Early years attendance drops, latest official figures show
Annette Rawstrone
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Less than a half (46 per cent) of early years settings were open at the end of July, according to the latest statistics from the Department for Education.
The numbers of settings operating in some capacity on 30 July was down from 62 per cent on 16 July, a reduction which could be attributed to reduced demand for childcare places during the school summer holiday period and a closure of school-based settings.
The data, Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, estimates that on 30 July 285,000 children were attending an early years setting. This is a drop of 132,000 children from the previous figures gathered a fortnight earlier.
Source: Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, DfE, 4 August
Around a quarter less vulnerable children were attending an early years setting on 30 July than they were on 16 July, reducing from around 25,000 to 12,000 children.
The response rate to the local authority survey on early years was 90 per cent, with 136 out of 151 local authorities submitting data.
