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Ofsted has today called for more to be done to help disadvantaged two-year-olds access funded early education, following reports that last year approximately 80,000 eligible children did not take up their free place at an early years setting.

 

The Ofsted report, Helping disadvantaged young children: how good are local authorities and early years providers?, found that one third of all eligible children in England did not take up their funded place, equating to a potential unspent investment of more than £200 million.

 

HM chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said that there was a “discernible lack of ambition” in a number of local authorities they visited, with potential for improving the prospects of disadvantaged young children “too often thwarted by weak leadership, ineffective managerial oversight, duplication and inefficiency”.

 

He has since called for more action on a national and local level to ensure that the weakest places learn from the best.

 

“Early education has the potential to drive social mobility and improve outcomes for the next generation,” he said. “We should not let them down.”

 

86% of early years settings were judged Good or Outstanding in their latest Ofsted inspection. However, in the most prosperous areas, only 8% of children are in early years provision rated less than Good, while for children living in areas of deprivation, this figure sits at 18%.

 

Neil Leitch, chief executive at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said that he welcomes the call for more to be done for disadvantaged children, adding that the Alliance has long argued that all children, regardless of background, deserve the best possible start in life.

 

“There’s no doubt that high quality early education plays a critical role in supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and in helping to close any gap between these children and their wealthier peers. That said, quality costs, and the fact remains that many early years settings – and particularly those in disadvantaged areas – continue to struggle as a result of a lack of adequate funding,” Neil said.

 

“This has meant that for many, delivering funded two-year-old places – which often involves providing one-to-one care and spending a significant amount of time working with external agencies – is not financially sustainable, and so we are not surprised that many �㽶��Ƶapp describe finding enough providers to deliver these places as a ‘constant challenge’.”