Early Learning and Childcare Expansion to 1140 hours: Interim Evaluation Report

3. Progress on intermediate outcomes

As set out in the Evaluation Strategy, to contribute to its high-level outcomes, the ELC expansion programme needs to realise the intermediate outcomes of providing accessible, flexible, affordable and high quality ELC, and maximising take up of expanded ELC. The sixth intermediate outcome of 'supporting parental confidence and capacity' will be considered at a later point alongside evaluation outcomes for children, parents and families as the aspects and measures drawn on are strongly linked to other parent and family outcomes and use data from the SSELC. This chapter describes the changes in the key indicators for the intermediate outcomes between 2016/2017 and 2022/2023 (depending on data availability), as well as drawing on relevant research to assess progress.

3.1. Take up of funded ELC

Key points

• Take up of funded ELC among three and four year olds has remained consistently high since before the expansion.
• Take up generally increased as a proportion of the full two year old population between 2016 and 2023. Of those eligible, an estimated 52% were registered for funded ELC in 2023.
• The proportion of children accessing funded ELC using more than 600 hours of funded ELC increased from 80% in August 2020 to 98% in September 2023. In September 2023, 90% of children accessing funded ELC were using the full 1140 hours.
• Some parents of two year olds who did not take up their entitlement felt their child was still too young, and/or that they were able to look after their child themselves, while others were not aware of the offer or how to apply.

The logic model highlighted that whether parents take up the additional available hours of funded ELC is a key short-term indicator of successful implementation of the expansion and provides an early indicator of the likely impact on child, parent and family outcomes. It is important to understand how take up of ELC has changed with the expansion.

In early August 2021, all local authorities confirmed to the Improvement Service that they were able to offer a place to all eligible children who applied for funded ELC, indicating successful delivery of the expansion to 1140 hours of funded ELC. In the September 2021 Delivery Progress Report, data returned by local authorities indicated that as of the end of August 2021 90,890 children were accessing funded ELC. Of these, 97% were accessing more than 600 hours, and 87% were accessing 1140 hours funded ELC. Analysis of the data collected by IS on the number of children accessing funded ELC data between August 2020 and September 2023 is included in the section on take up of the full ELC entitlement.

Overall take up of funded ELC

The ELC Census provides the headline measure of take up of funded ELC. Table 7 shows that overall take up amongst three and four year olds has remained consistently high since before the ELC expansion. The estimated take up rate (proportion of children registered) for eligible three and four year olds was 97% in 2023. The number of registrations of two year olds, as a proportion of the total two year old population, was 13% in 2023. This proportion has also generally gradually increased, particularly between 2016 and 2022. It should be noted that for both age groups 2020 was an exception where take up dropped – which may be due to the effects of Covid-19, with some parents choosing not to register their children during the pandemic.

In 2023 an estimate of the eligible population of two year olds was available for the first time, allowing take up for eligible two year olds to be reported in the ELC census. The take up rate for eligible two year olds was estimated to be 52% in 2023. The new data sharing arrangements that have allowed for the updated estimate of the eligible two-year-old population will also enable local authorities to make eligible families aware of the availability of funded ELC for their two year old, which may lead to increased take up.

The take up of places for children whose entry to primary school has been deferred has consistently increased every year since 2016. This may be the result of the expansion of the funded ELC offer to a wider range of children in this group. Take up was estimated to be 33% among those eligible for deferred entry.

Table 7: Time series of take up rates

Year	Number of 2 year olds	Percentage of all 2 year olds	Number of 3 and 4 year olds	Percentage of eligible 3 and 4 year olds	Number of deferred entry	Percentage of those eligible for deferred entry	Total
2016	5,256	9	86,437	99	4,476	15	96,961
2017	5,363	10	84,872	99	4,910	17	95,893
2018	5,701	10	85,425	99	4,884	17	96,549
2019	5,990	11	84,450	98	5,326	19	96,375
2020	4,863	9	78,898	95	5,940	21	90,126
2021	6,474	13	78,115	97	6,459	24	91,603
2022	7,042	14	77,974	99	7,017	27	92,615
2023	6,636	13	76,436	97	8,554	33	92,182

Source: Early Learning and Childcare Census 2023

The 2023 ELC Census publication shows that take up rates for funded ELC vary by local authority. In particular, there is considerable local variation in the estimated take up rates for eligible two year olds (ranging from 32% to 94% in 2023) and among those eligible for deferred entry (ranging from 18% to 61% in 2023). However, local estimates of take up rates should be interpreted with caution due to potential inaccuracies of the population estimates.

The percentage of children registered for funded ELC whose home language is not English, Gaelic, Scots or Sign Language remained broadly stable between 2017 and 2021, but increased in both 2022 and 2023. The percentage of registrations assessed/declared disabled showed a similar pattern, staying broadly stable until 2022 and then increasing. The percentage of registrations with ASN fell between 2017 and 2018, then remained stable until 2021 before increasing. The number of registrations in each group was also the highest it has been since 2017.

Table 8: Number and percentage of registrations whose home language is not English, Gaelic, Scots or Sign Language, who are assessed/declared disabled, or have ASN.

Year	Number of children whose home language is not English, Gaelic, Scots, or Sign Language	Percentage of all registrations whose home language is not English, Gaelic, Scots, or Sign Language	Number of children assessed/ declared disabled	Percentage of all registrations assessed/ declared disabled	Total number of children with ASN	Percentage of all registrations with ASN
2017	8,790	9	1,130	1	15,020	16
2018	8,770	9	1,050	1	13,980	14
2019	8,940	9	1,250	1	13,800	14
2020	7,950	9	950	1	12,430	14
2021	8,120	9	1,050	1	14,210	16
2022	9,090	10	1,410	2	16,500	18
2023	9,930	11	1,620	2	16,980	18

Source: Early Learning and Childcare Census 2023

Reasons for not using funded ELC

In the 2022 parent survey, only 3% of parents with a three to five year old said they had not used funded ELC. The main reason among this group was that the child was due to start in ELC next term (August), with some of these children recently having turned three. Of the parents of two year olds who had not used funded ELC and either thought they were eligible for funded ELC, or weren't sure if they were eligible, the most common reasons mentioned were because "I think my child is too young", or because "I want/am able to look after my child myself most of the time". However, almost three in 10 mentioned being unaware of the availability of, or that they didn't know how to apply for, funded ELC. This is discussed further in Section 3.2 on accessibility of funded ELC. The number of responses to this question was low, particularly for parents of two year olds, and so figures should be treated with caution.

The top reasons given for not using any funded ELC in 2017 were similar to those given by parents in 2022: thinking their child is too young, wanting/being able to look after their child themselves, as well barriers to use such as lack of awareness, flexibility and choice of setting/hours (see Sections 3.2 and 3.3 for further discussion of accessibility and flexibility).

Source: Parent Survey 2022

Qualitative research with parents between October 2021 and February 2022 found that, in general, most participants were aware of funded ELC provision from age three – or access to "free nursery" provision as it was more commonly described. However, there was less awareness among the participants around provision for eligible two-year-olds. More detailed understanding of how the funded ELC provision worked in practice and the options available was also mixed. First time parents generally felt less well informed. Language barriers were a contributing factor for some families in terms of initial awareness, understanding their choices, and confidence in completing the application.

Take up of 1140 hours of funded ELC

Information on the number of funded hours used by each child will provide further insight into take up of the expanded entitlement. Data is provided by local authorities to the Improvement Service on the number of funded hours being accessed by children. The data series shown in Figure 4 is only available from 2020, which – as noted above – was a year in which overall take up of funded ELC dropped. However, IS reporting shows that the total number of children aged two to five accessing more than 600 funded hours of ELC increased from 49,213 in September 2019 to 74,870 in August 2020.

The Improvement Service data shows that there was an increase in the proportion of children using funded ELC who were accessing more than 600 hours, from 80% in August 2020 to 98% in September 2023, two years after full statutory implementation. The largest increase was between August 2020 and August 2021 (97%), when the statutory duty started. As seen in Figure 4, this proportion has increased in all age groups, with the largest increase seen amongst three and four year olds (80% in August 2020 to 99% in September 2023). Accessing more than 600 hours is almost universal amongst three to five year olds (99% for both three and four year olds, and for five year olds), and slightly lower for two year olds (96%).

Source: Improvement Service ELC Delivery Progress Reports

The percentage of children using funded ELC who were accessing the full 1140 hours also increased, from 61% in August 2020, when the majority of local authorities were offering expanded hours, to 90% in September 2023. Again, the largest increase was between August 2020 and August 2021 (87%). As shown in Figure 3, three and four year olds saw the largest increase, from 60% in August 2020 to 90% in September 2023. As with the percentage accessing more than 600 hours, the figure in September 2023 is similar for five year olds (91%) and slightly lower for two year olds (86%).

Source: Improvement Service ELC Delivery Progress Reports

Reasons for not using the full entitlement to 1140 hours of funded ELC

The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) collects information on the number of hours of funded ELC used during term time and the school holidays. In 2022, the majority of households reported using 21 to 30 hours per week (54%) or 11 to 20 hours per week (26%). During the school holidays, 37% used 21 to 30 hours per week, and 37% used 11 to 20 hours per week. An estimated 46% of households were using the full entitlement annually.

The 2022 parent survey asked if parents used their full entitlement. Table 9 shows that around three-quarters of parents with a three to five year old and around half of those with a two year old said that they used the full entitlement. Notably almost a tenth of those with three to five year olds and around a fifth of those with a two year old said they were unsure.

Table 9: Use of funded ELC entitlement

Use of ELC entitlement	Eligible 2 year olds	3-5 year olds
Full entitlement used	52%	73%
Full entitlement not used	27%	19%
Don't know[note 1]	21%	8%
Base	227	6,698

Source: Parent Survey 2022

[note 1] The report notes that responses to a later question would suggest that 80% of this group use at least some of their hours, with just over 50% using at least 20 hours per week.

In 2022, households with more than one earner were more likely than others (76% vs 69%) to use their full entitlement, as were those on higher incomes (£60,000+) compared to those on lower incomes (less than £16,000) (79% vs 68%). Parents from deprived areas were more likely than others to say they do not use their full entitlement (15% vs 20%).

In the 2022 parent survey, most of those not using their full entitlement reported they were doing so through choice: typically, they did not need or want the full entitlement or did not want their child in nursery for so many hours.

Source: Parent Survey 2022

3.2. Accessibility of funded ELC

Key points

• Awareness of funded ELC availability improved in recent years, though there remain a minority of households unaware of availability.
• Around a sixth of households with a three to five year old not using funded ELC were unaware of availability or did not know how to apply in 2022, down from around a third in 2017.
• This proportion was higher in households with a two year old in 2022 at almost three in 10 of those not using funded ELC.
• A small percentage of households (2-3% each year) reported transport difficulties with accessing funded ELC.
• The proportion of parents of children with ASN who experienced difficulties accessing funded ELC decreased from 48% in 2017 to 31% in 2022.

The programme logic model highlights that the intermediate outcome of accessibility for families is a key determinant of take up of ELC. Whether or not ELC is accessible for families includes aspects such as: whether parents know about the entitlement and how to apply, and ease of registration; whether ELC is conveniently geographically located (e.g. in relation to home or work; travel-related barriers); whether there are barriers in terms of the needs of the child (e.g. ASN, language barriers); the ability to combine childcare for other children of different ages (e.g. finding a place for children who are too young to be eligible for funded ELC, combining collecting children from different childcare providers).

Parental awareness of the availability of funded ELC

Table 10 shows the percentage of households responding to the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) who did not use funded ELC that their child was entitled to because they were not aware of the availability of funded ELC stayed broadly the same across 2018, 2019 and 2022. However, the sample size for this question was very small and so these figures should be treated with caution.

Table 10: Percentage of households who did not use funded ELC because they were not aware of availability

Reason for not using funded ELC child is eligible for	2018	2019	2022
Not aware of availability	6	7	6

Source: Scottish Household Survey

Note: This question was changed between 2019 and 2022. Results from 2018 and 2019 have been recalculated to allow comparisons between years.

As shown in Figure 3 in Section 3.1, the 2022 parent survey found that around a sixth of households with a three to five year old not using funded ELC said this was because they were unaware of the availability (11%) or did not know how to apply / found applying too difficult (5%). This is a decrease from around a third in the 2017 parent survey who were unaware of the availability or did not know how to apply. The proportion of households with a two year old who were not aware of the availability or how to apply was higher than for those households with older children at just under three in 10 in 2022. This chimes with findings from qualitative research with parents between October 2021 and February 2022, in the first full year of the ELC expansion, which found that general awareness of funded ELC provision from age three was high, but that there was a lack of awareness around provision for two year olds.

Overall, it appears that awareness of the availability of funded ELC is improving, although a small minority of families remain unaware of it – particularly among families with an eligible two year old.

Travel

Table 11 shows that the proportion of households that reported transport difficulties as an issue with the funded ELC they received in the SHS remained broadly similar across 2018, 2019 and 2022. This shows a small but consistent proportion of funded ELC users that experienced transport difficulties.

