Check out this interesting article from The Early Years Alliance.
Applications for the first phase of the extended entitlement offer open today (2 January), with working parents of eligible two-year-olds now able to apply for 15 hours a week of funded care and education from April 2024.
This offer – announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the Spring Budget back in March 2023 – will then be extended to include working parents of eligible children from nine months old in September 2024, before being extended to 30 hours a week in September 2025.
However, the Early Years Alliance is warning that many parents hoping to access the funded early education and childcare places under the expansion are likely to be left disappointed due to staffing shortages in settings across the UK, in addition to uncertainty over funding levels.