Summary statistics for schools in Scotland no. 10: 2019 edition

Chapter 5: Early Learning and Childcare

98% of eligible three and four year olds were registered for funded ELC (99% in 2018)

11% of two year olds were registered for funded ELC (10% in 2018)

Table 5.1 shows that there were 96,375 registrations for funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) in September 2019, a slight decrease of 0.2% since September 2018 when there were 96,549 registrations. Uptake of funded ELC for eligible three and four year olds remains very high, with an estimated 98% registered (99% in 2018). Children registered to receive funded ELC at more than one centre may be counted more than once, so this will slightly overestimate true uptake.

The number of two year olds registered has increased from 5,701 in 2018 to 5,990 in 2019. This represents 11% of all two year olds, an increase from 10% in 2018. Around a quarter of two year olds are eligible for funded ELC through the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and through subsequent secondary legislation which commenced in August 2015.

At local authority level, the proportion of two year olds registered varies considerably, with the highest proportions found in Inverclyde (21%) and East Ayrshire (21%). Shetland Islands (3%) and Scottish Borders (6%) had the lowest proportions of their two year old populations registered for funded ELC. It should be noted that the proportion of the two year old population registered for funded ELC will be affected by the proportion of the population that is eligible in each local authority area. However, this is currently not known, so the proportion of eligible two year olds that are registered for funded ELC cannot be reported on.

The number of deferred registrations for funded ELC also increased, by 9%, from 4,884 in 2018 to 5,326 in 2019. Of children potentially eligible for deferral 19% were registered for funded ELC in 2019, compared with 17% in 2018.

Table 5.2 shows that the overall FTE of teachers, graduates and staff working towards the SSSC benchmark degree level qualifications in ELC was 4,781 in 2019, compared with 4,222 in 2018, an increase of 13%.

The FTE of teachers working in ELC was 798 in 2019, compared with 821 in 2018, a 3% decrease of 23 FTE. There were 2,535 FTE graduates working in ELC with degrees relevant to early years, other than teachers, a 10% increase of 233 FTE compared with 2,302 recorded in 2018. The FTE of ELC staff working towards the SSSC benchmark degree level qualifications increased by 350 to 1,448 in 2019, a 32% increase compared with 1,098 in 2018.

Table 5.1: Registrations⁽¹⁾ for funded early learning and childcare at local authority and partnership centres, September 2019

	Under 2	2 year olds		3 & 4 year olds(2)		Deferred entry(4)		Total
		Number	% of population	Number	% of those eligible(3)	Number	% of those eligible(5)
Aberdeen City	0	133	6	3,330	94	194	17	3,657
Aberdeenshire	7	188	7	4,612	97	341	22	5,148
Angus	0	110	10	1,653	97	173	30	1,936
Argyll and Bute	0	45	6	1,225	106	89	23	1,359
City of Edinburgh	118	476	9	7,287	95	489	19	8,370
Clackmannanshire	3	98	18	816	98	30	11	947
Dumfries and Galloway	0	134	11	2,081	104	157	24	2,372
Dundee City	2	267	17	2,246	99	181	24	2,696
East Ayrshire	70	268	21	2,050	102	70	10	2,458
East Dunbartonshire	3	86	8	1,724	94	109	18	1,922
East Lothian	9	68	6	1,812	102	103	17	1,992
East Renfrewshire	16	65	6	1,675	93	97	16	1,853
Falkirk	0	180	11	2,558	101	172	20	2,910
Fife	0	591	16	5,912	101	265	13	6,768
Glasgow City	72	740	11	9,261	94	472	14	10,545
Highland	1	139	6	3,536	101	320	27	3,996
Inverclyde	48	155	21	1,264	115	76	20	1,543
Midlothian	0	125	11	1,836	103	132	22	2,093
Moray	0	58	6	1,482	102	123	26	1,663
Na h-Eileanan Siar	4	32	14	382	103	40	33	458
North Ayrshire	0	237	18	1,905	94	79	12	2,221
North Lanarkshire	0	387	11	5,582	95	262	14	6,231
Orkney Islands	0	19	10	336	117	43	42	398
Perth and Kinross	0	165	12	2,225	102	239	32	2,629
Renfrewshire	97	326	19	2,829	105	182	21	3,434
Scottish Borders	0	61	6	1,780	104	75	13	1,916
Shetland Islands	0	7	3	415	105	62	50	484
South Ayrshire	26	162	16	1,637	99	85	16	1,910
South Lanarkshire	69	296	9	5,162	99	292	17	5,819
Stirling	7	67	8	1,425	105	102	23	1,601
West Dunbartonshire	57	178	19	1,441	99	82	17	1,758
West Lothian	0	127	6	2,971	91	190	18	3,288
Scotland	609	5,990	11	84,450	98	5,326	19	96,375

(1) This is a snapshot of registrations at census week (16-20 September 2019). It does not include children who were registered between census week and the end of December.