Table 11: Proportion of households using funded ELC that reported transport difficulties

Issues with funded ELC received	2018	2019	2022
Transport difficulties	2	2	3

Source: Scottish Household Survey

These results are corroborated by those from the 2022 parent survey where 97% of parents of three to five year olds and 95% of parents of eligible two year olds said that they found it easy to travel to their funded ELC provider. Parents of three to five year olds with reduced capacity due to health conditions were more likely to find it difficult to travel to their main provider than those with no health conditions. Qualitative research with parents also suggested that choice of provider was largely determined by accessibility, including closeness to home or work, or a local authority nursery attached to a sibling's school.

Overall, there appears to be a small but consistent proportion of parents whose access of funded ELC is affected difficulties with travel or transport. This is a larger issue for parents affected by health conditions.

Parents' experiences of funded ELC for children with ASN

The 2022 parent survey also asked parents of children with ASN whether they had experienced any issues with funded ELC. As shown in Figure 7, the majority (69%) said that they had no difficulties. However, 14% said that staff didn't have enough time available to meet the needs of children and 14% said that there was a lack of information on how the child would be supported. Ten percent also said that they lacked confidence in staff's qualifications, knowledge and experience.

Although 31% of parents of children with ASN had experienced difficulties accessing funded ELC in 2022, this is an improvement from 2017 when 48% stated they had experienced difficulties. The types of issues encountered in 2017 were similar to those in 2022: lack of information on how the child will be supported, concerns staff will not have enough time to support their child, and worries that staff do not have the right qualifications, skills and experience.

Source: Parent Survey 2022

3.3. Flexibility of funded ELC

Key points

• The proportion of settings operating outside school hours or during holidays increased by 14 percentage points since 2016, to 64% in 2022, though this varied substantially by local authority area.
• The proportion of households that reported a lack of provision in the school holidays as an issue decreased from 19% in 2018 to 6% in 2022.
• In the 2022 parent survey, of the parents of three to five year olds not using their full entitlement, 23% mentioned that they could not get the sessions that they wanted at their preferred setting. This was a particular issue for households with two parents in work and in urban areas compared with rural.

Flexibility is identified in the logic model as an important aspect of whether childcare is accessible and supports parents in work, training, or study.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 states that education authorities should provide ELC for all eligible children during at least 38 weeks of every calendar year, and that it should be delivered in sessions of 10 hours or less. The Early Learning and Childcare Statutory Guidance sets out more on the requirements of the flexibility that should be offered. Education authorities should ensure that families are able to choose from a range of types of setting, offering different patterns of provision and support across their local area. This should reflect local demand and circumstances and it is not expected that all options will be available in all areas and settings. The range of models and patterns of delivery should be informed by consultation.

The Statutory Duty within the 2014 Act to consult with parents is designed to ensure that there is an element of local flexibility in the availability of funded ELC – in line with the needs of families living locally. While this will not result in all families receiving exactly the provision of funded ELC that they want, it should ensure there is a reasonable balance and mix of provision available locally so parents can access provision that works for their family.

Provision of funded ELC outside school hours

To provide a rounded understanding of progress with provision of appropriately flexible funded ELC, both objective measures – e.g. of whether specific aspects of flexibility are in place – and measures of parents' experiences of flexibility are required. Care Inspectorate data shows that the percentage of services providing funded ELC during school holidays or outside school term hours increased between 2016 and 2022. Table 12 also shows the percentage of services that provide funded ELC during school holidays, that provide funded ELC outside of school term hours, both of which increased between 2016 and 2022. The largest increase for provision of ELC during school holidays was between 2018 and 2021 (15.7pp), while the increase was steadier for provision outside of school term.

Table 12: The proportion of settings providing funded ELC operating outside school term hours or during holidays

Aspect of flexibility	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Change from 2016 (p.p.)
Operates during school holidays	36.0	36.5	37.2	41.7	47.7	52.9	52.5	16.5
Operates outside school term hours	46.7	50.2	52.7	56.6	59.0	61.6	61.8	15.2
Operates outside school term hours, or during holidays	50.3	53.0	54.9	58.6	61.2	63.8	63.9	13.6

Source: Care Inspectorate ELC Statistics

There was, however, considerable variation between local authorities in the percentage of settings providing funded ELC operating outside school term hours or during school holidays as shown in Table 13 overleaf. In 2016 this proportion ranged from 9.5% to 93.5%, and from 28.6% to 98.4% in 2022. There was also variation in the change in proportions. The majority of local authorities saw an increase in this proportion, but in a small number it remained broadly stable or decreased. As set out in the introduction of this section, there is intended to be an element of local flexibility in the availability of funded ELC and local provision should be based on consultation with parents.

