Funded two-year-old places starting to close the gap, but higher take-up vital

Research published today by the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) shows that there has not yet been substantial progress in closing the gap between disadvantaged children and their better-off peers.

The analysis provides an initial picture of the impact of the national programme in supporting young children’s development, focussing on how widely families are taking up the offer and the factors that may influence differences in take-up.

Twenty per cent of two-year-olds became eligible for an early education place from September 2013, rising to 40 per cent in 2014-15.

However, while the research does not show a significant change at a national level, locally there was some evidence of a positive impact in the attainment of disadvantaged children that is linked with higher-take up of funded twos places.

The EIF said that this finding suggested that it should be a Government priority to increase take-up of two-year-old places and to try to understand why some families were not accessing the offer.

The EIF’s analysis uses the EYFS Profile scores at the end of Reception to compare two different groups of children eligible for free school meals: those who were eligible for the two-year-old offer and children who were two before the funded twos places were introduced.

Over the past five years, children’s outcomes have improved and the gap with children not eligible for free school meals has closed by a small amount.

Data for local authorities across England showed that there was a small positive relationship between increases in take-up over the first two years of the entitlement and increases in attainment of children eligible for free school meals.

However, it would take 40 years before the same proportion of children on free school meals achieved a good level of development as those not on free school meals.

Key findings: