According to the Care Inspectorate’s latest annual report, in 2015, 249,400 children were registered at early years settings, up from 240,960 in 2013 – an increase of 3.5 per cent or 8,440 children.
However, while overall the number of children attending early learning and childcare services has increased, the number registered with childminders has fallen.
The figures also show that more nurseries, children and family centres and playgroups are now offering the funded places.
As well as this, more settings, nurseries in particular, are offering full-time rather than part-time sessions.
The lack of flexibility of nursery provision has continued to be an issue in Scotland. The Fair Funding for our Kids (FFFOK) campaign group claims that one in five children are missing out on their free nursery place because of inflexible hours in council-run and private, voluntary and independent nurseries.
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