Table 13: Proportion of settings providing funded ELC that operate outside school term hours or during school holidays, by year and local authority.

Local authority	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Change from 2016 (p.p.)
Aberdeen City	41.1	47.4	51.6	48.4	50.5	77.9	77.4	36.3
Aberdeenshire	25.4	26.0	29.8	37.5	56.2	62.5	65.2	39.8
Angus	18.1	18.3	17.7	17.5	35.7	37.5	40.0	21.9
Argyll and Bute	31.2	30.7	32.0	35.1	32.1	35.0	31.2	0.0
City of Edinburgh	63.6	64.4	63.5	63.6	66.4	67.0	66.2	2.6
Clackmannanshire	52.6	68.4	61.1	73.7	70.0	63.2	63.2	10.5
Dumfries and Galloway	38.6	42.0	40.2	44.0	54.1	56.1	56.8	18.2
Dundee City	71.7	70.6	71.4	77.8	94.6	96.7	98.4	26.7
East Ayrshire	40.9	52.4	53.7	53.5	52.4	55.6	48.8	7.9
East Dunbartonshire	68.1	71.1	72.1	79.5	82.2	87.2	87.2	19.1
East Lothian	54.2	50.8	53.4	50.8	51.8	67.3	63.3	9.0
East Renfrewshire	93.5	93.5	96.9	94.3	88.6	91.9	92.1	-1.4
Falkirk	43.5	47.8	51.5	42.6	47.1	45.1	45.7	2.2
Fife	59.8	63.4	70.2	70.8	62.3	56.5	55.0	-4.8
Glasgow City	65.5	68.7	76.6	86.1	87.3	89.7	89.2	23.7
Highland	31.0	32.9	35.3	38.4	37.6	39.5	40.5	9.5
Inverclyde	54.2	62.5	61.5	74.1	71.9	71.9	80.6	26.5
Midlothian	53.2	54.1	52.5	56.5	56.9	56.7	54.7	1.5
Moray	39.3	37.3	33.3	41.0	41.9	48.4	42.2	2.8
Na h-Eileanan Siar	32.0	44.0	44.0	60.0	65.2	73.9	73.9	41.9
North Ayrshire	50.0	55.6	64.4	78.0	70.7	78.9	80.4	30.4
North Lanarkshire	56.1	59.4	64.7	63.5	64.6	62.3	61.4	5.3
Orkney Islands	9.5	19.0	23.8	28.6	25.0	33.3	28.6	19.0
Perth and Kinross	63.2	65.9	62.7	60.7	56.3	57.6	59.5	-3.7
Renfrewshire	75.4	76.1	78.8	81.2	84.3	82.9	84.0	8.6
Scottish Borders	28.0	28.4	30.1	31.4	39.4	42.5	43.7	15.7
Shetland Islands	19.2	32.1	32.1	39.3	44.4	59.3	63.0	43.7
South Ayrshire	38.8	48.1	41.7	54.0	58.0	56.0	60.4	21.6
South Lanarkshire	59.1	63.4	56.8	61.8	60.3	59.2	59.2	0.1
Stirling	58.8	60.9	70.5	77.8	90.9	88.6	88.6	29.8
West Dunbartonshire	75.0	78.1	75.8	72.2	64.1	57.5	55.0	-20.0
West Lothian	76.7	80.0	81.0	85.3	88.5	88.1	91.7	14.9
Scotland	50.3	53.0	54.9	58.6	61.2	63.8	63.9	13.6

Source: Care Inspectorate ELC Statistics

The overall increase in settings operating outside of term time hours or in the school holidays is likely to have a positive effect on the flexibility of funded ELC for families. It is encouraging to see several local authorities where there has been a large increase in the proportion of settings offering these hours. The small number where this proportion has either stayed low or decreased should be investigated further, to be better understand these variations in relation to local context and demand.

Parents' views and experiences of flexibility

As part of the SHS, households were asked if they had any issues with funded ELC they received. Table 14 shows the proportion of households that had issues with a lack of flexibility in the days/times offered, a lack of provision in the school holidays, and a lack of provision for their preferred type of provider. The proportion of households that noted lack of provision in the school holidays as an issue saw a consistent decrease from 19% in 2018 to 6% in 2022. The proportion who noted a lack of flexibility in the days or time offered decreased slightly from 13% in 2018 and 2019 to 6% in 2022, although this may be the result of natural variation in opinions between years. Lack of provision for the preferred type of provider has varied slightly between years but not in a consistent direction, remaining an issue for a small proportion of households.

