Free nursery ‘not lasting boost’

Free nursery places for pre-school children in the UK may not have a lasting impact on their education, the government’s spending watchdog suggested last Friday.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that it is not clear whether the UK government moves to fund nursery education for three and four-year-olds is leading to longer-term benefits.

While children’s development at age five has improved, results at age seven remain unchanged, it says.

Although it acknowledges that there have been changes to free nursery education, and its link to children’s results at age seven is not “straightforward”, the NAO says the the Department for Education “did intend that the entitlement would have lasting effects on child development throughout primary school and beyond”.

Nationally, 59 per cent of five-year-olds achieved a good level of development in 2010/11, compared to 45 per cent in 2005/06, the report says.

But it adds: “National Key Stage One results, however, have shown almost no improvement since 2007, so it is not yet clear that the entitlement is leading to longer-term educational benefits.”

The watchdog also warns that youngsters from poorer areas are still less likely to get access to good quality nursery care than those from wealthier homes.

In total, 95 per cent of three and four-year-olds are in early education – a rate that has been sustained since 2008, the report says.

But an analysis of Ofsted data, conducted by the NAO, found that the percentage of good or outstanding nursery care in March last year ranged from 64 per cent in some local authorities to 97 per cent in others.

“Areas of highest deprivation were less likely to have high-quality provision,” it found.