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All-day childcare continues to rise

The number of full-day care providers has risen by 300 since the end of March, according to figures published by Ofsted last month. There are now 12,400 such providers offering 532,500 places - an increase of 14,500 places since the quarterly figures were last published. The increase continues a trend which has seen places for all-day care rise steadily since 2003.

There are now 12,400 such providers offering 532,500 places - an increase of 14,500 places since the quarterly figures were last published. The increase continues a trend which has seen places for all-day care rise steadily since 2003.

The number of childminders has risen to 70,900, but is still down from 71,000 at the end of last year and a peak of 72,000 in December 2003.

The number of out-of-school providers has also increased. An extra 300 providers have taken the total number of places to 349,200 - a rise of 8,000 since March.

Providers of sessional care, including playgroups and private nursery schools, also recorded a slight increase. But the number of providers is still down 200 compared with figures from December 2004.

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