Table 14: Issues with funded ELC

Issues with funded ELC received	2018	2019	2022
Lack of flexibility in days/times offered	13	13	8
Lack of provision in school holidays	19	13	6
Lack of provision for preferred type of provider	3	1	4

Source: Scottish Household Survey

In the 2022 parent survey, lack of flexibility was a key barrier for a substantial minority of the small number of parents of three to five year olds not using funded ELC, in terms of opening hours (19%), sessions and the settings available (16%). Around a quarter (23%) of those not using their full entitlement mentioned that they could not get the sessions that they wanted at their preferred setting.

However, on the whole, as shown in Figure 8 below, parents said they were satisfied with the flexibility they have been offered to use their funded hours in a way that meets their family's needs: 88% of those with a three to five year old and 92% of those with a two year old were satisfied, with 58% and 74% respectively very satisfied. Ten per cent of those with a three to five year old and 5% of those with a two year old were dissatisfied.

The qualitative research with parents in 2021-22 found that flexibility was one of the main recurring issues for participants. Flexibility was important for both working parents and those not in work, education or training. For those in work, flexibility typically referred to being able to find ELC hours that suited their working patterns. While those not in work, education or training appreciated where there was flexibility in drop-off or pick-up times, to help co-ordinate with wider family routines.

Some participants felt that funded hours were not flexible enough for the needs of particular careers/jobs (e.g. those involving shift work) or that the funded hours were too restrictive making it difficult to get a job. Some issues were highlighted in relation to the ability, for example, to use a blended model or with set days/hours or fixed sessions offered by providers. This could lead to parents not being able to use their full entitlement and/or having to pay to top-up to the pattern they needed. Others, however, emphasised the need for work to be more flexible.

Source: Parent Survey 2022

3.4. Affordability of childcare

Key points

• Fewer families were having to pay for additional hours of childcare to meet their needs after the ELC expansion.
• In 2018, 50% of families with a child aged 2 to 5 but not yet at school had no childcare costs, rising to 63% in 2022.
• Of those parents with pre-school age children who paid for childcare, one in three had not experienced any difficulties with affordability, while three fifths had experienced some difficulties including 16% who had experienced significant difficulties.
• Lone parents were more likely to report significant difficulties affording their childcare costs compared with couples. Parents in deprived areas and parents of a child with ASN were also more likely to report significant difficulties compared with others.

The intermediate outcome of affordability in relation to the expansion of funded ELC focuses on affordability for parents. The provision of funded ELC sits alongside wider UK support with childcare costs that parents in Scotland may be entitled to, including childcare elements of Tax Credits and Universal Credit and the Tax-Free Childcare scheme for working parents. Therefore, the expansion of funded ELC will likely be one factor in the overall affordability of childcare for many families.

The ELC Expansion will support affordability for parents by reducing the number of hours of childcare that they need to purchase. This would be expected to reduce their overall childcare costs, relative to the position pre-expansion. This intermediate outcome is, therefore, primarily relevant to those families who would have previously paid for additional hours (on top of the funded 600 hours), but also those families for whom affordability would have been a barrier to accessing more hours of ELC. The costs of childcare for other older or younger children who are not entitled to funded ELC is also important in relation to overall household costs.

Whether families have childcare costs

Table 15 shows data from the SHS on the proportion of households with a child aged two to five years old and not yet at school who stated that they had no childcare costs, or that all their childcare was free or funded. This proportion increased from 50% in 2018 to 63% in 2022. As this group includes households with a two year old who is not eligible for funded ELC, this increase is a promising sign that fewer families are having to pay for additional hours of childcare to meet their needs.

Table 15: Percentage of households with no childcare costs

Percentage of households with no childcare costs	2018	2019	2022
No costs/all free or funded	50	55	63

Source: Scottish Household Survey

Results from the 2022 parent survey showed a similar picture, with 64% of parents with a pre-school aged child not paying for any of their childcare. For parents with a three to five year old child, only 22% paid for some of their childcare.

Experiences of difficulties affording childcare

The 2022 parent survey also asked parents who paid for childcare whether they had experienced difficulties in affording childcare for their pre-school children. Overall, just over a third (34%) had not experienced any difficulties, while three fifths (62%) had experienced some difficulties including 16% who had experienced significant difficulties (see Figure 9).

