Guidance

Early years data collection for the 2025 to 2026 financial year

Published 10 December 2024

Applies to England

Introduction

This guidance is for local authorities. It sets out how they should collect and submit data for the take-up of the government-funded hours for the new early years entitlements for eligible working parents of 2-year-olds and under for the 2025 summer and autumn terms. This data will be used for funding purposes.

The guidance also sets out how to report the number of children using government-funded hours for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support (formerly known as the 2-year-old disadvantaged entitlement) and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) accessing entitlements for age 2 and under. This data will be used for policy monitoring purposes.

Local authorities will be required to collect data from early years providers which are normally included in the early years census. Local authorities should work closely with these providers to ensure all required children in scope for this data collection are included in the return.

Section 1: context – what is this data for?

1.1. Expansion of early years entitlements

From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2-year-olds have been entitled to access up to 15 hours of childcare per week for 38 weeks a year and, from September 2024 this has been extended to eligible working parents of children from aged 9 months old. From September 2025, eligible working parents of 9-month to 3-year-olds will be able to access up to 30 hours per week for 38 weeks a year.

The early years pupil premium (EYPP) and the disability access fund (DAF) were also extended to eligible children aged 2 and under accessing the entitlements from April 2024.

We also want to understand the impact of the expansion of the working parent entitlement on disadvantaged children and children with SEND.

1.2. Why is the data being collected for funding allocations?

The early years dedicated schools grant (DSG) funding we allocate to local authorities is demand-led. This means local authorities are funded on actual take-up of the entitlement hours. We normally use the data from the January census, to record take-up of the entitlement hours.

However, for the roll-out of the new eligible working parents entitlements from April 2024, we used termly headcounts to fund these entitlements in the 2024 to 2025 financial year . This was to ensure individual local authorities are accurately funded for delivering the entitlements each term as children started and left the entitlements through the year. As the expansion to 30 hours of childcare for the eligible working parents of 2-year-olds and under continues to be rolled out from September 2025, we want to continue funding these new entitlements on a termly basis to ensure local authorities receive accurate funding in financial year 2025 to 2026.

1.2.1 Scope for data collection for funding

We will collect data from local authorities for the following early years funding streams:

• the entitlement for eligible working parents of 2-year-old children (including the expansion to 30 hours from September 2025)
• the entitlement for eligible working parents of children from 9 months old to 2 years old (including the expansion to 30 hours from September 2025). We will refer to this entitlement as ‘under-2s’ throughout this guide, for ease of reference
• EYPP for eligible 2-year-olds (for both the families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support and the eligible working parents entitlement) and under-2s

This collection will not include the following funding streams: 

• the 3 and 4-year-old universal and extended entitlements,
• EYPP for 3 and 4-year-olds
• DAF

The data for these funding streams will be collected via the annual census in January, as normal.

We will be collecting data about families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support (see below), but the termly data will not be used for funding determination.  

1.3. Why is the data being collected for policy monitoring?

The Department for Education (DFE) provides 15 hours funded early education to families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support. The primary purpose of the entitlement is to support children’s outcomes, and this remains a key priority for the department. We have evidence demonstrating that early education has a positive impact on disadvantaged children’s educational outcomes, and it is imperative that we do all we can to continue supporting improved outcomes for disadvantaged children. The National Audit Office (NAO) has recommended that the department should be monitoring the impact of the eligible working parents entitlements on disadvantaged children’s access to early education, and the impact on children with SEND.

Local authorities are required by legislation to provide sufficient childcare places for children in their areas; this includes children with SEND. Local authorities and early years providers have duties via the SEND Code of Practice, Equality Act 2010, and Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework to promote equality and inclusion for children with disabilities or special educational needs (SEN). This includes removing barriers that prevent children from accessing early education.

It is therefore important for the department to understand the take-up of the 15 hours entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support and entitlements for children with SEND.

Please note this data will not be used for determining funding allocations.

1.3.1 Scope for data collection for policy monitoring

We will collect data from local authorities for the following:

• children taking up the government-funded entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support
• children with SEND accessing the entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support
• children with SEND accessing the eligible working parent entitlement for both under-2s and 2-year-olds

Section 2: what data will be collected?

All local authorities in England that fund early years provision must provide the relevant data for both the funding allocations and policy monitoring to the DFE.

We will collect data for the 2025 summer and autumn terms for the 2025 to 2026 financial year. This applies to all of the datasets mentioned in sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.2.

The scope of the termly data collection is the same as that relating to the early years census for the setting types, predominantly for the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) settings. In summary, local authorities should collect data from the following childcare settings:

• PVI providers, including childminders
• schools with non-registered pupils of the school (for example, governor run provision, normally completed on the early years census)
• academies with non-registered pupils of the school (normally completed on the early years census)

For school nurseries (with registered pupils), maintained nursery schools and academies (with registered pupils) the relevant data will be collected via the 2025 summer and autumn term school census; therefore, local authorities do not need to include these children in their data return. We encourage local authorities to work with their school settings to ensure the data returns via the school census are accurate, as the data for the eligible working parents entitlements and the EYPP for 2-year-olds and under will be used for funding allocations.

