The statistics, published on the Department for Education's website, are the first since free nursery education was extended from 12-and-a-half to 15 hours a week.
Overall, 95 per cent of all three and four-year-olds - 1, 186,365 children – are registered with early years settings and taking up at least some free hours.
The number of children accessing the free entitlement (based on January figures) is up by 38,100 compared with data for 2010.
The figures also show that four-year-olds are more likely to access the full 15-hour entitlement than three-year-olds.
Source: Department for Education
However, a small percentage of three- and four-year-olds, largely from disadvantaged families, do not use any of the free hours they are entitled to.
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