by 2013.
The Entitlement
In November 2010, the Minister of State for Children and Families, Sarah Teather, announced the Government’s intention to legislate so that the 20 per cent of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds receive 15 hours of free early education a week from 2013.
Following the Chancellor’s more recent announcement, the Government has now committed to extend free early education places to around 40 per cent of two-year-olds by 2014.
Ministers are consulting on the eligibility criteria for the 20 per cent entitlement, proposing that looked-after children, and children who meet the income and benefits criteria for free school meals should be eligible, from September 2013. You can download the consultation from the associated resources section at the end of this page.
Proposals for the eligibility criteria to identify 40 per cent of two-year-olds from September 2014 will be issued in due course.
Implementation plan
All 152 local authorities in England have been delivering a targeted offer of between 10 and 15 hours' free early education to some of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds since September 2009.
Funding is being provided to local authorities each year for them to build up free early education places for disadvantaged two-year-olds in readiness for the new entitlements. The amount of funding increases each year to £760 million in 2014-15.
Local authorities may refer to the best practice and evaluation documents from the 2006-09 two-year-old pilot when making decisions about how to configure and deliver the free places to disadvantaged two-year-olds in their area. A two-part toolkit of resources is available on the following pages.