The specific data required for each term are included in sections 2.4: summer term 2025 and 2.5: autumn term 2025 below.

2.1. Data required from local authorities

2.1.1 For funding the new entitlements

We will collect data on the take-up of the government-funded entitlement hours for the 2-year-old eligible working parents entitlement, under-2s eligible working parents entitlement and 2-year-olds and under-2s in receipt of EYPP, as part of the DSG conditions of grant. This data will be used to determine the early years DSG funding allocations for the new entitlements in 2025 to 2026. Although funding for City of London and the Isles of Scilly is funded outside the DSG, we will require that both local authorities submit the data.

For the 2-year-old eligible working parents entitlement and under-2s eligible working parents entitlement, we require the total ‘number of children’ and the total ‘number of entitlement hours’ taken up by children for the government-funded hours in the count week for each term as set out in section 2.4: summer term 2025 and section 2.5: autumn term 2025 below.

For EYPP, we require the total ‘number of children’ in receipt of EYPP and the total ‘number of entitlement hours’ taken up by children in receipt of EYPP in the census week for each term as set out in sections 2.4: summer term 2025 and 2.5: autumn term 2025 below. We will not be collecting information regarding basis of funding for EYPP.

We will use the ‘number of children’ and the ‘number of hours’ to calculate the part-time equivalent (PTEs) hours to determine the funding allocations for local authorities.

The date of birth ranges are:

	2-year-olds	Under-2s	Maximum funded hours
Summer 2025	Born between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 (inclusive)	Born between 1 April 2023 and 30 June 2024 (inclusive)	15 hours
Autumn 2025	Born between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023 (inclusive)	Born between 1 September 2023 and 30 November 2024 (inclusive)	30 hours

Local authorities need to ensure there are no duplicate entries for children. For example, if a child splits their entitlement across more than one provider, the child should only be counted once and their total funded entitlement hours at all providers the child attends should be included.

The specific data required for each term are included in sections 2.4: summer term 2025 and 2.5: autumn term 2025 below.

2.1.2 For policy monitoring

We will collect data on the total number of children taking up the government-funded entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support. We will also collect data on the total number of children with SEND accessing the 2-year-old eligible working parents entitlement, the under-2s eligible working parents entitlement, and the entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support.

The specific data required for each term are included in sections 2.4: summer term 2025 and 2.5: autumn term 2025 below.

The date of birth ranges for the children are the same as set out in section 2.1.1.

2.2. Timing of the termly counts

We recognise the approach to taking local attendance counts, including the timing and frequency of counts, varies between local authorities. As a minimum, local authorities are required to take at least 3 counts of attendance per year to pay their childcare providers.

We are asking all local authorities to conduct their termly count for all of their PVI settings at the mid-point of each term as this will provide a better representative measure for attendance across each term. This will ensure local authorities are accurately funded for the actual hours delivered by providers each term.

The mid-point in the term will fall on a later date than the timing of the normal termly school census (see section 4.2: summary of key dates below). We acknowledge this may require some local authorities to undertake an additional count or adjust the timing of their existing count, however, the mid-point will allow for greater accuracy and allow local authorities to reflect any growth in-term.

Local authorities are not required to undertake an additional data collection for school-based settings as we will use the data submitted by schools from the termly school census.

2.3. How to record stretched entitlements

The early years entitlement hours for eligible working parents is up to 15 hours a week, across 38 weeks a year. However, some children may ‘stretch’ the usual standard 15 hours a week, by taking up fewer hours each week across more than 38 weeks a year. For the purposes of this return, the entitlement hours will need to be converted back to a term-time basis.

For example, where a child takes the full entitlement (570 hours across their entitlement year), this should be reported as 15 funded hours and no further action is required. However, where a child takes only part of the entitlement, a conversion is required to calculate how many hours they take over the year.

For example: a child takes 11 hours a week over 45 weeks in the year, totalling 495 hours; and a working parent entitlement is 570 hours (15 hours multiplied by 38 weeks). To convert the stretched entitlement to the number of hours a child would attend each week if they were taking it over 38 weeks, divide 495 by 38 to get 13.03 hours.

For example: from September 2025 where a child is entitled to 30 hours childcare, a child takes 25 hours a week over 45 weeks in the year, totalling 1125 hours; and a working parent entitlement is 1,140 hours (30 hours multiplied by 38 weeks). To convert the stretched entitlement to the number of hours a child would attend each week if they were taking it over 38 weeks, divide 1125 by 38 to get 29.61 hours.

