The Department for Education (DfE) has released figures showing fall in demand for ‘free childcare’ places.

The drop in the number of children registered for funded places reflects the significant impact that Covid-19 has had on the uncertainty of the sector.

Key stats include:

• The number of eligible two-year-olds registered to receive funded early education entitlements has fallen by 13% to 124,500 in 2021
• The number of three and four-year-olds registered to receive from funded early education has fallen by 5% to 1,212,000 in 2021
• The number of three and four-year-olds registered to receive from extended early education has fallen by 5% and is now similar to the number in 2019.

Purnima Tanuku OBE, chief exec of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said:

“These newly released statistics are really worrying, not least because of the substantial drop in numbers of eligible two-year-olds taking up places.

“These are the children who really need to take up high-quality learning and care in order to achieve their potential and reduce the widening attainment gap.

“Although we do believe that the impact of Covid may have resulted in some people deferring their child’s places – which could explain some of the reduction in demand – it is still a trend that could damage children’s development and threaten the sustainability of the childcare market.

“The vast majority of funded places are provided by the private, voluntary and independent nursery sector. Our members have told us there has been a reduction in the numbers of parent-paid children, so if funded numbers have also dropped, they will struggle to remain on a firm financial footing. This could put the whole sector in jeopardy.

“The government must support parents of the most vulnerable children to make sure they take advantage of early years education and also give urgent financial support to the nursery sector to ensure there are enough places available for all children who want and need them.”

Neil Leitch, Early Years Alliance chief exec, said:

“Early years settings have been able to open to all children for over a year now and yet, as these figures clearly show, there is still a long way to go before the sector returns to anything like normal.

“With the number of children registered for early entitlement places falling sharply compared to previous years as a result of the pandemic, it’s clear that the government’s decision to fund early years providers based on the number of children on roll, rather than on pre-pandemic attendance levels, falls short of the support needed.

“Add to this the additional pressures of frequent closures due to self-isolation and illness, the additional costs associated with remaining Covid-secure and the long-running challenge of underfunding more generally, and it’s obvious that much more needs to be done to ensure that the early years sector is able to remain sustainable throughout the pandemic and beyond.”