Voluntary sector progresses most

The Quality of Childcare Settings in the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), which compared EPPE data, found that while quality had gone up in all sectors, particularly with the 'learning aspects of provision', the voluntary sector made the largest gains.

The MCS is following the lives of 19,000 babies born between 2000 and 2002.

In contrast to the NNI evaluation (News, 5 April), which focused on disadvantaged areas, the study provides a snapshot of childcare quality across England, with 632 three- to - five-year-olds in 301 private, voluntary and maintained settings.

It said, 'Voluntary providers have made significant improvements in all areas, including personal care routines, interaction and language, curricular provision for literacy, maths and science, and provision for diversity and individual learning needs.'

Steve Alexander, chief executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, said, 'This improvement across the board is testament to the hard work and commitment of all those working in voluntary sector childcare settings.

'To unlock its potential, though, more long-term supply-side funding and a continuation of existing subsidies are needed.'

The study said the maintained sector offered 'higher quality across the board'. Children's centres offered higher quality provision, while in contrast, centres with links to Sure Start Local Programmes and those with child and family services were of lower quality, especially around literacy and language and mathematics.

Groups of 30 children or more offered the highest quality, but groups in larger centres had lower quality interaction for three- and four-year-olds.

The study recommended more research into the 'complex' relationship between centre size and quality, which may vary for different age groups.

The NNI evaluation concluded that larger centres offer higher quality at under three-and-a-half.

Read the study at www.dfes.gov.uk/research.