This only applies to the data collection related to funding allocations.

2.4. Summer term 2025

The count week for the 2025 summer term is the week commencing 9 June 2025.

For funding allocations, we will require the number of children and number of hours taken during the summer term count week for the following early years funding streams:

• entitlement for 2-year-olds of eligible working parents
• entitlement for children of 9 months old up to 2-year-olds of eligible working parents
• 2-year-olds in receipt of EYPP accessing the 2-year-old eligible working parents entitlement
• 2-year-olds in receipt of EYPP accessing the entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support
• 9-month-olds up to 2-year-olds in receipt of EYPP accessing the eligible working parents entitlement

For policy monitoring, we will require the total number of children accessing the entitlements during the summer term count week for the following:

• total number of children taking up the government-funded entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support
• total number of children with SEND accessing the entitlement for families receiving specific form of additional support
• total number of children with SEND accessing the eligible working parent entitlement for 2-year-old children
• total number of children with SEND accessing the eligible working parent entitlement for under-2s

When submitting data for children with SEND, the local authority should use the definition set out in legislation and used throughout the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years. More information can be found from page 15. This definition should also be the same as that used by the local authority when reporting for early years census purposes.

The deadline for submitting summer term data to us is 11 July 2025. Details on how to submit the data is included in section 4.1: how to submit data.

2.5. Autumn term 2025

The count week for the 2025 autumn term is the week commencing 3 November 2025.

For funding allocations, we will require the number of children and number of hours taken during the autumn term count week for the following early years funding streams:

• entitlement for 2-year-olds of eligible working parents
• entitlement for children of 9 months old up to 2-year-olds of eligible working parents
• 2-year-olds in receipt of EYPP accessing the 2-year-old eligible working parents entitlement
• 2-year-olds in receipt of EYPP accessing the entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support
• 9-month-olds up to 2-year-olds in receipt of EYPP accessing the eligible working parents entitlement

For policy monitoring, we will require the total number of children accessing the entitlements during the autumn term count week for the following:

• total number of children taking up the government-funded entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support
• total number of children with SEND accessing the entitlement for families receiving specific form of additional support
• total number of children with SEND accessing the eligible working parent entitlement for 2-year-old children
• total number of children with SEND accessing the eligible working parent entitlement for under-2s

When submitting data for children with SEND, the local authority should use the definition set out in legislation and used throughout the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years. More information can be found from page 15. This definition should also be the same which is used by the local authority when reporting for early years census purposes.

The deadline for submitting autumn term data to DFE is 5 December 2025. Further details are included in section 4.1: how to submit data.

Section 3: final funding allocation methodology for 2025 to 2026

3.1 Changes to the allocation profile for new entitlements

In our funding allocation methodology for local authorities, we normally assume children will be funded for five-twelfths of the financial year for the summer term (which is 16 weeks) and seven-twelfths of the financial year for the autumn and spring terms (which is 22 weeks). We recognise our usual methodology for the way we normally pro-rata the funding allocation across the year for local authorities does not mirror the way individual local authorities fund their providers across the year. We are also aware there is an uneven pattern of provision where local authorities generally tend to run shorter weeks in the summer and longer weeks in the autumn and spring terms, and the pattern of provision is not the same for all local authorities. In a typical full financial year, local authorities normally manage this through the additional weeks that are provided in the autumn and spring terms being balanced by fewer weeks in the summer.

However, since the 2-year-old and under-2s eligible working parents entitlements are still new and we cannot predict fully the take-up levels across the year, our usual methodology for the funding allocation profile may not be appropriate as these entitlements continue to be rolled-out in 2025 to 2026. Therefore, to ensure local authorities are accurately funded, and as we will be collecting termly data for the new entitlements, we will be revising the funding allocation methodology to match local authorities delivery profile better for the new entitlements for each term in the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

We recognise planned delivery of the entitlement hours for each term will not be the same for all local authorities. We have collected additional information from local authorities to understand the pattern of provision across a number of financial years. The information shows local authorities fund, on average, 13 weeks in the summer term, 14 weeks in the autumn and 11 weeks in the spring. In order to ensure all local authorities are fairly treated and the funding allocation methodology aligns closely with local authority delivery pattern, we will be providing all local authorities with funding for 13 weeks in the summer, 14 weeks in the autumn and 11 weeks in the spring for the financial year 2025 to 2026.

We recognise the revised allocation profile may not match some local authority’s local delivery pattern. In such cases, local authorities should manage this by adjusting between terms to manage the position across the year and/ or use their contingency funding as required.

Further details on the revised funding allocation methodology are included in section 3.2.