Of those parents who reported experiencing difficulties, the main difficulties experienced were very similar in each of the age groups (see Figure 10 below). Simply affording the cost of childcare was the main issue (a difficulty for around four-fifths of those who pay for childcare) and paying for fees in advance (an issue for around a quarter).

Source: Parent Survey 2022

Source: Parent Survey 2022

Two parent households, households with two parents in work, and higher income households were more likely to identify the overall cost of childcare as being the main issue, with upfront fees also mentioned by some as a concern. This fits with these households tending to use higher amounts of childcare and spending more on childcare. Single parents, no/single earner households, low income households, and households where English is a second/additional language also raised the overall costs of childcare as the main issue - but were more likely than others to raise concerns about paying fees, deposits and other costs upfront.

3.5. Quality of funded ELC

Key points

• The proportion of settings providing funded ELC achieving grades of good or better across all four key questions in Care Inspectorate quality evaluations decreased from 2014 to 2019, but has since stabilised at around 90% between 2019 and 2022. This proportion is highest among public sector settings.
• Parental satisfaction with funded ELC improved, with 93% very or fairly satisfied with the provision they receive in 2022, up from 86% in 2018.

Quality of ELC was identified in the evaluability assessment as the key determinant of improvement in children's outcomes. The National Standard for funded ELC providers sets out what children and families should expect from their funded ELC experience in Scotland, regardless of where they access their child's funded hours.

High quality ELC not only provides nurturing care for children but also supports their learning and development from an early age. Because of this, both the Care Inspectorate and HM Inspectors of Education have statutory functions which provide them with a role in relation to inspection. All daycare of children services and childminders must be inspected by the Care Inspectorate, regardless of whether they provide funded ELC hours, while nursery settings that provide funded ELC hours can be inspected by both the Care Inspectorate and HM Inspectors of Education. The Care Inspectorate's quality evaluations from their currently quality framework are used to underpin aspects of the National Standard, while the development of other aspects was informed by How Good is Our Early Learning and Childcare?, the self-evaluation framework used by HM Inspectors of Education.

Quality of funded ELC provision in terms of whether it meets the needs of children with ASN and parental perceptions of, and satisfaction with, quality are also important aspects of quality provision.

Care Inspectorate quality grades

Care Inspectorate data provide information on the quality of ELC services through analysis of grading data. Until 2022, grades were given based on four 'Quality Themes': care and support, environment, staffing, and management and leadership. The Care Inspectorate suspended their normal inspection programme in March 2020 in response to Covid-19 protective measures. Full thematic inspections were only carried out during this period in settings based on a risk and intelligence basis. This means there is a gap in full thematic inspection data on the quality of ELC services for the majority of 2020 to the start of 2022.

In March 2022, the Care Inspectorate launched an updated quality framework for daycare of children, childminding and school age childcare settings that focuses on children's wellbeing. From June 2022 five 'Key Questions' replaced the quality themes. Four of the Key Questions directly link to the previous four quality themes.

Table 16 below shows the percentage of settings providing funded ELC achieving grades of good or better across all four key questions/quality themes. This proportion decreased from 2014 to 2019 but has since stabilised at around 90%, with some small year-to-year variation between 2019 and 2022.

Table 16: Percentage of settings providing funded ELC achieving grades of good or better across all key questions/quality themes

2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
93.2	91.9	91.4	91.0	90.6	90.2	90.8	89.4	90.1

Source: Care Inspectorate ELC Statistics

Figure 11 shows these figures broken down by the sector that the setting operates in. Public sector (or local authority) settings have consistently had the highest proportion achieving these grades, with a slight decrease between 2017 and 2022 but generally staying at around 94%. The voluntary sector has generally been increasing from 87% in 2017 and 2018, peaking in 2022 at 91%. Private sector settings have consistently been the lowest and saw a sharp drop between 2020 and 2021 from 84% to 80%. Although the proportion of private settings meeting these grades then increased in 2022, it remains well below the public and voluntary sectors at 81%.

Source: Care Inspectorate ELC Statistics

The Care Inspectorate Early learning and childcare statistics 2022 – supporting tables (Table 3b) show that there is some variation between local authorities in the percentage of settings providing funded ELC achieving grades of good or better across all quality themes. In 2022 this proportion ranged from 73% to 97%.