(2) Refers to academic year - three and four year olds were previously referred to as 'ante pre-school' and 'pre-school' respectively.

(3) Eligible children are estimated from National Records of Scotland population projections. For three year olds, only around half of children are eligible at the time of the census (16-20 September 2019). Children are counted once for each centre they are registered with, so the same child may be counted multiple times if they attend more than one centre. Children may also attend centres outside of the local authority they live in, which would also affect these figures.

(4) Refers to children who are eligible to attend primary school but have deferred entry and remain in ELC.

(5) Eligibility figures for deferral are calculated on the assumption that all children born from September to February inclusive are potentially eligible for funded ELC if they defer entry to primary school; January and February born children are entitled to the additional year of funded ELC, while for September to December born children, the local authority decides whether to provide it. Children born after school commencement date in mid-August can also defer entry to primary school, but they are not included in the calculation for the percentage of those eligible for deferred entry to avoid double counting with the four year old category.

Table 5.2: Teachers, graduate staff, and staff working towards graduate qualifications at centres providing funded early learning and childcare, by local authority, September 2019

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and percentage

	Teachers(1)	Graduates(2)	Working towards graduate qualifications(3)	Total
				FTE	% change since 2018
Aberdeen City	28	68	58	153	-3
Aberdeenshire	19	105	93	217	83
Angus	8	45	35	88	12
Argyll and Bute	9	44	21	75	44
City of Edinburgh	132	283	123	537	9
Clackmannanshire	7	26	14	46	17
Dumfries and Galloway	20	74	23	117	40
Dundee City	39	55	40	133	3
East Ayrshire	13	88	61	162	32
East Dunbartonshire	31	49	36	116	-2
East Lothian	7	37	11	55	-17
East Renfrewshire	33	64	30	127	-1
Falkirk	3	51	51	104	-19
Fife	70	59	81	210	4
Glasgow City	58	451	238	747	10
Highland	30	52	12	93	-2
Inverclyde	9	45	28	82	37
Midlothian	14	65	29	109	44
Moray	3	35	14	53	-5
Na h-Eileanan Siar	2	4	3	10	-60
North Ayrshire	9	94	43	146	22
North Lanarkshire	32	167	69	268	22
Orkney Islands	5	6	8	19	27
Perth and Kinross	40	65	56	161	34
Renfrewshire	8	112	43	163	32
Scottish Borders	19	21	1	42	15
Shetland Islands	6	7	8	21	35
South Ayrshire	28	38	51	117	10
South Lanarkshire	73	161	45	279	-6
Stirling	12	61	57	129	39
West Dunbartonshire	14	57	24	95	34
West Lothian	21	45	41	107	15
Scotland	798	2,535	1,448	4,781	13

(1) GTCS registered teachers. Includes teachers in ELC centres, centrally employed teachers, and home visiting teachers.

(2) Includes staff that hold: a degree level benchmark qualification required by the SSSC for registration as a manager/lead practitioner (see background notes for list of benchmark qualifications); a degree level (SCQF level 9) qualification relevant to early years and are working towards a degree level benchmark qualification required by the SSSC for registration as a manager/lead practitioner; or a degree level qualification sufficient to meet the registration standards of another regulatory body (e.g. Nursing and Midwifery Council, General Medical Council).

(3) Staff that do not hold degrees (SCQF level 9) relevant to early years, but are working towards a SSSC benchmark degree level qualification for registration as a manager/lead practitioner.

Table 5.3 shows the characteristics of teachers in ELC. The vast majority of teachers (94%) were female. Since 2015 the proportion of male teachers has doubled from 3% to 6%.

Table 5.3: ELC Teacher characteristics percentages, 2019

Percentage of headcount

Sex		Age
Female	Male	Under 25	25 to 34	35 to 44	45 to 54	55 or over	Average Age
94	6	1	15	33	33	18	45

Since 2012, the average age of teachers has remained around age 45. Data on age and sex is only available for teachers, although they only form part of the graduate workforce in ELC.

Chart 2 shows the age profile of GTCS registered ELC teachers, as at September 2019. The number of teachers generally increases to age 40, then peaks at age 40 and 47, before decreasing sharply after age 59.

Chart 2: Age profile of GTCS registered early learning and childcare teachers