3.2. Final allocation methodology

The PTEs for the 2025 to 2026 financial year will be calculated as a weighted average of the termly counts as follows:

• thirteen-thirty-eighths of the summer 2025 term PTE numbers (to cover the April 2025 to August 2025 period)

plus

• fourteen-thirty-eighths of the autumn 2025 term PTE numbers (to cover the September 2025 to December 2025 period)

plus

• eleven-thirty-eighths of the spring 2026 census PTE numbers from the early years, schools, and alternative provision censuses (to cover the January 2026 to March 2026 period)

For the 2-year-old eligible working parents entitlement, the final allocation for each local authority will be calculated as follows:

• the total number of PTEs taking up the entitlement as recorded on the counts in summer, autumn, and spring as above

multiplied by

• 15 hours × 38 weeks × local authority’s 2-year-old hourly funding rate

For the under-2s eligible working parents entitlement, the final allocation for each local authority will be calculated as follows:

• the total number of PTEs taking up the entitlement as recorded on the counts in summer, autumn, and spring as above

multiplied by

• 15 hours × 38 weeks × local authority’s under-2s hourly funding rate

For EYPP for 2-year-olds and under-2s, the final allocation for each local authority will be calculated as follows:

• the total number of PTEs taking up the EYPP as recorded on the counts in summer, autumn, and spring as above

multiplied by

• 15 hours × 38 weeks × £1.00

Please note as the 2-year-old and under-2s eligible working parents entitlements expand to 30 hours from September 2025, in the DSG allocations table for 2025 to 2026, funding for these entitlements will be presented separately showing the allocation for the summer period (April to August) representing 15 hours and the autumn to spring period (September to March) representing 30 hours.

3.3. Funding adjustments

The DSG early years indicative allocations would normally be updated in July 2025 to reflect the January 2025 census headcount to show the initial allocations, and then updated in July 2026 to reflect the January 2026 census headcount to show the final funding allocations for 2025 to 2026. This normal timetable for funding adjustments will apply for the entitlement for families of 2-year-olds receiving additional support, the 3 and 4-year-old universal and extended entitlements, maintained nursery school supplementary funding, and the EYPP for 3 and 4-year-olds.

For the new eligible working parents entitlements, given the additional termly counts in the 2025 summer and autumn terms, we will update the indicative allocations for these funding streams 3 times for the 2025 to 2026 financial year in:

• November 2025 – the indicative funding allocations for 15 hours (for April 2025 to August 2025 period) will be updated based on thirteen-thirty-eighths of the 2025 summer term PTE numbers (to note 30 hours allocation will remain on the estimate PTEs until the autumn headcount data becomes available)

• March 2026 – the indicative allocations for 30 hours (for September 2025 to March 2026 period) will be updated to reflect the adjustment for the 2025 autumn term. The March adjustment for 30 hours will be updated based fully on twenty-five-thirty-eighths of the 2025 autumn term PTE numbers
• July 2026 – the final funding allocations will be updated to reflect the adjustment for the January 2026 Spring term census. The July adjustment for 30 hours will be updated based fourteen-thirty-eighths of the 2025 autumn term PTE numbers (to cover the September 2025 to December 2025 period) and eleven-thirty-eighths of the 2026 spring term census (to cover the January 2026 to March 2026 period). The final funding allocation for 2-year-old and under-2s eligible working parents and EYPP for 2-year-olds and under will be based on methodology as described in section 3.2

Given 2025 to 2026 is a roll-out year for the 30 hours expansion, take-up of the new eligible working parents entitlements, and the subsequent funding adjustments during the year will have more uncertainty than in a steady-state year. As such, local authorities should bear this in mind when managing their budgets.

Section 4: how to submit your data and key dates

4.1. How to submit data

Local authorities will need to submit the data using an online digital form. The digital form will be made available nearer the appropriate date. We will inform local authorities when the digital form becomes available and the details for how to access it. Local authorities’ responsible officers will need to ensure their access to the digital form can be set up by their DFE Sign-in approver.

All data submitted to DFE must be signed off by the local authority’s section 151 officer to provider proper assurance, as the data is being used for national funding purposes.

4.2. Summary of key dates

Item	Activity	Key dates
Summer term 2025 data collection	Summer count week	Week commencing 9 June 2025
Summer term 2025 data collection	Deadline for local authorities to submit summer term data to DFE	11 July 2025
Autumn term 2025 data collection	Autumn count week	Week commencing 3 November 2025
Publication of updates to early years DSG allocations for the new entitlements funding for financial year: 2025 to 2026	In-year adjustment to reflect summer 2025 term count	November 2025
Autumn term 2025 data collection	Deadline for local authorities to submit autumn term data to DFE	5 December 2025
Publication of updates to early years DSG allocations for the new entitlements funding for financial year: 2025 to 2026	In-year adjustment to reflect autumn 2025 term count	March 2026
Publication of updates to early years DSG allocations for the new entitlements funding for financial year: 2025 to 2026	Update to final funding allocation for 2025 to 2026	July 2026