Early education and childcare
Statutory guidance for local authorities on the provision of early education and childcare.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This guidance is for local authorities.
It relates to their duties under section 2 of the Childcare Act 2016 and sections 6, 7, 7A, 9A, 12 and 13 of the Childcare Act 2006.
It contains information on:
- free childcare entitlements for 2-, 3- and 4-year olds
- 30 hours free childcare
- the introduction of 30 hours free childcare for children in foster care
Statutory guidance sets out what schools and local authorities must do to comply with the law. You should follow the guidance unless you have a good reason not to.
AnA operational guide for local authorities and early years providers and a model agreement for free early years provision and childcare areis also available.
Last updated
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Updated with new statutory guidance which applies from 1 April 2024.
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Updated guidance for local authorities making decisions on funding providers registered at an ‘ineffective' childminder agency to deliver the free early education and childcare entitlements. Changes are included in para A3.13.
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Removed outdated guidance documents.
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Added new guidance for 1 September 2018.
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Replaced 'Early education and childcare: valid from 1 September 2017' with an updated version.
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Updated Part E: legal annex about free early education entitlement for two-year-olds under Universal Credit. The legislation comes into force on 1 April 2018.
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Added a new version of the statutory guidance that will be valid from 1 September 2017.
Update history
2026-04-01 09:00
Removed ‘Early education and childcare (valid until 31 March 2026)’. The current ‘Early education and childcare’ guidance is valid from 1 April 2026.
2026-02-09 09:00
The statutory guidance has been updated to provide updated on Ofsted inspections and quality, flexibility, compliance and charging.
2025-02-21 17:16
Added ‘Chargeable extras: template’. This should be used alongside the ‘Early education and childcare (effective from 1 April 2025)’ guidance.
2025-02-21 00:01
We have updated the statutory guidance for April 2025. In the charging section, our changes reaffirm that the 15 or 30 hours entitlements must be accessible free of charge to parents. They also reaffirm that there must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the free hours. Our updates also reflect changes to Ofsted inspection judgements for state schools inspected after 2 September 2024. We have also clarified the eligibility criteria for 2 year olds, for both entitlements.
2024-01-01 00:01
Updated with new statutory guidance which applies from 1 April 2024.
2023-04-12 10:00
Updated guidance for local authorities making decisions on funding providers registered at an ‘ineffective’ childminder agency to deliver the free early education and childcare entitlements. Changes are included in para A3.13.