Overall, the quality of funded ELC has remained high, although the lower proportion of private settings that are achieving CI grades of good or better across all key quality themes is an issue for further investigation.

Staff qualifications

The SSSC produces quarterly reports on the ELC workforce, including the percentage of those in employment who have a qualification condition as part of their registration. Generally, a qualification condition indicates that the individual is working towards, but has not yet achieved, the qualification necessary to be registered as one of the three registration categories (support worker, practitioner or manager/lead practitioner). More information on registration categories can be found at Job Role Information for Workers in Daycare of Children Services.

Figure 12 shows the percentage of managers of ELC settings who have a qualification condition, broken down by setting sector. The percentage of managers with a qualification condition is consistently substantially lower in the public sector than in the private or voluntary sectors. Both the private and voluntary sectors saw a steady decrease over time from around 65% in March 2019 to around 48% in March 2024. Conversely, the public sector saw an increase from 37% in March 2019 to 42% in September 2020, before decreasing to a low of 27% in March 2024.

Source: SSSC Workforce Statistics

As with setting managers, the percentage of practitioners with a qualification condition in the public sector was substantially lower than the private and voluntary sectors, although the percentage is lower than for setting managers in all three. The private and voluntary sectors saw fluctuations over time but remained around 28% and 25%, respectively. The public sector saw a small but consistent decrease since March 2020, from a peak of 11% to 6%.

Across all sectors, support workers had the highest percentage of staff with a qualification condition, and there was again a substantial difference between the public sector and the private and voluntary sectors. There were some fluctuations over time in all sectors, but all three remained relatively stable. The percentage was consistently highest in the private sector, remaining just below 80%. The second highest sector was the voluntary, with a percentage around 70%, while the public sector fluctuated slightly above 40%.

In addition, Summary statistics for schools in Scotland 2023 showed there were 5,906 FTE teachers, graduates and staff working towards relevant degree-level qualifications in funded ELC. This is an increase of 4% from 5,676 in 2022, and an increase of 40% from 4,230 in 2017.

Parental satisfaction with the quality of funded ELC

Households responding to the SHS were asked their level of satisfaction with the overall quality of the funded ELC they received. Table 17 shows that satisfaction increased from 86% in 2018 to 93% in 2022, driven by an increase in the proportion who were very satisfied. There was no clear pattern in the level of satisfaction by SIMD.

Table 17: Percentage of households very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the funded ELC they receive

Satisfaction level	2018	2019	2022
Very satisfied	57	59	64
Fairly satisfied	29	33	29
Total	86	91	93

Source: Scottish Household Survey

In the 2022 parent survey parents were asked how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with the quality of the provision from their main funded ELC provider. Figure 13 (overleaf) shows that 97% of parents were satisfied with the quality of their provider, with 70% very satisfied. This is an encouraging figure, which mirrors results from the SHS.

Choosing their ELC provider is an important decision for parents. The 2022 parent survey found that parents were most likely to consider the provider's location (61%), liking/trusting the staff (50%) and a good reputation (49%) when selecting the setting. Other factors such as continuity (being attached to the same school their child will go to/attended prior to funding – 47%), the opportunities open to the child (for example, outdoor experiences – 37%), siblings currently/previously attended (31%); and flexibility (25%) were also considerations for many.

Source: Parent Survey 2022

Parental satisfaction with provision for children with ASN

In 2022, the majority of parents of a child/children with ASN were satisfied that funded ELC meets their child's ASN: 85% said they were satisfied, this includes 53% who said they were very satisfied. Nonetheless, nearly one in ten (9%) said they were dissatisfied with how funded ELC meets their child's needs.

The 2017 parent survey included a 'neither satisfied nor dissatisfied' option for this question, and so the results are not directly comparable. However, the 2017 survey found that 57% of parents of a child/children with ASN were satisfied that funded ELC meets their child's needs. Nearly a fifth (18%) were dissatisfied, with 16% stating they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. Although the results are not directly comparable, this does indicate an improvement in satisfaction with provision for children with ASN between 2017 and 2022.

Those dissatisfied in 2022 were asked an open question to explain whythey were dissatisfied with their access to funded ELC provision for their child(ren) with ASN. An analysis of these responses indicates that the main reasons for dissatisfaction were staff not fully/appropriately trained (33%) and not enough support given (28%). Poor communications with provider (18%), hours being unsuitable (11%), slow diagnosis/provision of service delayed (9%), no key-worker available/lack of 1-1 support (9%), were also mentioned.